Peeling Behind NoFo Brew Co
Meet Joe.
Joe Garcia owns NoFo Brew Co along with Shannon and Bryan Miles.
NoFo Brew Co is North Forsyth’s newest attraction. The brewery sits right off highway 400 and is impossible to miss due to the inviting outdoor space that implores passersby to stop and stay awhile.
It’s not just a brewery, it’s a community.
NoFo Brew Co is about more than just great beer, though great beer is most definitely involved. It’s about creating a space for the people and families of North Forsyth to gather and bring a sense of community to the area.
We sat down with Joe and asked some questions to get to know a little bit more about NoFo Brew Co and uncover what truly lies at the heart of their business.
1. who do you look to for inspiration and what is your vision for nofo brew co?
We are big travelers and we wanted to bring this adventurous spirit to North Forsyth. Much of our inspiration comes from our experiences in the outdoors of Wyoming and Montana and we wanted to bring this essence of the west.
There are few things better than hiking in the back country and bringing a couple beers along to enjoy with the view at the top.
Lots of people live vicariously through others these days and have a desire to be adventurous, so here’s a social beverage to act as a catalyst.
2. How do you hope people feel when they walk in the doors for the first time?
A lot of breweries are creating that garage-y warehouse vibe and we wanted to do something different.
We wanted to create an immersion of adventure.
Our main tap room is built like a “great room” - like the main room of a lodge out west. We have 4k ski videos and adventure reels going on in the background and a wall mural of Mt. Rainer to help our guests feel like they’ve been transported to a lodge in the mountains somewhere.
We aimed for the space to feel like a combo of a high-end restaurant and a high-end hotel backed up by great beer.
3. Before you opened you had a sizable audience on social media. What helped you generate excitement?
Too many companies use social media as a monologue to talk about themselves and forget that the star of the show should be the customer.
We ask ourselves before posting to social media, “How do we want to communicate our brand? Who is the hero in this post?”
We looked at our social media as if it were the hub of a wheel and thought, what are the “spokes” that the people in our taproom naturally care about? And how can we join those conversations?
We wanted to promote and celebrate other people, especially those we wanted to champion our beer. It’s as though we were “lending the microphone” to our community and joining in, rather than simply announcing that we are here.
I used to work at marketing agencies and media buying companies where we sat around creating a brand voice similar to Donald Miller’s StoryBrand 5-years before it was the BIG thing it is today.
We were lucky to find out some of what worked early on and continue to do that well.
4. Our team is a mix of young families and twenty-somethings (AKA beer newbies). What do you suggest we order and how do we keep our kids alive?
Family was a HUGE element for how we designed the space and we wanted everyone to have something they could enjoy here.
We kept families, dogs, and kids at the heart of our design with a fenced-in patio and gates that are hard to open, so children aren’t getting hurt or running away and you can sit and hang without worrying about your kids running off.
When we got the place ready, I actually brought my own kids in to test it. We wanted families to feel like they can stay.
Every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we have food trucks come in to add a food option. We also have corn hole, disc golf, and other games, so the space is truly a destination spot.
In terms of drinks, we have something for everyone! We have nonalcoholic beverages for the nondrinker and juice boxes for the kids so they don’t feel like they’re missing out on the fun.
GA is a heavy IPA location and the hazy IPA is increasingly popular. We really wanted to present something new and have a killer West coast style IPA that we think will be the flagship beer for us eventually. We also have easy-to-drink options for the less experienced or new beer drinker - we are integrating saisons and sours and have an amazing blackberry pomegranate sour.
5. If you could only do one thing well to market your business, what would it be?
A Great product.
Well-Executed Social Media.
I can’t choose just one…so I’ll choose two. There are so many mediums, but honestly if social media is done well and gets people in the door and if we deliver in person then we’re good.
That’s our focus.
now, Who’s thirsty?
NoFo Brew Co is open Wednesday-Sunday with food trucks and pizza delivery available.
If you like good beer and good people or read something inspiring, let NoFo Brew Co know!
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