Discover amazing gluten-free beer with Karen Hertz. Enjoy rich flavors and a delightful experience, perfect for all beer lovers!
Discovering Delicious Gluten-Free Brews with Expert Karen Hertz
Karen Hertz is pioneering the craft beer industry as the founder of HoliDaily Brewing Company, the only female-owned and fully certified gluten-free brewery in the country. Driven by her own health challenges and a passion for beer, Karen has carved out a niche that caters to the growing demand for gluten-free options. Her journey illustrates the intersection of personal health and entrepreneurship, showcasing how adversity can inspire innovative solutions in the food and beverage sector.
HoliDaily Brewing Company is experiencing rapid growth and is expanding its reach into multiple states, reflecting the increasing popularity of gluten-free beer. This trend highlights a significant shift in consumer preferences, as more individuals seek out gluten-free alternatives without compromising on taste. Karen’s efforts not only contribute to the diversity of the craft beer market but also demonstrate the potential for women entrepreneurs to thrive in traditionally male-dominated industries.
Crafting Deliciousness: Unveiling the Secrets Behind Karen Hertz’s Irresistibly Flavorful Gluten-Free Brews!
and welcome to another episode of experts speak I’m Michael Delon today I’m talking with Karen Herz Karen thank you for being my guest today thank you for having me today well you’re welcome it’s going to be fun Karen you’re I think well Karen lives out in the Colorado area she is owner and.
Proprietor of the largest dedicated glutenfree Brewery in the US now Karen I got to I got to say you’re probably the first person I’ve ever had on my podcast that does what you do in that whole industry and I’m really excited because I didn’t even know there was a such thing as a glutenfree beer and so while I can’t wait to dive into this tell me.
How in the world did you get doing what you’re doing today yeah I mean one of our biggest jobs is just to educate people that there’s an option out there for people that love beer and want to reduce fluen from their diet But ultimately I I started holidale it was a combination of my work life and my education and my personal life so I I.
Worked um at another Brewery here in Golden Colorado you might have heard of called pores uh for about 10 years so I had beer industry experience um I haven’t a MERS in business in entrepreneurship I it wasn’t really because I thought I would start a company I I’m a crazy person that liked writing a business plan um so but I did.
Have the background in the education and then I ran into my own health issues um I’m a two-time canc or Survivor first surviving melanoma and then second thyroid cancer and I had radiation and surgery for both of those but in addition doctors recommended that I most likely had a gluten sensitivity and needed to cut gluten out of my diet um.
Was in the beer industry Beer’s a huge part of really the Colorado Community and our social life here and um there were no good gluten- three beer options out there and so just research the ingredients and and why weren’t there great options for people and ultimately figured out a way to brew amazing certified gluten-free.
Beer and uh we opened in February of 2016 wow that’s um perseverance would be a word I would use for you based on what you just said no both personally but professionally as well uh because you’re right I’ve never heard I’ve never heard of a gluten-free beer and and um so let’s talk about that all right so my family is pretty much.
Gluten-free and years ago when Jill first turned gluten-free for us I mean it was like eating cardboard right it was like terrible I like oh today is a totally different story I mean we eat gluten-free a lot and it it Rivals if not trumps a lot of normal food right so that’s the first thing when somebody says a gluten-free beer I go oh really.
No so talk to us about the flavor The Taste the robustness and all of that and and how you how you figured this whole thing out yeah yeah I mean it really comes down to ingredients so when we talk about beer and really any beer there’s four main ingredients so it’s water and grain Hops and yeast those are the four ingredients in any beer that we.
Drink and water’s gluten-free and hops are glutenfree and I can get yeast relatively easily glutenfree but grain is the challenge so most beers are made with barley and wheat um and both of those grains contain gluten so we could not utilize those grains um an alternative that a lot of other glutenfree breweries um or beers utilize.
Is syrups so they use like sorum syrup or rice syrup rather than the grain um and I didn’t like how that tasted it to your point it would like the character of the beer wasn’t there um it’s thin it’s pretty sweet um and so what I needed to do was find grain that we could replace the grain with and just a quick crazy story is I was Googling you.
Know gluten-free grain you can Brew with I didn’t know um and the only place in the world that was malting and preparing gluten-free grains to be ready to brew was 60 miles from my front door in Fort Collins Colorado get out in the whole world um and I was like well this is weird so I drove up there it’s another woman-owned company um it’s called grous.
Maltt house and they work only with they’re dedicated gluten- free as well they only work with gluten- free grains um and she creates all of the grains so that I can Brew great quality beers um we have experimented with a number of grains but what we have found is once you know we’ve played with different blends and different mixes what works.
Best for us is a combination of millet and buckwheat so rather than barley and wheat we’re utilizing Millet and buckwheat um it is malted just like barley and wheat would be so that’s a specific process and she does all that and then it’s roasted as well so we can make Stouts we have Imperial Stouts we have red beers we have sour beers we.
Have blond’s wits um so really it’s just a matter of time and experimentation on the different styles but we can really Brew anything with these ingredients that’s amazing so you you’ve now opened up to the beer drinking Community right which is like lots of us um an opportunity to enjoy one of our favorite drinks without the after effects of.
Gluten which are really are many and so talk talk about the the talk about the I want to talk about challenges you’re facing in the industry too because this is a new thing and I know you’re growing and expanding things from an entrepreneurial aspect what are some of the challenges you’re you’re facing and how are you overcoming them.
Yeah and it’s um it’s interesting because as time goes by they change obviously that’s part of being an entrepreneur right but really in the beginning you know conversations are very similar to and I which people had never heard of botin free beer um you know they didn’t really understand it and and all the way to now you know we.
Distribute to Texas we’re in nine states now but I was just in Texas two weeks ago and the people at the store were chasing me down because I had a holidy shirt on and they knew what what it was where it was what was going on so our eight years of hard work are starting to pay off um but definitely the biggest challenge for us is just education um.
And it’s everybody from Distributors to retailers to Consumers um that there is a gluten-free option that it is safe there’s there’s kind of um a variation of gluten-free options in beer and one is there are gluten reduced beers that are out there um and so they are brewed with barley and wheat and then enzyme gets chopped in and the.
Gluten gets chopped into pieces but it’s actually still in the beer and people think those are safe options and they’re not they’re not safe for highly sensitive or celiac um consumers and so that’s another confusing piece that we got to get educated you know educate our distributor on educate retailers on um that that doesn’t work you know it’s.
Kind of like making a peanut reduced product for people with peanut allergies like it’s not a thing um and so to be certified and dedicated we want to really educate people on there is options out there for people that is truly safe you can come back to beer or try beer for the first time um and I would say another thing is you know a.
Lot of gluten-free people aren’t even looking down the beer idle anymore they’ve kind of dismissed it right um and so we got to get people back into the beer Island let them know there’s an option and sometimes we do that just by cross promotions so we’ll find a gluten-free pizza crust and put a stack of beer by the pizza crusts in the in.
The store and let people know hey in the beer aisle there there’s actually gluten-free beer yeah um so it’s a huge challenge for us but um definitely what we’re up for is just educating people that there’s an option yeah I’m I’m thinking samplings might be a good thing we do a ton of that too you know back to your point like people are like oh.
That’s great but it probably doesn’t taste very good right um and so that’s another way that we can combat that and we load um you know stores and chains with samplings um throughout the year just to do exactly that to get you know you can almost see the chip on people’s shoulder like yeah that’s sure and we want to take care of that get that out.
Of the way um because we are Brewing world class delicious beer we’ve won every prestigious award and beer that you can win for the quality of the liquid that we make and so um we’re confident that this beer is just as good as any other craft beer it just happens to be Buren free yeah well that’s great I I I can just see you’re going to have.
A ground swell over the next few years as as more and more people uh start to understand that there is an option now yeah yeah and I can I can Good Golly I can see I’m I’m a vision I’m a prophet ready we’re gonna go into the store in about five years and there’s going to be aisle upon aisle of gluten-free options and beer because you started this whole.
Thing you you and some other people and and you’ve had the boldness and the courage and the tenacity to go out and figure it out and I love that entrepreneurial spirit because we we can’t let things stop us and so it’s like well there’s got to be an answer there’s got to be a way and you figured it out and I think and I think that’s.
You just part of being an entrepreneur is is solving a problem you face right so I faced this problem and I was passionate enough about beer that it it motivated me to to solve it um but I think to something I was taught a lot in school was you don’t have to be everything just be the best at one thing yes and so for me I think you know this.
Was something that I was like I could be the best at this I’m going to be the best at this one thing um and and we really stuck with beer there’s a lot of um distractions out there like seltzers and ciders and other things and I have just really stuck to nope I want to be the best gloen free beer that’s out there and that’s what we’re going to.
Focus on and that’s what we’re going to be I love it I love it and there there’s a marketing principle right there for everybody listening be the best at one thing and you’ll become known for it and um I think that’s exactly the the the pathway um that that you’re on Karen is to become known um as the person who who’s really opened up this category of.
Gluten-free beer and you’re making Every Day a holiday holiday I love that because it can be we can celebrate once again uh to enjoy great tasting beer that’s glutenfree certified gluten-free and um you may you may cause some people to move uh from one place to another it’s interally in nine states um or maybe to visit anyway that’s right we.
Get lots of visitors we get really cool um experiences in our Tap Room where it’s full Tears like happy tears you know they haven’t had a beer ever or in a very long time and it’s just as good for their spouse as it is for them and they’re hugging me and hugging our Brewers and it’s just a really unique place to be and a position to be in it’s.
Really cool I bet it is well I’m glad you came and shared with my audience today and if you find yourself out in Golden Colorado or any of the other states um you want to you want to check out holidaily brewing and uh get a taste of gluten-free beer it’s it’s going to really open your eyes and make your taste buds jump for joy Karen how do how.
Do people find out more about you and your company and your beers and all of that where would they where is the best place for them to go well you know we do have a website that’ll guide you through anything so it’s holiday brewing.com um and we’re on any social media platform as well whether it’s Tik Tok um LinkedIn Instagram Facebook any of those.
And I’m on LinkedIn as well if people are interested in connecting um so you know any of those are great places to connect with us and get to know holid a little bit more awesome and um think about it in terms audience of not just you enjoying it but maybe you know some Distributors that you could connect her with because we want we want to see that.
I told her she’s got to bring it to Kentucky for me um but uh holidaily brewing.com is the website go there check it out learn more about it tell others about it and um let’s see if we can see her soon on H having an entire aisle in the the grocery stores the liquor stores and and bringing the Glorious flavor of beer to those who are.
Gluten-free certified in a way to do it Karen wow congratulations well done and much much more success this is going to be fun to watch thank you cheers cheers I love that
