The Alimond Show
Welcome to The Alimond Show --join us as we share our entrepreneurial guests' stories, uncover their secrets to success, and explore the unique paths they've taken to build thriving businesses in our community.
In each episode, our host, Aliyah Dastour, sits down with a diverse group of local business owners, from the corner cafe to the boutique shop, from tech startups to family-run enterprises. We peel back the curtain to reveal the trials, triumphs, and transformational moments that have shaped their entrepreneurial journey.
Discover the passion, perseverance, and innovative thinking that fuels these businesses, as well as the challenges they've overcome along the way. Whether you're a budding entrepreneur seeking inspiration or simply a curious listener interested in the stories behind your favorite local spots, The Alimond Show has something for everyone.
Our guests share their experiences, insights, and valuable advice that can empower you to turn your own dreams into reality. We discuss topics like marketing strategies, customer relationships, community engagement, and much more, offering practical takeaways you can apply to your own business or career.
Join us every week as we celebrate the unsung heroes of our local business community and explore the vibrant tapestry of entrepreneurship in our area. Tune in to The Alimond Show and get ready to be inspired, informed, and motivated to support and nurture the businesses that make our community thrive.
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The Alimond Show
Jay Duvall & Missy Tuttle - Crafting Community and Brews: Transforming Twisted Oak Farm Brewery from Hay Barn to Hops Haven
Ever wondered what it takes to transform a hay barn into a bustling craft beer brewery? Join us as we sit down with Jay Duvall and Missy Tuttle of Twisted Oak Farm Brewery, who share their incredible journey of turning a 60-acre farm into a haven for beer enthusiasts. Learn how their unwavering commitment to authenticity drives them to grow their own barley and hops, and discover the importance of pure well water in crafting their signature brews. Jay and Missy open up about the challenges and rewards of farming their ingredients and how community engagement through events and charity initiatives plays a pivotal role in their success.
Beyond the brewery, Jay and Missy reveal their love for the outdoors, from skiing to beach outings, and how these passions enrich their lives outside of work. Get a glimpse into the warm and inviting atmosphere of Twisted Oak Farm Brewery, complete with delicious food options and the charming presence of their friendly rooster, Norman Cluck Norris. As they discuss their plans for the future, including expansion and continuous community involvement, you’ll be inspired by their collaborative spirit and dedication to quality. This episode is a heartfelt tribute to the joy and privilege of creating a unique space that connects with the community and celebrates the art of craft beer brewing.
I'm Jay Duvall, owner of Twisted Oak Farm Brewery, and we're making craft beer from the farm.
Speaker 2:I love that and my name is Missy Tuttle. I serve as the operations manager and I help deliver a great guest experience. I love that.
Speaker 3:Tell me a little bit about your brewery. I know I saw that you guys grow your own ingredients the barley, and another word that I don't even know what that is. What is a hop hops? Yeah, if you could maybe there's other listeners who don't know what that is could you explain to me what that is and why? What makes you stand out growing your own ingredients on the farm?
Speaker 1:well, most places don't grow their own barley, which is which is they just don't have the space or the the land to do that. So I want to do that just to make it an authentic farm brewery. And the hops are. A lot of people can grow hops and take up a small amount of space. That's the actual flower of the vine. Is what you use for flavoring the beer.
Speaker 3:Anything that you want to share with us.
Speaker 2:Just that. It's a beautiful 60 acre farm. We've got about 10 acres of the barley and it is a working farm as well. We've got chickens there as well, and it's just a great place to work.
Speaker 3:I love that and do you guys? Since you have 17 chickens, do you guys offer any like eggs? Is that like a service you can?
Speaker 2:provide Absolutely. We do offer some things that we grow on the farm. The barley and the hops go into the beer. We do sell chickens or not not the chickens, not the chickens.
Speaker 3:We sell the eggs and you know, as as we grow, we may be offering other things as well wonderful and now give me a little bit of a background about you guys and how you got started in your industry and how the brewery came to be well, well, depends how far back you want to go.
Speaker 1:I started brewing in college 40 years ago. Okay, um, just you know, five gallon buckets and something to do among friends and have a good time and get to be more of a side project than anything and just slowly grown over the years, got better equipment and more interest in it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, love that here we are. Yes, here we are, and the part that Jay leaves out is he's quite humble about it, but in his day job he's an architect and builder. So on the farm, the 60-acre farm, he's built all of the structures, and the structure that the brewery is in was actually the first structure built on the farm and used to be the hay barn. Oh wow. It's also been his woodworking shop and it's had many lives, oh wow.
Speaker 3:Don't be shy. You can share that here. We're going to highlight you and your business. So, yeah, it'll be good times. And now for your business. I know you guys are just starting out getting your name out there. What kind of marketing are you guys doing? Are you guys avid on social media, getting the word out there? Talk to me about that for any entrepreneurs who maybe are also on the same boat and trying to get their name out there in the community.
Speaker 2:Well, we started with social media about a year ago. We built the Facebook page and just started to share that process of building the structure or, you know, refurbishing some areas and then also the brewing and the growing of the product. So we've been able to really leverage that. And also we've been doing a lot of outreach with the community. So far, even though we've only been open for a few months, we've had a 4K and 8K race that benefited the local fire department. Our sweet dog, arlo, had a birthday party, so we had a birthday potty for a cause. I love that and those proceeds went to the local animal shelter. So, in addition to having this wonderful space that we want to share with people, we also want to help contribute to the community that we live in, and that's one of the ways in which we sort of share our mission.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I love that. Why is it so important for you guys to give back to the community? Like, talk to me about that, Like how did that?
Speaker 2:start. I think it really just goes back to who we are as people. We both feel incredibly fortunate and blessed that. You know we live good lives and we just want to be able to help others. You know people have helped us along the way, whether it's learning, growing, evolving, and you know we just want to be able to do the same.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, I love that. And tell me, does growing the ingredients on your own farm? Does that really make a big difference on how the beer tastes?
Speaker 1:I think so.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah. What are some of the things that you think makes you stand out as a brewery? Because we have so many breweries around here, tell me why you think yours is, you know, special or different well, the.
Speaker 1:The water comes from a well on the property. That's 900 feet deep solid bedrock and that's. You can't get that from a municipal water source. It's there's no chemicals in it, it's just pure, clean water. As fresh as it gets and that's the main ingredient, beer and then growing the, the crops and using something from the farm it's as fresh as you can get. I mean you don't know that the age of the barley you buy from us, any other distributor yeah no, it could be sitting there for a year, you don't know.
Speaker 3:And the taste does transfer okay, and what are some of the challenges of growing your own um ingredients on the farm, or do you not see that as a challenge? It's more just like sure it's a challenge.
Speaker 1:Farming is a is a gamble every year um weather, um you know it has a huge part in it. Um, we had some problems with um some leaf rot this year, but we were able to work around that and get through it. But you don't know what the weather's gonna bring. Yeah no, especially it could be drought, or it could be too much water. It could be a lot of things no, absolutely.
Speaker 3:Thank you for sharing that. There's because I'm not, like, super knowledgeable in farming, so to me I'm just like, is that easier because the convenience of it being there and pulling it, but the growing you're like.
Speaker 1:It's easier just to buy it from a distributor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I know. So the fact that you guys put in all that work, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:In addition to planting the crop, you have to make sure that the soil is good soil. So maybe planting a crop ahead of time that's going to add nitrogen to the soil for the barley, planting, growing, harvesting, storing, malting, all of those pieces are absolutely pertinent to getting a great product.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, you're right, that's something for me to actually reflect and think about. So, yeah, do you guys currently have a team working with you guys, or?
Speaker 2:is it just you both doing everything? We have an amazing team. Talk to me about that. Oh my goodness. We are just so, so fortunate. We have four folks that we work with that are just so incredible and have diverse backgrounds, and each one brings their unique skill set. Diverse backgrounds, and each one brings their unique skill set. Mary, our taproom manager, also will bring out her guitar and sing when we have live music. Rick is a former IT guy, so he helps out when we have glitches. Kara is amazing with plants and has helped actually plant some of the hops for us this year. And Kelsey is learning how to brew. Wow, it's all hands on deck I love that.
Speaker 3:I love that you're also teaching them like that 's. I feel like that's not something they can learn just every day, especially at a brewery. That is like some skill there and hopefully she can like pass that on too someday. So absolutely, that would be so wonderful. Um, what do you guys like to do when you're not on the farm? Or is that like your 24-7 like baby that you like to take care of?
Speaker 1:we like to be there, it's just a beautiful place to be okay but like any hobbies like, do you guys maybe like hunting, reading books?
Speaker 3:how do you unwind and relax?
Speaker 2:well ski in the winter beach in the summer um just being outdoors, really hiking, um Anything outdoors we really enjoy.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love that. What about you?
Speaker 1:Well, same thing. That's why we enjoy each other's company.
Speaker 3:I love that. No two peas in a pod.
Speaker 1:And we both like making things or making things happen.
Speaker 3:No, those are good qualities, love it. If you were able to describe your brewery in three words, what would those three words be? You guys can work on it together.
Speaker 2:Comfortable Okay.
Speaker 1:Authentic.
Speaker 3:Delicious, delicious. Oh, now I definitely want to go. Do you guys sell food on there as well, or is it just beer Hors d'oeuvres?
Speaker 2:maybe we have some grab-and-go items. We've got sandwiches, build-your-own charcuterie, chips, things like that, and on occasion we have food trucks as well.
Speaker 3:Wonderful. I love that. What kind of food trucks do you guys bring over there?
Speaker 2:Oh, a little bit of everything. Good variety, yeah, everything, from tacos to oysters, a little bit of everything.
Speaker 3:Love that. Wow, oysters fancy. Okay, love that style, Love it. Where do you guys hope to see yourselves in the next five years, like as a person and with your business?
Speaker 2:Still doing the same thing. Same thing, yeah, yeah. I think that you know, for both of us, we just really enjoy building and growing and learning, and this whole process in having a brewery is a first for us. We've both been entrepreneurs in the past and really just enjoy this whole process. So hopefully we'll still be here doing the same thing and be just as happy doing it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely, and hopefully like some growth in the community, knowing more about you and spreading the joy and being able to be at the brewery and see 17 chickens, Cause I know I would have a ball at that. I love chickens. My boss actually, Aaliyah, she has her own chickens and she has to watch out a lot for, like the foxes, she's made like her own little chicken cage but and she's got a rooster. So that is interesting. I don't know if you guys have a rooster.
Speaker 2:We have a rooster. His name is Norman Cluck Norris.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's who that the troublemaker?
Speaker 2:He's a troublemaker, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:No, I love that.
Speaker 2:That's great, and I think that not only does it speak to his character as a person to be so giving and kind, but to be a living donor and to make a difference in someone's life is such a big deal.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. That is no small feature there. That must have been a really good friend, because that is not an easy thing to do. So my heart goes out to you and your friend. That's beautiful, thank you. And if you could talk to me a little bit about the process of how you make your beer, maybe our listeners would like to hear that, since it's not a regular thing that happens at breweries. Talk to me about that process.
Speaker 1:Sure, well, I think most breweries make beer the same way. It's just, you know, you create a barley tea, you steep the barley and then you transfer it. After you convert the starches to sugar and then bring that to a boil, add your hops and it goes into the fermenter and add your yeast.
Speaker 3:Okay, have you guys ever considered making like videos on that and putting it on social media? I think that would be something interesting for people to see. Add like, maybe like info bits in there and give people tips Like did you know that when you mix this, this happens and it makes your beer actually taste more like this?
Speaker 2:Because I feel like you guys would have that knowledge that would do so well in social media, especially sharing the whole process and people's curiosity. Consider that ever. That's a wonderful idea, in fact. Uh, since oktoberfest is coming up, jlb brewing, I think, next week, so we'll be able to do that.
Speaker 3:Thank you yeah, no, yeah, just get a little tripod or maybe have jay or you hold the camera and whoever wants to be on the other side hold it, put it there and there's like a little setting on there, it's a time lapse, so you can see everybody do it really fast. And yeah, I think that would be great, especially to put that on social media and let people know, like how you're doing it.
Speaker 1:We do offer brewery tours too, so we can explain the process on site.
Speaker 3:Look at that. How ideal Love that. And they get to try the beers as they do everything. Okay, nice, I love that. Have you guys thought about maybe expanding your team at all? As business gets busier, would you consider anybody to come work for you, and what kind of people do you usually look for to be a team member with you guys?
Speaker 2:Sure, as we grow, you know, we would certainly look to add new people. The type of person that we're looking for is someone that knows how to be of service, someone that is willing to be all hands on deck as well. The amazing team that we currently have are really willing to help out and jump in and do any aspect of the business, and there are also opportunities for growth. As we grow and get a little bit bigger, we might need another taproom manager, so we're also always interested in teaching different aspects of the business as well. Like I mentioned, kelsey's learning how to brew beer, kara will be next, rick has helped out with that process, and Mary's probably not interested in brewing the beer, but she's happy to be on stage and sing. Love that.
Speaker 3:So all hands on deck Love that. So when you say sing, she does like performances there, yep, do you guys get a band all that good stuff, or? Or do you karaoke?
Speaker 2:talk to me a little bit about that oh, we have live music every saturday and we we are so fortunate to be surrounded by such amazing artists, so we feature a local artist every single weekend like a painting artist no singers. A singer artist?
Speaker 3:I didn't know if it was like also the musicians and you bring an artist to showcase their work or something. But that would be something to think about.
Speaker 1:We've considered that we need a little bit more wall space for a for a decent gallery okay but that would be fun.
Speaker 3:If only someone could build something gee, who could she be hinting at? Okay? Working on it there's like no clue.
Speaker 1:I'm just kidding. I love that we would like to feature some local painting artists as well, okay, yeah, I think that would be wonderful. Sculpture artists.
Speaker 3:Or even like the glass, like sometimes you can do like glass paintings on there, I don't know. Oh, yeah, it's so cute like that, make it personable and memorable, you know, yeah, we're open to all ideas. Meet, I want to hear that story well, we just found each other um during covid during
Speaker 3:those times, a lot of people were fearing for their lives. You guys found love during covid yeah, yeah, I sure did pretty lucky. Oh, speaking of covid, how are you guys handling, like, did you guys have the farm yet or not? Yeah, I've had the farm since 2002. Okay, and how?
Speaker 1:are you guys handling like, did you guys have the farm yet or not? Yeah, I've had the farm since 2002.
Speaker 3:Okay, and how are you guys handling that during COVID, because I know that was not an easy time for business owners and entrepreneurs. Were there any steps that you had to take? Did you maybe have to step away for a moment? Talk to me about that.
Speaker 2:Well, the brewery's only been open for five months, so the building process paused during that, uh, during that time. So you know, thankfully, that that wasn't something that that the brewery was impacted by.
Speaker 3:Okay, Thank goodness you hit it just right on time. They're missing that. Okay, and then, um, I guess, some parting words. Um, if you could share a message with our listeners, it could be anything in your heart, on your mind. What would that message be?
Speaker 1:Come share the experience. We really enjoy being there and would like to share that.
Speaker 3:What about you? You?
Speaker 2:got a message. I think it would be the same. It's such a gift to be there. I truly love this space and I welcome the opportunity to share with others.
Speaker 3:Well, thank you so much for you guys making time to be here and just sharing your story and talking to me about your brewery. We really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having us.