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The story of homebrewing and craft beer is intertwined. Ask many craft brewery owners how they got their start, and you\u2019ll probably hear about their homebrewing days\u2014how it sparked their love of beer and eventually led them to turn their hobby into a career. However, homebrewing is only one part of going pro, and there are many more skills needed to open and run a brewery.

Ryan Lavery, owner of Widowmaker Brewing, got his start brewing beer in his garage. A series of serendipitous moments, including a Craigslist ad, eventually led him to open his own brewery in Braintree, Massachusetts in 2017, and another location in Allston-Brighton, a neighborhood in Boston in 2023. Both locations reflect Ryan\u2019s love for music with his second location being described as a place with \u201cintergalactic, spacey, stoner rock\u201d vibes.

In this conversation, Ryan shares how he didn\u2019t really know anything about opening a brewery and how those first decisions\u2014like how they set up the brewhouse\u2014still affect him and his team today. You'll hear Ryan discuss the distinction between the opening of his first taproom and the second one, as well as how the brewery discovered its identity and how that knowledge influenced the design of both locations, starting with the second. We also spend a little time talking about the special places he\u2019s visited in Atlanta while on business for the brewery, including a previous podcast guest, Todd DiMatteo, and his brewing company, Good Word Brewing.