One of the major barriers to anyone wanting to start a brewery is the cost of equipment. If you’ve ever taken a tour at a craft brewery, you know that it requires a lot of gear, and a ton of space, to make beer on a professional scale. That’s the problem that Joe Modestine is hoping to address with Co-Hops, the full-service contract brewery that he recently opened in Hatfield, PA.
Modestine is no stranger to the craft brewing world. In the 1940s and 50s, his grandfather owned a beer distributor in Norristown, and his parents had a restaurant in Newtown, The Saloon, that was in business for over 30 years
“For pretty much my whole life, my family has always been in the beer business,” he says.
After his family sold The Saloon, Modestine met a neighbor who was getting into homebrewing and realized that their town needed a craft brewery. He founded Doylestown Brewery in 2011. When he first started it, he didn’t have a space and he was contracting brewing all of this beers.
“I was able to get the brand growing and build the brewery around that,” he remembers.
As Doylestown Brewery’s wholesaling business expanded, the brewery kept outgrowing its production spaces. Modestine moved the company to a large facility in 2015, and began contract brewing for other breweries.
“When you have your own canning line, the contracting business is so much busier, and for me, more enjoyable,” he says.
When Doylestown Brewery moved once more in December 2020, Modestine’s goal was to open up exclusively as a 100% contracting facility that was also open to the public.
“So far, it’s the only one in Pennsylvania,” he says. “We’re an incubator for new breweries for folks that want to get into the business, and want to understand the business but don’t necessarily have the capital exposure to do it.”
How it works is that startup and medium-sized breweries contract the expert brewing staff at Co-Hops to brew and package their beer for them. The tasting room at Co-Hops, which is open for people to come in and try beers made on site, is always a great way for new brands to get in front of an audience.
“That was one of my big problems when I was getting started: I never really had a place to call home,” Modestine says. “At Co-Hops, we’ll do releases for our clients, they can use the brewery as if it was theirs, for special events and parties.”
This cooperative model, which is taking off in other cities around the country, is a cost-efficient, scalable way for new brewing ventures to get up and running. Co-Hops is already working with over 25 breweries, and is already planning to expand. It’s outgrown its initial 5,000-square- foot space and has moved into an adjacent property in the warehouse where it’s located.
Modestine says his plan is to eventually take over the whole building and install a 30-barrel brewhouse, which will allow them to increase their client list to up to 35 breweries. Co-Hops is also going to start a wholesale division and will sell and deliver the beer made by its contracted breweries across the Greater Philadelphia area.
“Ten years ago, there was a stigma about contract brewing, but now people get it,” Modestine says. “There’s nothing wrong with it! Contract brewing is better for the breweries, especially for new ones to get going, and medium-sized breweries looking to expand their footprint but can’t.”
Most breweries provide Co-Hops with recipes, but they don’t necessarily have to. The experienced staff at Co-Hops can help breweries develop seasonal releases and one-offs, and can help resolve supply and wholesale ingredient issues to help lower production costs.
“I want to make sure the quality for my clients is higher than if it was just for my brand,” Modestine says. “I want them all to succeed, to sell a lot of beer, and make money. I don’t want to just do your beer and say, ‘See you later.’ I want to keep them growing through the process.”
To learn more about Co-Hops, visit its website, or stop by the tasting room, which is open to the public Thursday through Sunday.
Co-Hops is located at 2262 North Penn Rd. in Hatfield, PA; (phone): (267) 903-7303.
- Photos: Co-Hops Brewery
