Meet the Team: Connor Kelly

We sat down with our assistant brewer Connor Kelly to chat about his journey into craft beer.

What was your introduction to craft beer?

The first craft beer I had was Ninkasi Total Domination that my parents sent me for my 21st birthday while I was at Gonzaga. At the time I remember it being really rough but after that I got more into the craft side of things it just spiraled from there. I remember drinking a lot of Pike Brewing IPA and Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and those were kind of my intro to hoppy beers.

How did you get started as a brewer?

I believe it was fall of 2015, I had a coworker who was home brewing and he let me know about a National Learn to Home Brew Day sale and I got a starter kit. I started home brewing in my really small apartment on the stove top doing extract batches and cooling everything in a bathtub full of ice. I ended up moving to Colorado and getting a job at a yeast lab called BSI (Brewing Science Institute) and that’s when home brewing really took off for me. I had access to as much yeast as I needed and that transitioned to all-grain brewing. I made myself a backyard rig and I was brewing almost every weekend for a while. I continued working at BSI and home brewing until I eventually moved back to Spokane and got a job brewing at Paragon Brewing in Coeur’d Alene.

What is your favorite style of beer to brew, and why?

Ultimately I love brewing the styles that I want to drink, so lagers and IPA’s are really satisfying for me. But I also really got into home brewing with wild yeast and bacteria ranging from wild saisons to Flanders reds. I loved the process of not really knowing what the flavor profile was going to be and watching those flavors develop and that was really exciting for me.

What do you enjoy doing outside of brewing?

I do a lot of wood working. I initially got started just making furniture for my apartment because buying furniture was too expensive. That turned into doing a lot of different projects and eventually I got a lathe and started turning bowls and vases. I’ve also been folding origami for like 20 years so recently I’ve been combining those things into sort of vignette scenes with origami subjects staged on wood. I’ve actually started selling those at the store From Here in the downtown mall.

Favorite band to listen to while working or brewing?

Going off of my Spotify the band Her’s was by far my most played band last year. I can get down to some heavier stuff and even some acoustic stuff but largely what I listen to is similar stuff to what plays in the pub.

Tell us about yeast propogation at Uprise.

Having worked on both sides of the industry it was a natural progression to bring in-house propagation to Uprise and start growing our own yeast. Having consistent cell counts and ensuring we are pitching the proper amount of healthy yeast is so crucial. We get to have more control and understanding of how it’s going to ferment, final gravities and flavor profiles and it has been a fun process seeing our yeast from start to finish.

What is your favorite Uprise beer at the moment?

Japanese Lager. I love how light and flavorful it is and how easy it is to sip on throughout the day. It’s just a really pleasant beer to drink.