What began as an online forum on home brewing and supplies launched business partners Ross Metzger and Cody McKendrick into their passion, resulting in two brick and mortar locations of brew supply equipment known as Salt City Brew Supply. The first location opened in 2011 in Salt Lake. The second is in Ogden.
“Cody and I have been friends since childhood, and have always had that entrepreneurial spirit,” Ross said. “After we looked into monetizing our website, we realized that most suppliers require you to have a brick and mortar location. We decided this was a good opportunity for us and it made sense for us to do it. We sold the website and used the money to open our first store.”
They sell everything you need to make fermented beverages at home; beer, wine, cider and Kombucha. Want to get into cheese or yogurt making? They have you covered there as well.
Shelves are lined with ingredients like barley, hops and grains, spices and extracts. Beginner kits for all products can be purchased to get the novice maker started. Supplies like kegs, bottles and racking are also necessary items readily available. An introduction class to home brewing is offered every six to eight weeks for free, so if home brewing has been on your bucket list of hobbies to try, now is your chance.
“We just sell groceries here so we don’t have any problem with the DABC. Most of our products even have the food tax, since they are consumables,” Ross stated. “It is a really fun hobby; doing something with our hands has always appealed to us. We now have a better understanding of the community, who is serving the community, and what the home brewing community needs. We wanted to fill the holes.”
The BJCP (Beer Judge Certification Program) Tasting Exam is offered for those who want to take things to the next level. This is for people who want to semi-professionally judge beer. Advanced home brew classes and a home brew competition, The Lagerpalooza, held in May, in conjunction with the Bohemian Brewery & Grill, is also very popular. One of the winners will have their beer selected to be brewed at Bohemian Brewery.
“Come talk to us. We are all really knowledgeable and are happy to help,” Ross stated. “We kind of water it down for you and make things pretty simple, talking face to face sometimes makes all the difference. We sponsor a couple of home brewing clubs in the valley, give them discounts, and help them purchase things for their events. We also do a quarterly wine swap where home winemakers get together and trade their wines with other winemakers.”
Salt City Brew Supply: 723 Fort Union Blvd., SLC 801-849-0955
Ogden City Brew Supply: 2269 Grant Avenue, Ogden 385-238-4995