Pawtucket’s Bucket Brewery Joins RI’s Beer Scene
Monday, April 29, 2013
From two friends brewing in the backyard, Bucket Brewery has evolved into a hot, new RI brewery with 5 special beers on the market and plans in the works.
GolocalProv took some time to chat to co-founder of Bucket Brewery, Nate Broomfield about the company’s growth.
A Team Effort
Co-founders Nate Broomfield, Erik Aslaksen, Drew Powers, Ron Klinger and T.J. O'Conner were a bunch of friends long before Bucket Brewery was born.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Erik and I had toyed with the idea of doing some kind of pro brewing. TJ came across some equipment we could retool to use in a larger scale than we could do at home, and we decided to start working on a commercial brewery,” Brookfield says. “Drew and Ron came on board both because we wanted to have our friends involved, but also because they brought some much needed skills to the effort.”
“Once we were all on board, it was very much a team effort.”
Brewing Success
From a bunch of friends brewing beer at home, Bucket Brewery was born and has seen great success in Rhode Island.
“I don't remember when I brewed my first batch, but it was probably about 15 years ago,” Broomfield says. “Once I started home brewing with my co-owner, Erik, we started brewing every week or so. With that came better supplies, a better understanding of the process and original recipes as opposed to pre-packaged ones.”
While tweaking their home equipment to a commercial level, it wasn’t all easy. “While we were perfecting the process and equipment in the brewery, we had some failed batches,” Broomfield says. “You get to a point where the only way to test things is to make some beer... if something wasn't yet perfected, we'd find out in the results. It was frustrating, but also very satisfying as things started to flow better.”
Designing Beer
Although the brewing process is standard operations, there’s something a little different about Bucket Brewery’s technique. Much of their equipment is homemade and altered for commercial use.
“Because of the homemade nature of our equipment, there are minor differences to how a larger brewery might operate,” Broomfield explains. “While most breweries can control the temperatures on individual fermentation tanks, we keep a portion of the brewery at a specific ambient temperature. Rather than carbonating our beer in a dedicated vessel, we designed our system to do it in the kegs.”
When designing the tastes and style of beer, Broomfield and co-owner Erik Aslaksen think about what they’d like and hope others feel the same. “My beer is always designed around what I wish I could buy,” Broomfield says. “When I (or Erik) design a beer, that is our only goal. [...] Fortunately the market has really taken a liking to our beer and the comments we get tend to reflect that people enjoy the very qualities we are designing for.”
The flavor of Bucket’s beers vary, but is powerful “There are currently five Bucket beers on the market that hit a wide variety of styles. All are very rich in flavor, as we use more flavorful grains than many other brewers,” Broomfield says. “We are making beers across a pretty wide spectrum, so you'd probably find one to go well with anything.”
A Brewing Community
Rhode Island has been a great support system and location for the founding of Bucket Brewery. “I love being in RI and the people and experiences here all contributed to getting the brewery started.”
Although Broomfield has his favorites, everyone part of the RI brewing scene is friendly and gets together to celebrate beer.
“I am a big fan of the RI beer scene! All of the brewers get together on a monthly basis to talk shop and we are on a friendly basis. Everyone is making good beer... I have favorites but won't name names,” Broomfield says. “Beer to me is just fun. It is a creative outlet, an enjoyable process and a beverage I love consuming!”
With upcoming plans to localize more of their hops as well as organizing a beer pairing event for Craft Beer Week this May, keep your eye on Bucket Brewery.
Check out the team’s brews for yourself at any of these locations. Also, keep an eye out for Bucket Brewery's beers at the Dunkin Donuts Center this summer!
Bucket Brewery, 560 Mineral Spring Ave., Pawtucket. For information visit their website here.
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