Brujos Brewing conjures up official launch with Great Notion Brewing

Brujos Brewing emerges from the shadows to partner with Great Notion Brewing

Sam Zermeño has a hand in two different worlds. By day, he is the R&D Brewer at Great Notion Brewing, where develops new beer recipes and scales them to production. You can see his creative brewing style manifested in some of the more decadent hazy IPAs, pastry stouts, and sours that Great Notion releases. But outside of his main gig, Zermeño has also been stirring up intrigue with his Brujos Brewing project. It’s here that he gets to showcase his love of heavy metal and the dark arts while cranking out big hazy IPAs and pastry stouts primarily. Now, his two worlds are finally coming together as part of a new partnership with his employer.

Zermeño’s Brujos project and his path to Great Notion were well-documented in this writer’s recent article for The New School. For those who missed it, here is a refresher: Zermeño got his start at Black Market Brewing in Temecula, CA before he was drafted as the first brewer at Oregon’s Newport Brewing Company. That job wasn’t exactly what Zermeño was looking for but he did fall in love with Oregon. It wasn’t long before he caught the attention of Great Notion in Portland – which had recently moved into their expansive Northwest production facility - and made the move to the other side of the coastal range to join the production brewing staff. Most recently, he was promoted to head R&D brewer as his bosses realized his passion and creativity.

Andy Miller, Cofounder of Great Notion, reflects on hiring Zermeño, “We didn't just get a person that is so passionate about beer that he brews all day then goes home and brews a homebrew batch. We got an extremely creative person who is dedicated to the details. He's a team player that comes up with an idea to wear a Sasquatch suit in the Miami heat at a festival, and an all-around wonderful fit with our growing team.”

Throughout this time, Zermeño was feverishly brewing Brujos beers with his elaborate home setup and sharpening his craft with each release. These super limited releases were doled out to a membership – mostly friends - called Order of the Magus. With each new beer came a mysterious buzz that eventually led to the kind of Instagram hype that can propel a brewery to success. Adding to the buzz was the can designs and beer names inspired by heavy metal and the occult, which Zermeño had always been a fan of but found even more inspiration from the gloom of the Pacific Northwest.

Though he wavered on whether it made financial sense to go all-in with Brujos as a full brewpub, Zermeño ultimately saw a mutually beneficial opportunity with his employer that would allow him to gain more exposure for his side project.

“I was like, ‘hey I just want to let you guys know that I would love to work with you if you’re willing to. I want to take Brujos to the next level and I feel like it’s best to bring it up to you guys before I start putting in my notice or getting an investor or whatever. I think this could be beneficial for both of us and it’s a good way to test the waters,’” says Zermeño, adding, “They were always kind of on board. Since the moment they hired me, they knew I came with that project.”

“Other breweries are worried about their employees leaving and starting brands on their own. We've always looked at it as a positive reflection of our company. If we can retain the employee and help them reach their dreams, it seems like a win for everyone involved,” adds Miller.  

For the Great Notion founders, placing Brujos under their umbrella allows them to present something different and exciting to their loyal fanbase that is still stylistically close to the hazys and stouts that put them on the map.

When pitching the idea to his bosses, Zermeño drew a hip-hop analogy of a label putting out new artists. “When Paul asked me to come up with a pitch, I was like, ‘dude, you’re like the Roc A Fella Records of craft beer and I’m one of the artists that works for you.’”

Paul Reiter, Cofounder and CEO of Great Notion, adds his take, “When we had talked with Sam about letting him launch Brujos under Great Notion, it reminded me of an artist getting signed to a record label. The label is in charge of pressing, distribution, marketing, etc. Similar in this regard, where Great Notion will be in charge of the production (under Sam’s guidance), packaging, marketing, distribution, etc.” 

Under the shared arrangement, any Brujos beer will be all Brujos with the same branding Zermeño has been doing and will be formulated and brewed by him. On the can, it will still say brewed and canned at Great Notion, and he gets the benefit of using their licenses and facilities, which saves money. “I’m essentially letting them borrow my name in exchange for profits made off the sale of the beers,” says Zermeño.

“sitra achra” is the first commercial beer release from Brujos Brewing

For Brujos and Great Notion, the first release will be a trial-run to gauge interest. June 10th or 11th is the scheduled release date for the first beer, which is a big hazy IPA double dry-hopped with Citra and Citra cryo that has been one of Zermeño’s highest rated Brujos beers on Untapped. Though the details are still being firmed up, there will be around 200-250 cases of cans that will be rolled out through the usual Great Notion channels, including the app. There may also be a meet the brewer event at Great Notion’s Northwest pub and production facility.  

"We share many similarities from a brewing perspective and both attempt to push the boundaries of craft beer. Sam affectionately calls these ‘Liquid Spells”. Brujos and Great Notion share the same values when it comes to quality and creativity, but trust me, Sam has a few tricks up his sleeve! We’ve built a creative alliance, and the best is yet to come,” says James Dugan, Cofounder and Creative Director of Great Notion.

Zermeño, who has twelve recipes he would like to scale up and release, points out that his hazy IPAs will offer something different than the more sessionable Great Notion offerings. “I’m going for more of that Troon [style] - murky hazys where you can’t see any light through the glass. Troon’s are really oaty, wheat-heavy, creamy as fuck. Something about the dank consistency of heavy oat, heavy wheat hazys - for me personally, I gravitate towards those.”

Assuming the first official Brujos release sells, which it should if the current hype is any indication, Zermeño will roll out more of his beers. He doesn’t have a timeline yet, but his goal is that this partnership will pave the way for a Brujos brewpub or taproom at some point in the next couple of years. He hopes it would be in Portland or perhaps in the Hillsboro area and that he could expand beyond hazy IPAs to include exclusive barrel-aged stouts for a members-only club (think Modern Times’ League of Partygoers), and lagers, including his dream to have a Mexican lager that is always on tap.

Regardless of what happens, this new partnership marks an exciting chapter for Brujos and one of Portland’s most creative breweries, which Dugan sums up nicely. "We’re very excited, this partnership is the perfect opportunity for Sam to unleash the magic of Brujos Brewing to a greater audience. It represents an opportunity for our breweries to do something unique…. independently grow together." 

Reiter is is quick to point out that, while they have no plans to become a contract brewery, the Brujos partnership could be just the beginning. “We can use the Great Notion App and E-commerce systems we have in place as a platform to launch future brewers / breweries. We do not have anybody else lined up yet, but the possibility is definitely there. More to come on this later in the year…”