On the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland resides a killer brewery, DuClaw Brewing Company. They’ve brewed and marketed more than 40 unique beers, and will be distributed in eleven states by the end of the year. DuClaw Brewing has found fluidity at play in more than just the beer they brew – it also drives their team’s ability to tackle challenges creatively and employ everyone’s skill and talents regardless of role.
Who are you, what’s your role, and your favorite hand-held food?
[ER] My name is Elizabeth Rhodes, I’m the Vice President of DuClaw Brewing Company, and my favorite hand-held food is a breakfast burrito. You can’t find a design flaw in a tortilla filled with egg, meat, cheese, and salsa.
What’s the story of DuClaw Brewing?
[ER] In 1995, our founder, Dave Benfield, decided that Harford county, Maryland needed a brewpub; and it had to be cool. By 1996, DuClaw Brewing Company of Bel Air opened its doors and within one year, Dave’s brainchild was dubbed “Bel Air’s hippest establishment” by the local newspaper. Restaurants in Hanover, MD and Bowie, MD soon followed and a few years later, we began bottling our beers for distribution beyond our own restaurants and demand for the product increased exponentially!
Having outgrown our original brewing facility inside our Bel Air restaurant, and our first standalone brewery in Abingdon, MD, DuClaw Brewing Company is now housed in a large, state of the art brewery on the outskirts of Baltimore. Through constant innovation and testing of new recipes, combinations and ingredients, Dave and Brewmaster Jim Wagner created more than 40 unique beers and countless variations and blends.
The entire staff, from Creative to Distribution and about 30 of us at the corporate level, work together with Dave and Jim from the conception of the beer style and name to the branding and product launch, creating a unique image and identity for each and every new beer.
What’s great about working at DuClaw Brewing?
[ER] Since 1996, we’ve cultivated an atmosphere that has lead to our staff functioning as a cohesive team with everyone playing a specific role, which can vary from stepping up to lead or stepping back to provide support, depending upon what the specific situation demands of each of us. That fluidity allows us to solve problems creatively and effectively by not only maximizing everyone’s strengths, but allowing them to discover and develop new individual skill sets that benefit the entire team. While there is no shortage of challenges to overcome, there is also no shortage of creativity with which to overcome them. Also, there’s free beer!
Please share some insight into DuClaw Brewing’s approach to employee and workplace operations. How has Kin played a role?
[ER] Kin has taken what was once a paperwork/scheduling/logistical nightmare for me and turned it into a fast, efficient, paper-free after thought. Keeping track of vacation days and scheduling leave took so much time when our staff was small that when our rapid growth and expansion started a few years ago, I quickly realized that managing vacations could become a full time job. But Kin not only simplifies the record keeping and scheduling through the calendar, it also adds the graphs for people that are more visually oriented. Everyone can use the system easily, which allowed us to essentially divide responsibility for time-off management among the entire staff.
“So much of what we already do relies on individual team members being self-starting and self-reliant, that Kin was a natural fit for us. It not only reinforces that ethos, it also makes it easy for individual team members to be self-sufficient.”
Anything notable going on lately?
[CQ] We recently expanded our distribution territory into Ohio and South Carolina (joining Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Northern Virginia, West Virginia, Washington DC, and North Carolina), and looking to add Kentucky by the end of the year!
