Today we’d like to introduce you to Jonathan Harris.
Hi Jonathan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Hedgehog was originally going to be a beer store and bar that my wife, Dash, and I were planning on opening. After several years of locations falling through, we shifted gears. Dash ventured off and started a hair and makeup company while I joined with my brother Chris to start Hedgehog Brewing. Chris and I had been Homebrewing for years in preparation for eventually opening a brewery. The timing was right for both of us so we went for it. After months of looking and getting a little discouraged, our mom sent us a Craigslist add she had stumbled upon. My first thought was, “thanks for thinking of us, but I doubt this is going to be what we are looking for”. I pulled up the ad, and immediately called about the space. It was perfect. We signed the lease a couple weeks later. Chris and I had been home brewing for several years, with the fanciful goal of eventually opening a brewery, when we decided to experiment with collecting our own yeast for fermenting. Our first experiment was a surprising success. The beers we made with the wild yeast we collected were so exciting. We quickly moved from hobbyist home brewers to obsessed. We brewed constantly. We brewed, studied, brewed, experimented, brewed, read, and brewed some more. About this time it became apparent that the beer store Dash and I were working on wasn’t in the cards. Chris and I decided to go for it, and we started looking for locations for the brewery. We found our current spot and went for it. The Hedgehog Name Story: A couple years before we stated the brewery, Dash stumbled across the Scottish family crest for Harris and it had Hedgehogs on it. We immediately decided that was Hedgehog was going to be the name of our business.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest challenges we faced were in finding a location and funding. The challenges we face now are more operational. The brewery is still just me and Chris so it’s a big challenge to keep up with demand and finding enough time in the day to get all our tasks done. There is so much that goes into running a brewery that isn’t actually brewing beer. The pandemic has brought a whole new set of challenges. with about half of our sales coming from bars and restaurants we’ve had to adjust our model. We started doing beer to-go from the brewery and have begun producing more packaged products for our retail customers.
We’ve been impressed with Hedgehog Brewing, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a craft brewery in Cedar Park, TX. We specialize in farmhouse, hoppy, and barrel aged ales. Our farmhouse ales are one of a kind as we ferment with wild yeast we collected locally in the Hill Country. We are proud of the unique, quality driven and accessible beers we produce. We currently distribute to retailers and bars in the Austin area and offer beer to-go from our brewery. We will have a tasting room open in the coming months.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Our beers are available all over the Austin area, we have a list of retailers and bars on our website. Try our beer, follow us on Instagram, and tell others what you think!
Contact Info:
- Email: info@hedgehogatx.com
- Website: www.hedgehogatx.com
- Instagram: @hedgehogatx
- Facebook: @hedgehogatx
- Twitter: @HedgehogBrewing
Image Credits
Mackenzie Smith Kelley – Mackenziesmithkelley.com
