What ’ s Brewing : Buttonwoods Brewery
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always sit behind the bar and whenever anyone would come in , they would ask questions and I would be able to get in depth with them ,” Snyder says . “ It ’ s a way to connect with people and tell them about our beers . One day I am waxing poetic about how German lagers have these beautiful floral bouquets and the next day I ’ ve got a sock puppet [ Socko ] on my hand .”
After college , the future Buttonwoods Brewery owner knew he wanted to become involved in the alcohol industry ( whether it was through interning at a vineyard or learning about mixology ) and started brewing beer at home . “ Before my first batch was done , I had already brewed two more batches ,” he says .
After Snyder found his hoppy niche , he aimed to gain experience in the professional brewing world . He started out by volunteering on the bottling line at Hardywood Park Brewery in Richmond , Virginia , then earned an internship with Union Beer Distributors in Brooklyn , New York . This gig later turned into a draft tech position for building and repairing draft lines , which led him to meeting the owners of Bronx Brewery , who eventually hired him as a brewer . Snyder learned as much as he possibly could about the beer industry , and then he approached his dad about starting Buttonwoods Brewery in Cranston . The father and son launched the brewery in December 2017 .
After four years in business , Buttonwoods is known as one of the best craft breweries in the state . Snyder and head brewer Cheyne Tessier ( formerly of Proclamation Ale and Cape Cod Brewing , and now co-owner of the Origin Beer Project , an alternating proprietorship brewery that rents space out of Buttonwoods ) work together to create “ stylistically rigid ” European-style lagers , Belgian-style saisons , farmhouse ales and hop-forward IPAs and DIPAs . They are also putting a lot of thought and effort into their Sense of Place rustic industrial ales .
“ The goal was to slowly incorporate more and more funky and fruit-forward
96 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2021