Today we’d like to introduce you to Cristina & David Ackley.
Hi Cristina & David; so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
The idea for Ginger’s Revenge was born in 2013 after David had made alcoholic ginger beer for about nine months. We briefly lived in Panama in 2012, and David was determined to keep up his homebrewing craft, but it wasn’t easy to get ingredients like hops and malt. Around this time, we were introduced to alcoholic ginger beer. With easy access to the main ingredients – sugar, ginger, water, and citrus juice – David started brewing it in one-gallon batches. After winning several awards at homebrew festivals, we began dreaming of a brewery in Asheville that specialized in alcoholic ginger beer. After a couple of years of looking for real estate, fundraising, and construction, we opened the brewery and tasting room doors in March 2017. Now our ginger beer is available throughout North Carolina and South Carolina, and we will launch soon in Ohio! We also recently opened a second tasting room in downtown Asheville’s South Slope neighborhood.
Alright, let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
There are only a handful of ginger beer breweries in the United States, so there was only a little information about best practices for our product type. Ginger can be tricky to work with, so we’ve developed our best processes over the past six years. Breweries are also extremely capital-intensive due to the machinery and equipment. Managing cash flow, especially during the pandemic, has been an adventure!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Ginger’s Revenge is one of just a handful of breweries in the United States that specializes in alcoholic ginger beer. We use over 100 lbs of fresh ginger in every batch, and 95% of our ingredients are organic. All of our beverages are naturally gluten-free, refreshing, and approachable.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those just starting.
It’s okay to ask for help, and it’s part of the learning process to make mistakes. We are both perfectionists, so we’re still learning this lesson!
Contact Info:
- Website:www.gingersrevenge.com
- Instagram: @gingersrev
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GingersRev/
Image Credits
Personal photo of David and Cristina – Stephan Pruitt, All other photos – Matthew Westmoreland
