WILMINGTON — Broomtail Craft Brewery will soon tap a keg of honey Kölsch in honor of former employee Dean Goodyear, a beloved fixture in the city’s craft-beer scene. Goodyear died nearly two years ago.
The “Dean Beer” also will pay tribute to the brewery’s 500th batch of beer, according to taproom manager Jarrod Howe. Kegs have been distributed to various bars and bottle shops around Wilmington with a scheduled beer release on Wednesday, when the city’s craft-beer scene will come together to remember one of its favorites.
RELATED: Wilmington-area craft beer community pays tribute to Broomtail’s Dean Goodyear
“[Dean] was one of those people who, when you met him, you immediately wanted to be his friend. He had that magnetism; he was a large guy and he was larger than life,” Howe said of his old friend and former Broomtail colleague.
Broomtail will celebrate the release of the beer, formally called Bee Kind, alongside Cheesesmith Food Truck (a honey grilled cheese sandwich will be served) with country musician Dom Wier.
Portions of beer sales will go to the Bee Conservancy and Cape Fear Community College’s Film and Video Production Technology program. Broomtail chose the organizations to represent two of Goodyear’s passions in life: bee conservation and film.
Goodyear graduated from CFCC with a film degree. The community college will establish a $500 “Goodyear Scholarship” in his name, according to Howe. The scholarship was helped push forward by the Musser family of Bill’s Front Porch and Bill’s Brewing Company.
The Bee Conservancy was founded in 2009 in response to various media reports that bees – an important part of a healthy ecosystem – across the world were endangered, according to its website. It claims more than half of the 4,000 native bee species in North America are in decline, and one of four species are at risk of extinction. The nonprofit also helps poor communities produce healthy food and build green spaces.
Howe chose honey Kölsch to represent Goodyear’s strong preference for older European-style beers. Goodyear could often be found at local haunt Cape Fear Wine and Beer with St. Peter’s Organic English Ale in hand.
“He drank many of those, that’s for sure,” Howe remembered.
Goodyear took part in a podcast called “Malty Gravity” and collaborated with his best friend, local filmmaker Ben Woods, to film “The Good Beer Show.”
“I’m Dean Goodyear, and this is the Good Beer Show,” Goodyear says in the video’s opening segment.
Later he sips an English-Style Pale Ale by a stone fireplace and proceeds to tell the history of the beer in a gruff, British accent.
Goodyear worked in various downtown restaurants and bars. He was as an assistant brewer at Bill’s before going to Broomtail as its head of sales and distribution.
Shortly after his death, Broomtail owner Barry Owings said Goodyear’s short stint at the brewery resulted in growing the number of keg accounts around town by five times the amount before his arrival.
Broomtail Craft Brewery is located at 6404 Amsterdam Way in Ogden, three blocks to the northwest of Market Street.
Have tips or comments? Email info@portcitydaily.com
