Author: Joe Watzig

“If people don’t know you exist, you won’t be in business long. “

Award-Winning Brewmaster Shares His Thoughts on Moving from Homebrewer to Professional in Havre Montana

Raymond Miller was a homebrewer before he and his wife, Maria Naranjo moved to Havre Montana in 2015.  In 2018, the couple realized their dream by graduating from homebrewer to professional when they opened Vizsla Brewing in the local Holiday Village Mall.  Havre is a small town of fewer than 10,000 people that is also home to three breweries, all within the same two-mile stretch of Highway 2, the town’s main drag.  With the competition so close, quality is even more important.  The brewery’s website homepage proudly states that “Vizsla Brewing uses only American-made stainless steel equipment to brew”, as well as “we have three 5 bbl stainless steel fermenters on site to give the yeast the cleanest and most sanitary environment available to work.”

Their emphasis on quality paid off when Vizsla Brewing was recently awarded “Brewery of the Year” at Montana Brew Fest 2019.  Maria attended the event and posted the following on Vizsla Brewing’s Facebook page on June 9, 2019:

Read the entire interview...

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At PKW, we received the following email from Center Street Brewing about their recent brewery opening and just had to share the good news!

Joe,
We opened our doors this past weekend and were met with a packed house both days! 40 to 50 people waiting to get in, and a packed house in the tap room. We are super proud of our team, and Portland Kettle Works is an integral part of that! We absolutely love the brewing equipment and it has out-performed our expectations! Thanks to everyone at PKW! From our team here at Center Street Brewing Company, to all of the team at Portland Kettle Works and The LABrewatory.

Below is a link to an article that was front cover (top fold) of today’s local newspaper [The Record-Journal]. Couldn’t help but to throw in a PKW thanks!

Local News Article: Center Street Opens Its Doors in Wallingford CT

Cheers!
Pete Ford,
Co-Owner, Head Brewer, Greeter of Beer Drinkers, and Bathroom Cleaner
Center Street Brewing Company

At PKW, we loaded Center Street’s brewery system on a truck one rainy day last December, 4 months before their brewery opening, for it’s cross-country trek from Portland OR to Wallingham CT

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Portland Kettle Works was founded in 2011 in Portland, Oregon USA. We build high-quality stainless steel beverage and brewing equipment. We have built and installed over 375 state-of-the-art craft breweries worldwide. As a result, our craft brewing clients are among the best of the best. They regularly win beer tasting competitions and they have the gold, silver and bronze medals to prove it. We’ve expanded into winemaking so, if you’re serious about winemaking, contact us so we can help you, too. And, if you’re located in Mexico or Latin America, click here to visit our Spanish language site.