Prost Profiles: Trophy Brewing co-owner Chris Powers

Henrietta native is coming home to showcase his beers at Saturday's Rochester Real Beer Expo

The Rochester Real Beer Expo is a homecoming for Chris Powers.

After opening his brewery, Trophy Brewing in Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2013, Saturday will be the first time his beers are poured in his hometown. Powers, a Rush-Henrietta graduate, along with his partner David “Woody” Lockwood, oversees a burgeoning empire in North Carolina. Trophy has two locations and Powers and Lockwood also own a distillery, Young Hearts, an event space, Maywood Hall and Garden, and a beer and wine shop called State of Beer.

Powers began his craft beer odyssey while working for Jack Astor’s, crafting a custom beer at the shuttered Custom Brewcrafters, and then ultimately pouring at at one of CB’s festivals. He followed the restaurant train down to Raleigh for another opportunity. And the rest is history.

Chris and I connected for a recent chat where he recalled his journey and shared why he is wildly excited to hang out in Rochester this week. Powers will be pouring Trophy’s flagship modern IPA called Cloud Surfer (I’ve had it numerous times and it rocks) and a new barrel-aged pastry stout called Cakebier. (And if you ever make it down to Raleigh, you’re gonna be treated to some incredible beers and pizzas. Keep an eye out for the Detroit-style pizzas they make on Mondays.)

A reminder: VIP tickets have been sold out since April. But some general admission tickets still remain and are available at rochesterrealbeer.com. Don’t wait. The event will surely sell out before the gates open Saturday at 5 p.m. (for VIP early access) at Innovative Field, home of the Rochester Red Wings.

Here are some highlights from our talk:

Q: Can you give me a brief history of Trophy?

A: We started out with a 3-barrel system (93 gallons at a time) in an old bail bondsman’s closet. Our original spot is located in a strip mall that at one point had a fairly well known greasy spoon called the Burger Hut. It also had a bail bondman’s office, a laundromat, and a convenience store. We eventually took over the entire thing in 2020.

Q: What is Trophy known for?

A: A diversity of beer styles. When we opened our original brewery, we wanted to continue to offer many different styles of beer. So every time someone would come through our doors, they would have the opportunity to try something new. As we continued to grow, we brewed larger batches of beer, but we also maintained our creative roots. We still have a 3-barrel system and a 10-barrel system, as well as our 20-barrel system. We experiment with new styles. And we’re on a pretty good pace to release a new beer every week. That’s important to us. Beer trends change, people change, and what the average drinker wants continues to change. And we’ve seen trends come all the back around during the last 10 years. Things that were cool in 2013 are cool again in 2023.

Q: How did a guy from Henrietta end up opening a brewery in North Carolina?

A: I worked for a restaurant company called Jack Astor’s. That’s actually where I fell in love with craft beer. I got to be involved in designing a house beer for Jack Astor’s at Custom Brewcrafters. And the very first beer festival I ever worked was at CB’s and I was serving a red ale we brewed there. I remember pouring beers and getting people excited about the craft. From there, like a lot of people of that era, I tried Sam Adams Cherry Wheat and really got to experience what craft beer could be with fruit, different fermentation levels, and different expressions of the same style of beer.

I really fell in love and took that love with me to North Carolina. I worked for a different restaurant group there that actually had a brewery in their portfolio. I actually got to work with the brewer there to bring their craft beer to the forefront of what we were serving in their location here in Raleigh. I begged them to make small batch beers and bring them up to Raleigh to teach people about craft beer and really get excited. It has been a wild ride to think about. I don’t often think about where I got into craft beer. It’s nice to see how far we’ve come.

Q: What has made Raleigh such a perfect home for what you and Woody do?

A: North Carolina is a great agricultural state, first of all. There’s so much access to fresh fruit, really cool grains being grown here. We’re actually the second largest consumer of North Carolina grain in the state. We buy tons of grain from Carolina Malt House, which is located just outside of Charlotte. We do our best to use local ingredients when possible. Local grain compromises 90 percent of our entire company’s mash bill. So that’s a big deal for us.

We are located pretty much right in the center of the state, where we have great access to farmers traveling across the state to the North Carolina State Farmers Market. So I buy thousands and thousands of pounds of North Carolina fruit every year for use in our beer, which is a really cool way to partner with farmers. Like last week, I bought a thousand pounds of strawberries and I’ve learned more about strawberries in North Carolina than most people care to know.

Q: This will be the first time Trophy is ever poured in Rochester. How excited are you to come home?

A: I am very excited to be in Rochester. Trophy has made it to Rochester in small amounts through my mom and my parents’ house where they share it with friends. (I have been lucky enough to be one of those friends. I am so spoiled.) But this will be the first time we’re pouring our beer on draft in Rochester. It’s pretty exciting for me, because I’m bringing back my beer to the place I fell in love with the craft.

I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had a chance to share all of the Expo content I had planned. (Apologies to Chris from Eredita Beer and Tyler and Brett from Wild East Brewing. Those interviews are gonna make for some excellent content after the Expo.) I remain eternally grateful that y’all continue to support this beer-writing endeavor, and I am very hopeful we’ll get to share a sample or two Saturday at the Expo.