While rock music is playing throughout the rooms, people can be heard chatting while drinking a cold beer. In the back of the bar, CEO and Head Brewer of Alexandria Brewing Company, Andy Reynolds, is working on the brewing process for more beer. Boiling a syrup made with starches or barley to create the beer. Today, this is the life for Reynolds, but what’s interesting is how he found his love for brewing.
Reynolds’ military experience involved high pressure and intense moments, often not knowing what could happen next. Through all this, there was something that made the experience worth it: German beer.
The military is where he learned about “real beer” in the Bavarian region of Germany in 2005. In Germany, he spent two months in the opposition force, which is a dedicated military unit designed to simulate enemy forces during training exercises and wargames.
“Our command was working with the command of the First Infantry Division to train them up for Iraq,” Reynolds said.
Almost every night, the troops were given a reset to go out and have fun. With Reynolds being in the opposition force, he got around one to two days off. Reynolds was able to go to Nuremberg, Munich and a small town outside the base called Carlsberg, where he discovered beer and his passion for brewing began.
“And those kind of broadened my horizons on what beer tastes like,” Reynolds said.
After leaving the military, he was introduced to home brewing by a friend and became hooked on the process. This newfound interest helped him cope with the PTSD he developed during his time in Iraq.
Later, he attended Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois, where he got his degree in Advanced Brewing Theory. With his degree, he knew what he needed to start up his own brewing business, Alexandria Brewing Company.
While at Siebel, Reynold learned more than he thought he would about the industry, especially because before attending Siebel, he had read every book he could find on brewing.
“It started out with understanding malting in the malting process, which is starting the germination, which is unlocking those starches and converting those into sugar. We learned the entire brewing process in a very detailed way,” Reynolds said.
When he first came up with the idea of opening his business, his vision was completely different from how the Alexandria Brewing Company looks now.
In the beginning, Reynolds and a friend he served with on his second deployment from April 2007 to Sept. 2008, talked about opening a German bar near NKU.
“I envisioned it being more like a German theme type place. But the more we grew our brand, the more we kind of grew our identity,” Reynolds said.
Of course, there are some challenges with owning your own business. Being a veteran who served in Iraq and Germany, Reynolds has PTSD, which can add an obstacle to owning your own business. He was also diagnosed with chronic pancreatitis in 2012 and was in and out of hospitals for two years, with a total of six months of hospitalization. Doctors could not figure out what caused it.
“They still don’t know what caused it, but I know what moves to avoid now. They think it was something related to my deployments,” Reynolds said.
Being in the hospital so often for so long really affected Reynolds.
“I mean, it basically bankrupted me. I owed all my retirement. They started garnishing wages to get money back,” Reynolds said.
Another challenge has been funding; they are currently going through the Regulation A process, which is an SEC exemption that allows private companies to raise capital from both accredited and non-accredited investors. This permits companies to publicly advertise for funds.
More funding sources are being found for Reynold’s second location, which he opened last year in West Chester.
“It’s always just a challenge when you need to raise capital,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds decided to open his second location in Ohio because he is “from the Ohio side of the river,” so it was important for him to move back towards Cincinnati at some point.
Dave Cahil, who is the tap room manager in the West Chester location, says another challenge has been keeping food partner vendors.
“There’d be times when we were in between kitchens, you know. It was kind of slow and like stuff like that, like those probably big challenges or just overcoming stuff like that to get where we are now,” Cahil said.
While also working at the Alexandria Brewing Company, Cahil also plays music with his band. Being able to play there has opened opportunities to have more people attend their shows.
“Like, I’ve met people where I’ve bartended their kids’ weddings. They come out to our shows. Like, the first year I did the half-marathon, Flying Pig. The brewery sponsored me to do it,” Cahil said.
The Alexandria Brewing Company hosts events every week with trivia every Tuesday, Whiskey Wednesdays and Thursday Vendors and burger nights. They also offer happy hours and live music.
Bartender Angelina Wagner loves how close-knit everyone is.
“We get along really well. We hang out outside of work. So definitely the work environment,” Wagner said.
After having strong business for eight years, it looks like the Alexandria Brewing Company will be around for a while.