Prost Profiles: Dylan and Joel Betti from BriarBrothers Brewing

The new Buffalo brewery is built on family, tradition, and community. It'll be featured at the upcoming Rochester Real Beer Expo, too.

When searching for a brewery name and an identity for their fledgling business, brothers Dylan and Joel Betti looked both into the past and also high above.

The Bettis, separated by three years in age, have always been best friends. They’ve always done everything together. And like a band name, it seems all the best brewery names are already taken. So the Bettis gained some inspiration from their childhood. They grew up down on Briarwood Drive in suburban Buffalo.

Briar was part of their collective DNA. Adding “Brothers” was just a natural fit. The logo incorporates a baseball diamond to commemorate the field at the end of the street where they spent so much of their time growing up.

And when they finally stumbled upon the future home of the brewery in Buffalo’s Valley neighborhood in a historic old malting facility, they looked up and were struck by some graffiti at the top of one of the silos. It read, “I feel infinite.” That has become the unofficial slogan of BriarBrothers Brewing, 50 Elk St.

Photo: Brothers Joel, left, and Dylan Betti, co-owners of BriarBrothers Brewing in Buffalo.

In the latest Prost Profiles, I thought it would be fun to introduce some of the breweries participating in the 2023 Rochester Real Beer Expo. BBB is on board and will assuredly bring some unique stuff that represents the spirit of Buffalo. Open for just over nine months now, this Buffalo newcomer will be pouring in Rochester for the first time ever at this year’s Expo. Joel, the older brother, handles the business side of the operation, while Dylan is the head brewer.

Through a mix of a good variety of styles, including a pub ale that always cost $3 per pint in the tasting room, and a true family atmosphere, BriarBrothers has quickly earned a following in a crowded Buffalo beer scene. (Seriously, multiple Buffalo beer nerds suggested I extend an Expo invitation to BBB.)

So here’s a bit more about Joel and Dylan:

Q: It feels like I’ve been following your journey for years through people posting about your beers in the Buffalo Beer Geeks Facebook group. I always saw folks raving about your homebrews, so it’s pretty cool to be sitting in your tasting room right now. How did this journey come about?

Dylan: We got into brewing on a last-minute Christmas gift that Joel bought for me. I think it was six years ago now. At the time, I had no interest in brewing. I was a consumer. Joel and I bonded over craft beer. He picked me up a kit and said, ‘Why don’t you try making it if you like it so much?’ It sat in our closet for about five months, because I had no interest. We just tucked it away. And then one day, we had one of those really big winter storms we always get in March, that last random one. We were snowed in and we had nothing else to really do. So we cracked it open and gave it a shot. Everything was set up for you to make your first successful batch of beer. We had a really good time doing it together and then the beer turned out absolutely terrible. It was disgusting.

So me being stubborn, I wasn’t ready to say, ‘That’s it, that’s over.’ We did it again and I think we had the same outcome the first four times. Over and over again, we were just learning and changing something throughout the process to make it better. Eventually, we got to the point where we were making beer that was enjoyable for us. We’d give it to friends and family. It became something that we were happy to put our name behind.

Joel: We were canning beers on that same machine my mom is working on now. (She was canning beers during our interview using a can filler suitable for packaging one beer at a time.) With a good batch we’d get 24 or 30 cans. Friends were grabbing them and then some friends were asking if they could grab extras for their friends. And then we wanted to see if anyone on the (Buffalo) Beer Geeks page wanted to give it a go. It was surreal to see people in search of our beers. It got to the point where we didn’t even get to drink a full can of our homebrews any more, because it was getting picked up so quickly. It was wild. We were pretty much told and challenged that if we made more of it, people would drink more of it. So that was the kick in the pants we needed to start thinking about what it takes to open a business. That realization came maybe four years ago.

Q: How did you find the location for the brewery?

Joel: We found this building in the middle of the pandemic and it felt like home. This place sang just as soon as we walked in. We fell in love with it. We signed a lease in September of 2021.

BriarBrothers officially opened on June 25, 2022.

Dylan: It was definitely a bit of whiplash between signing the lease and opening. What was nice about the whole process is that the landlords were fantastic. They tolerated our caution before we signed the lease. We were really in communication for a few months before we signed. They were immediately able to alleviate our concerns before we signed and that’s why we were able to move so quickly. We ordered a 5-barrel brewing system from UBS (Ultimate Brew Service) at the same time we signed the lease. It was an ambitious goal to open so quickly, but it worked.

Q: What’s it like working with family? What are some of the challenges you face in going into business with your brother?

Joel: Dylan and I have always been best friends. That’s something our parents really instilled in us — take care of each other. As soon as we moved out of our parents’ house, we moved into an apartment together. We always had really similar interests. So deciding to go into business, it was a no-brainer to do it together. We knew how challenging it was going to be. We created lanes for ourselves and we stayed within them. Once somebody started veering over (into another lane), we’re very self aware and able to correct it. Dylan handles everything beer-related. He does everything when it comes to creativity and developing our beers. The other facets of the operation are on me. Feeling comfortable and confident with the other person’s ability to do what they do, we have that trust and we didn’t have to earn it, because we already had it. I think that’s what has really made us successful so far and not wanting to tear each others’ heads off.

Dylan: We would never want to acknowledge the support of family and friends. If it wasn’t for Joel’s wife and my girlfriend helping us, working behind the bar, cleaning up the taproom and making it presentable, we wouldn’t be here. I always say that BriarBrothers might be brotherly owned legally, but it is operated by friends and family. We wouldn’t be anywhere close to where we are without that support.

Q: What’s the guiding beer philosophy of the brewery? What do you think you’re known for?

Dylan: Our Punch Bowl series, that’s something that people are really enjoying — the feedback we get on it and how we personally feel about it. It is a fruited sour. It’s not a smoothie sour where you’re chewing on it. And it’s not a very acidulated sour where you’re crunching your teeth on it. It’s healthy balance. It’s an easy-drinker. It comes in at 5 percent. It’s full of flavor and aroma. We always try to have two different variants on at a time. And I would say our IPAs are starting to trend upwards. We’ve been working on that and trying to dial it in. I would say our last four to five batches, whether it’s New England, American, or doubles, have been meeting my expectations. We’ve been getting great feedback on those as well. Then we have Briar, the $3 pint every day. That’s something I’m proud. I am proud to make a table beer that has a lot of flavor and balance. That we’re able to offer something at that price with that flavor and balance, I am proud of that. You don’t need to overcomplicate a beer to make it good.

Joel: Craft beers don’t have to be scary to approach. That was one of our main ideas, to make craft beer approachable.

Dylan: There is a Briar Light in the works, too.

Seneca Lake happenings

The Finger Lakes are just exploding with great beer right now. Seneca Lake, especially, is emerging as the epicenter of FLX craft beer. To celebrate and showcase the scene, the Seneca Lake Order of Brewers, the informal collective of breweries in that area, is hosting its first Spring Fling Brewers Fest on Saturday, April 15 from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Tin Barn Brewing tasting room, 5428 Route 14 in Dundee, Yates County.

As Brewery Ardennes co-founder Derek Edinger noted, his Geneva brewery just turned two years old and already seven newer breweries and taprooms have opened on Seneca Lake. That brings the total to around 24 and 21 of those places will be participating in the Spring Fling.

VIP runs from 1 to 2 p.m. and general admission follows at 2 and runs till 5 p.m. A ticket will get you a tasting glass and all the samples you want. Tickets are available right now: http://bit.ly/3YwWHld.

Fresh off earning a medal at the recent New York State Craft Beer Competition for one of its delightful Belgian-inspired creations, Brewery Ardennes just teamed up with the iconic Brewery Ommegang for a unique all-NYS saison. Look for that collab to drop in the coming weeks.

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