Meet Eli Gerson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eli Gerson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eli, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

We had to find our resilience before we opened and then shortly after.

Resilience comes from careful planning, research and education. Going into an industry which was already on the downslide from its peak a few years prior, we knew there was risk. The brewery/taproom model absolutely exploded in the late 2000s and continued through 2015 or so. That meant a lot of competition and the requirement to set our quality and customer service goals extremely high. We spent the better part of 4 years writing business plans, rewriting them, going to school, working for other breweries and talking with our peers to ensure we had as much knowledge as we could to compete in a crowded market. This research helped us choose our location as we knew there was a lot of opportunity in Grand Junction as the brewery scene was still in its infancy.

Shortly after breaking ground, COVID hit. And after we opened, we complied with health and safety standards which meant all our planning was cut by 50% due to capacity limitations. But, we kept our quality high of product and business high to weather the pandemic.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

We are focused on making the best craft beer experience possible.

My personal journey began with my first homebrew kit in 2011. I made an IPA and it was awful. But I was intrigued by the challenge, the science and the art of the process. I quickly become obsessed with the hobby of making beer. I entered my first homebrew comp in 2012 and won best in show. This allowed me to make my 5 gallon recipe on a commercial system. That’s when a hobby turned into an obsession. I then spent most of my free time brewing, learning and building and rebuilding my homebrew kit.

At about the same time I was getting into home brewing, so was my brother-in-law. We both shared a passion for the craft. And, as you do, we started talking about what could be late night over beers. We both knew opening a brewery was something we wanted to do and we were both heading into stages of our lives where making a radical shift in careers and lifestyles could be possible.

We knew we wanted to be in Colorado. We also wanted to try to find a location which was not yet over served for breweries. And those locations in this state are few and far between. We did look for a couple of years in different mountain resort towns, but GJ was always on our list. We both grew up here, I have family here and for some reason, the Grand Valley was totally underserved for breweries. We found our building in late 2018 and I knew immediately this had to be the spot. It was a giant old box in a great location and it gave us the opportunity to build exactly what we wanted.

Once we knew we were going to open a brewery, we both started educating ourselves on the business of beer. I also enrolled into the Applied Brewing Sceinces program at Regis, interned and worked at two breweries in Denver to gain experience.

Since opening in 2020 we have exceeded our business plan projections and we continue to grow, to learn and to always strive to produce the best beer we can.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I think many breweries start with passion. The passion for the craft and for making great beer. But, in terms of opening a brewery successfully, this ability is actually not the most important. I would say these skills/areas of expertise are critical:

1. Running and operating a small business – We are in the business of selling beer, not making beer. Knowing the ins and outs of small business are critical. The elements of business are far to lengthy to list here and we frequently find something new on a regular basis that we didn’t even consider would be a concern until it became one.

2. Staff training and delegation – Our staff are the front lines of our brand. Having the right people in place and with the training to succeed is critical. Along those same lines, delegating responsibilities to those staff members allows myself as an owner, along with our other managers and staff, to focus on their tasks so they can be done with care and quality. An ownership can not do it all and must be able to surround itself with great people.

3. Never get comfortable and always look to improve – We are in a very competitive industry. Just ok is not good enough. Our product, our service and our space can always improve and we dedicate ourselves to finding and implementing those improvements on an ongoing basis.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

We love to collaborate with local non-profits. We have had many such collaborations since opening. Some include Colorado National Monument Association, The Grand Junction Symphony Orchestra, Underdog Dog Rescue, The Western Slope Art Center, The Avalon Theatre and CMU Cycling. In each case, we work with their staff to concept a new beer and use the beer release as an opportunity to build awareness and raise funds for each organization. Its a really fun way to get involved with the people that make a difference in the arts, outdoor conservation and education in our community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ramblebinebrewing.com
• Instagram: @ramblebinebrewing
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/ramblebinebrewing