About usOUR BREWER
A professional brewer since 2004, Ryan has spent the better part of this young century watching craft beer blossom into its golden age. He has done his best to contribute to the growing industry where awards and accolades have followed him, but he prefers to let the beer do the talking. From suburban Philadelphia’s Valley Forge Brewing Co., McKenzie Brew House and Sly Fox Brewery to Rinn Duin Brewing in New Jersey, Ryan has worked in breweries large and small. If there is a style of beer he hasn’t made, not many people are making it. Ryan’s vision for Brotherton Brewing Company’s beers is simple; To value, love and respect all of beer’s key ingredients. Whether it be a hop forward IPA, a soft and malty Amber, or a yeast driven Farmhouse Ale, Ryan is always inclined to let the beers take him on their journey.
Trial and ErrorIt's About Learning the Ingredients
Ryan ran brewing operations at the McKenzie Brewhouse and Rinn Duin Brewery as the head brewer. Quality and originality is always his main concern. Ryan came into brewing through the restaurant side of a brewpub, where he’d worked as a bartender, and eventually becoming the assistant brewer. Ryan learned to brew by trial and error, and reading every brewing book he could find. He eventually learned that ” It’s about learning the ingredients. Brewing is an art form that must be learned and studied. That’s the difference between making beer and making good beer.”
01. Craftsmanship
Now is the best time in U.S. history to be a craft beer lover. At Brotherton, we’ve revived the skills and dedication of the master-craftsman, and rediscovered the deep, inner satisfaction of doing things well. This is why our beer tastes as good as it does.
02. Don't Mess With Success
Fundamentally, beer has only four all-natural ingredients – water, malted barley, yeast and hops. Yet the variety of beer flavors is infinite. This complexity from simplicity provides scope for the individual expression of the craftspeople making the beer. Once you find that perfect combination of ingredients and timing, keep it!
03. Taste Matters
Flavor = Taste + Aroma. Flavors are often difficult to describe. Sometimes, all that you need to know is “I don’t know why, but this beer makes me feel good!”. You just don’t get that feeling from those huge, mega-brewery corporations. Try Brotherton for a great-tasting, home-brewed beverage
04. The Beautiful Hop
Hop plants are climbing vines. The plant part used in brewing beer is the hop flower, a delicate, pale green, papery cone full of perishable resins. They give a beer bitterness when used early in the brewing process, and aroma when added at the end. As a bonus, hops are a preservative, and extend the life of beer.
05. Sweet Priming
Priming Sugar is any sugar added to a fermented beer with the purpose of starting a secondary re-fermentation in a tank, a cask, a bottle, or more rarely, a keg. The end result is natural carbonation and additional flavor development.
06. Malted Grains
Barley is the seed of a grain that looks like wheat. But before barley can be used to make beer, it needs to be malted, which involves a natural conversion process. Eventually, these enzymes will produce the sugars that will feed the yeast to make the alcohol in the beer.
EVERY BEER WE MAKE
TestimonialsFROM THE TRUE CONNOISSEURS
GREAT ORGANIZATION
“Never been to Shamong or Atco, NJ, but their the beer is amazing”
SMALL BUT EFFICIENT
“One of NJ’s best breweries hands down. In fact, it’s my belief that Brotherton has some of the best tasting beer I’ve ever had”
EASY TO WORK WITH
“Great to have access to such a great range of beers so close to home. The guys are a great help too and clearly love beer”