When Megan Greenwood decided to become one of the first female brewery owners in downtown Phoenix, Greenwood Brewing would embody her goal to build an inclusive place where even non-beer drinkers felt comfortable to stop by, learn and build a community.
“I put my name on this beer because I want to become the woman who contributes to beer in America and give a tip of the hat to those who are now the biggest beer companies in the United States,” Greenwood said.
Major brewing companies, such as Anheuser-Busch, take their namesakes from the men who instituted beer in America. Greenwood wants to have a similar impact and hopes young women will see her as a leader in an industry that isn’t traditionally led by women, but hopes they’ll consider brewing as a possible future for themselves.
“I just hope that I’m inspiring somebody to do the same thing,” Greenwood said. “Especially women, because I feel like we hold ourselves back sometimes.”
Greenwood Brewing’s three brand pillars stand on confidence, empowerment, and inclusivity. Those pillars guide the brewery, so Greenwood said they took center stage when it came to figuring out how the brewery would open safely despite the pandemic.
“All of the decisions that I make come down to inclusivity,” Greenwood said.
With inclusivity in mind, Greenwood changed her design to small, individual tables placed six feet apart instead of the long tables she originally pictured. Instead of buying more barstools, she started a bottling line so people could get beer to go. She added hand sanitizer to every table and designed the business so no one had to come inside if they didn’t feel comfortable. Her goal was to make Greenwood Brewing as safe as possible.
Luckily, Greenwood’s original design for the brewery was for it to be mostly outdoors.
“One aspect of Arizona that makes us incredibly unique is our weather and I feel like Arizonans are patio people in general,” Greenwood said.
Greenwood Brewing is attached to Eye Lounge, a contemporary art gallery and MADE boutique. Cindy and Greg Dach own the building.
Before the brewery came to be, the Daches looked for a way to make use of the parking lot that is now Greenwood Brewing for years but never settled on the right idea. Once they met Greenwood, they knew what to do.
Cindy Dach co-owns Changing Hands, a local independent bookstore. The location in Phoenix has a beer, coffee, and wine bar called First Draft. When First Draft started carrying Greenwood’s beer, the two got to know each other. Dach said Greenwood is incredibly smart, so she felt good about their partnership.
“I’m not gonna work with a stranger,” Dach said. “I’m gonna work with someone I respect and like.”
The work it took to renovate the building was extensive. The building was originally built in 1918. The bay where Greenwood Brewing is was added in 1950, and renovated in 1970, making the project complicated according to Dach.
Dach said the work was worth it, noting a “synergy around having more things to do” on the corner. She said someone might not park their car just for the boutique or just for the art gallery, but they will for a brewery. Then, they might decide to go explore the gallery or boutique after they finish their beer.
“I think it’s exactly what downtown Phoenix is all about,” Greenwood said of the partnership.
Greenwood said the combined building is an example of why she wanted to open her brewery in downtown Phoenix. The way Greenwood sees it, the downtown Phoenix community is uniquely close-knit and she wanted her brewery to be part of that community.
Another critical aspect of community to Greenwood is encouraging other women to see a place for themselves in the beer community.
Greenwood hired Kristin Luparello as her head brewer. Though partially to live her mission of making sure more women work in craft beer (although Luparello was already successful before Greenwood Brewing), it was mainly because she and Luparello share the same brewing style.
Greenwood says both women “prefer to elevate traditional styles of beer and brew them at their tastiest potential.”
Greenwood Brewing doesn’t only hire women, however. Greenwood’s goal is for all her employees to focus on the confidence, empowerment and inclusivity she’s built her business around. Once it’s safe, Greenwood hopes to share those values by becoming a meeting place for the community.
She plans to have programming focused on what she calls “beer education.” In Greenwood’s vision, events range from debates and conversations with city councilmembers to seminars where people learn to change tires or sew buttons. In all cases, the goal is for people to comfortably have educational conversations.
“I believe that beer promotes a certain conversation,” Greenwood said. “It’s a conversation where people get honest and real. I want more people to be part of the beer community. If I can have a space where people feel comfortable – even non-beer drinkers feel comfortable – that’s my goal.”
Although Greenwood wants the brewery to be accessible to even those who don’t love beer, beer is still the focus.
Local beer enthusiasts Jim and Linda Bepping like to try new breweries. When they headed to Greenwood Brewery they were excited because they knew it was woman-owned. According to Jim Bepping, the beer was so good they had to refill the parking meter for their car because they kept wanting more.
Dach concurs.
“It’s not ‘I’m gonna go drink this woman brewed beer’,” she said. “It’s really good beer.”
Contact the reporter at mcheshi3@asu.edu.
