Hop Notch是一流的:屡获殊荣的啤酒厂拥有 by alumnus Jeff Klossner ’19
A brewery opened a little more than a year ago by Alfred University alumnus Jeff Klossner ’19 is already earning recognition in the Watkins Glen-area business community. Klossner在蒙图尔瀑布拥有Hop Notch酿造公司, NY, which opened in September 2022 和 was honored with the “Best New Business Award” by the Watkins Glen Chamber of Commerce.
Klossner’s journey from Alfred University—where the Waverly, NY, native earned a bachelor’s degree in renewable energy engineering—to serving up craft beers from a taproom in a renovated dairy barn, 是独一无二的, 退一步说. And it’s safe to say that Klossner developed a penchant for running a successful business while an undergraduate at Alfred University.
As a sophomore in 2017, Klossner bought a trailer 和 converted it into a food truck. The first event for his fledgling business—Trailer Trash, 是2017年的热狗日, 在那里他提供了包括汉堡在内的菜单, 薯条, 和, 当然, 热狗. “食物主要是美式汉堡, 热狗, 薯条，但我们根据场地设计了菜单, customizing it to fit the event’s location 和 clientele,他说.
The business grew throughout Klossner’s time at Alfred University; he owned three trucks 和 employed 10 by the time he graduated in Spring 2019. Klossner, 在k8彩乐园app官网下载踢足球和橄榄球的人, 只要有时间就在店里工作:晚上, 周末, 类之间的, 休息的时候.
“Sometimes I’d get done working my co-op 和 head to (an event location) 和 work. 有几次我睡在卡车里，”他回忆道. “这是我创业经历的开始. It was extremely critical to helping me develop time management skills.”
毕业后, Klossner sold the food truck business 和 moved to Pittsburgh where he began working at the refractories company HarbisonWalker International (HWI), providing Lean Six Sigma training at the company’s various plants, advising workers on how to be most efficient 和 economical. After six months he moved into a sales position which eventually evolved into a supervisory role.
COVID-19 hit in spring 2020 和 by the latter part of the year Klossner was furloughed. With no income, he moved in with a friend in Sayre, PA, near his hometown of Waverly. “My friend’s father owned a couple rental units, which I helped manage 和 turn over. 我最终开始购买和炒房.”
Klossner would eventually acquire several rental properties of his own, 主要在佛罗里达州和宾夕法尼亚州, 现在哪些是他的主要收入来源. He has sold his real estate in Florida 和 while he is still involved in running his properties, he has hired someone to manage the day-to-day operations.
“The rental business had become self-sustaining, so I really didn’t have to do a lot,” Klossner said. With a lot of free time, he asked himself what he wanted to do next. “I knew I loved business, the process of building businesses.”
A friend suggested he look into purchasing the vacant former “Heavily” brewery in Montour Falls. Located in a renovated dairy barn, the brewery was open from 2014 to 2018. Klossner于2021年11月购买了该工厂, but knew he would need help getting the business up 和 running, as his beer-making experience was limited to having once brewed a five-gallon bucket in his family’s garage.
“I really had no background, but I’m willing to learn anything,他说. “我知道如何经营企业. You don’t need to do everything; you need to find the right puzzle pieces to help it succeed.”
In this case the right puzzle piece was Taylor Trenchard, an experienced beer maker who had worked at other breweries in the area. “我认识他，我喜欢他的产品. 我说，‘你为什么不进来帮我呢.’”
Trenchard came on board 和 began making beer in 2022 和 Hop Notch Brewery opened to the public in September of that year. 的啤酒, Klossner说, is in a “fun transition period” 和 is primed to exp和 from a two-barrel brewing system to a 15-barrel system. “这是一个疯狂的跳跃.”
Expansion is planned not only for the volume 和 varieties of beer, but in the venue itself. “We plan to use it for weddings 和 other bigger events,他说. “我们希望开发一个场外的自来水室. I see us in five years having multiple locations 和 having our beer in stores.”
Is Klossner, just 26 years old, having fun with his new gig?
“Brewing beer is very competitive, so you’re always having to push the envelope,他说. “好玩吗?”? What other job can you have where you’re sitting behind a bar all day, 和客户扯淡, 不断尝试新事物. 我很幸运. 我没有一天不喜欢我正在做的工作.”
While Klossner is certainly intent on making his business profitable, it’s not his sole priority. “My mission is the business needs to be community oriented,” he said.
To that end Hop Notch sponsors youth sports teams in the area as well as other programs aimed at helping disadvantaged kids. 克洛斯纳的金毛猎犬, Brewski, 是Hop Notch的常客吗, which has hosted events supporting the SPCA of Schuyler County, 包括一个宠物收养诊所. 的啤酒 collects donations for veterans organizations 和 throughout the week offers discounts to workers in industry 和 in the health care, 紧急服务, 执法人员.