Dobra Zupas’ Redden changing people’s ideas about selling craft beer

What’s it like running a nano-brewery in Beckley, WV?

“It’s challenging,” says Dobra Zupas brewer Steve Redden. “It’s definitely made me step my game up because with the small system, it really makes you put your best into every keg.

“The market’s actually more receptive than I could have dreamed in the beginning. Opening up (in Beckley a year and a half ago) it’s amazing to see all the people I hung out with who I didn’t even know liked craft beer.”

Since he is selling most all of the beer he makes at the restaurant, his priority is brewing something that will bring people back. Beers you will find in the Dobra Zupas bar will always include a few that you can get nowhere else.

“By early 2017 we want to keep all 10 of our taps filled most of the time with our beer,” he says.

While his tiny, one-barrel capacity brewing system is dwarfed by most craft breweries in our area, that doesn’t mean Redden can’t make good beer on it.  It is solid.

The little system has a brewhouse and four fermenters, making one-barrel-sized (31-gallon) batches of beer at a time. That 31 gallons fills 248 pints each run.

The Dobra Zupas restaurant has loved the addition of house-made beer. Whether it is beer pairing dinners or just having an additional draw that brings more customers in, it has been good for business.

“We’re going through about two 1/6th barrels of each barrel each week of what we have on tap. I could see us growing to do a lot more.”

Redden says his customers get excited to try his new beers, in fact, they are unhappy if he doesn’t tell them about a new one. He recommends the best way to keep up with their ever-changing tap list is to use Untappd.com

A one person show in the brewery

Back in the brewery, he’s pretty much a one person show.  That’s the secret to a successful nano-brewer.  Redden  hopes things continue to grow.

Their one-barrel size electric brewing system made by Stout is very flexible. On it, Redden can make just about every type of beer there is. It’s great for experimentation.

“The brewery boot camp is what I’m looking at it as,” he says

It is a pretty manual brewing system. Nothing wrong with that. The equipment is not so basic that it doesn’t include a very spiffy controller unit to help automate things a bit —  little things like boiling water but not wasting energy.

“We boil at 208 (degrees F) here in Beckley,” he tells me, due to the altitude.

To boil the wort, his controller only heats it to 208º degrees instead of 212º because the extra four degrees would be wasted. Smart.

Other parts of his system are not so controlled. He has to constantly be aware of the ambient temperature for fermentation because his fermentation tanks are not jacketed. That means he can’t control the temperature at which the wort ferments into beer.

“Let ‘er rip,” he says with a smile.

Honestly, it does affect the styles he can brew. For instance, the Blond is a little maltier than he’d like. But he makes do, and the customers seem to like it.

College brewing days

Redden began his personal fermentation education and brewing experience during his college days with buddies at Concord University in Athens, WV, getting serious around 2006 and 2007. First, they made blackberry wine from wild blackberries they had picked. After visiting some homebrew equipment stores and picking up brewing supplies, they began tinkering with beer.

They were lucky that southern West Virginia had easy access to Virginia, where some homebrew shops and small breweries were already located. When making runs to Virginia to pick up brewing supplies, they also tried many of the local Virginia beers.

“We couldn’t get anything hoppy at home, so we started making our own beers,” he said.

Redden would brew a bunch of one-gallon batches each week and end up a month with about 15 beers. He would invite all his friends over and have a beer dinner once a month.

“I was really annoying to my friends because I wanted to know exactly what they tasted in each beer,” he said.

He counts among his influences Adam Woodson of Damascus Brewery in Abingdon, Virginia.

“He really taught me a lot about what you could and couldn’t put into a beer,” he said.

Others that helped him were the people at Wolf Hills Brewery, also in southwestern Virginia, and John Kidd (one of his old homebrew buddies), who is now brewing at Right Turn, Clyde Brewing  in Narrows, Virginia. The brewing world is a pretty tight community, especially in Appalachia.

Among his favorite, most inspirational beers he counts Sierra Nevada Torpedo. It accelerated his quest for hops, and early on, gave him a target for achievement. (Good choice, Steve)

Dobra Zupas ready to grow

With Dobra Zupas’ current equipment, Redden can produce two barrels a week. His sights are set on more. He embraces the tiny system, but can’t wait until it gets bigger.

“I’m hoping in the next year to get a 3-barrel system at least,” he said.

Based on their first year’s experience, he thinks they can sell a ton more beer in southern WV and the surrounding area. Down the road, he sees the potential of having four or five people employed in the brewery there. It’s the kind of business goal you sure want to see succeed.

Dobra Zupas committed to distribution

Dobra Zupas supplies beer to 20-some accounts around the state, though not all the time, and not in much quantity due to the limited supply. Redden says they are committed to growing distribution so  people can get their beer, at least occasionally, in other parts of the state.

Dobra Zupas currently keeps three of its beers registered with the state so they can distribute them to other accounts. Core brands that appear in distribution are:

• Hopped Up IPA, 7% abv
• Java Jive Coffee Porter, 8% abv
• Wyco Wheat, 5% abv

Specialties abound in the bar

Redden has come up with a few specialties, some he likes to call West Virginia fermented craft cocktails, and they are gaining popularity in his bar. The Mountaineer Mule is Dobra Zupas house-made alcoholic Ginger Beer blended with Smooth Ambler’s Gin.

He also serves up a garden of specialty beer. One example is Amigo Bo Belgian Citra Dry-Hopped IPA, 9.0% ABV. Dry-hopped with a big jolt of Citra, fermented with Belgian yeast, it has a whole lot of honey in it. Beautiful reddish-orange hue.

When Redden gets into the brewery, he follows his muse. He is not afraid to try many variants off of a theme. That is how he came up with the Tiramisu version of his Vanilla Bean Stout.

“Once you have these base beers its fun to see what you can do with it,” he says.

And that’s why it’s so much fun stopping in Dobra Zupas. Your taste buds are in for a treat.

Dobra Zupas
Restaurant and Brewpub Webpage Link
600 South Oakwood Av.
Beckley, WV