Cedar City Brewing Company: Classic Beers for Everyone
May 19, 2023
Cedar City Brewing Company:
Classic Beers for Everyone
Malteurop Celebrates Craft Breweries During American Craft Beer Week
American Craft Beer Week, May 15-21, 2023, celebrates craft breweries across the nation. Malteurop (MMC) is proud to highlight just a few of these remarkable breweries. So, grab a glass and raise it high in recognition of the thousands of craft breweries that work relentlessly to craft the beer that we all love to gather around!
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Thirty miles east of Nashville lies a small town square in Lebanon, Tennessee, and within that square there’s a community of locals and travelers alike, hands wrapped around a craft beer.
Welcome to Cedar City Brewing Company, a place to gather for craft beer paired with delectable food and both paired with community and conversations that can only happen at a local craft brewery.
About Cedar City Brewing Co
One of Tennessee’s newest craft breweries, Cedar City is named after the red cedar trees that makeup Middle Tennessee. Although historically some might argue that those cedar trees are junipers. It’s all a part of the history that is Cedar City.
Housed in a century old building complete with impressive thick oak planks and original tables, there’s plenty of space to hold the grand array of craft beer and food served here.
And while the history is an important piece to the stories behind the building and the city, the beer is flowing smoothly from its sparkling new brewhouse brewed by Cedar City’s passionate and seasoned brewer.
“The beer started flowing, and the customers were happy.” (Sean Jewett)
The Passion Behind the Beer
Sean Jewett is the Head Brewer at Cedar City and brews a damn fine beer, but beer wasn’t his first love. That title belongs to music and still does. But beer comes in right behind that love for music. And really, there isn’t much that pairs better.
Initially heading off to college after high school to learn more about the music and recording industry, Sean had no idea how much beer would become an integral component in his future.
What he did know, however, is that while in school the music and recording industry had shifted to streaming services and homebased recording. Because of that, when he graduated, he immediately shifted to IT instead. It was at that time that he also began to homebrew with friends, quickly realizing how much he had a passion for the practice.
Getting a bit bored with the IT field, and loving the process of developing recipes and then brewing them over the years, he knew it was time to leave that world behind. The music, though, never left him.
“As someone who comes from a music background, I realized the only way I’m gonna get better at brewing is if I treat it like a musical instrument. The more I play it, the more I practice it, the better I’m gonna get.” (Sean)
And practice he did.
“Every Wednesday night I told my friends, ‘Don’t expect to see me out on a Wednesday night cuz I’m gonna be brewing beer.’“
From there he landed an apprenticeship in Nashville at a pizza and beer place, and as they say, the rest is history. Even if that history was built off of crappy pizza and good beer.
“I like to say I got paid in really crappy pizza and really good beer, but it gave me an idea of what the work looked like.”
Fast forward a bit, after brewing and working in a distillery, he has now also taught others how to brew. In fact, he was invited to teach at his old alma mater, Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) in the fermentation science department. He prides himself on getting his students to not only understand the science behind the beer, but also the joys of it.
“Many students started the course stating they didn’t like beer and then ended the course saying they like beer. By the end of the class they’ve usually got a good appreciation for it. I’m honored they keep bringing me back.” (Sean)
In response to our question of what makes him grin from ear to ear in the brewing community, his answer was simple, “Enjoying a well made, well crafted beer.”
Sean goes on further, explaining why he left IT.
“I always tell people that I got out of IT because my Mac users never call me, the Windows users are the bane of my existence, but at the end of a hard day at the brewery, there’s still a beer waiting for you. That’s what keeps me excited about beer and making those connections.”
Classic Beers Brewed for Everyone
Which is also what makes Cedar City exciting, the beer and the people waiting for you at the end of a hard day (or easy day), and then when you pair that beer and conversation with a good meal, you’ve got everything you need in life…at least for that moment.
That’s what drives Sean and probably why a lot of the identity around Cedar City is driven around Sean as well.
“The identity is driven by me for better or for worse (with a laugh thrown in) in that I brew what I like to brew.”
And what he likes to brew are approachable beers. Ones that can be ordered and enjoyed again and again. They’ve got a great lager program set up and Sean states that customers are really enjoying those.
“I’m definitely more old school when it comes to brewing. It’s not to say I won’t blur style guidelines, but I want a good clean beer fermentation.” (Sean)
There are also plenty of ales on tap including a Hazy IPA and one of their flagships, a West Coast Pale Ale similar to Sierra Nevada, with a bit of tweak on the malts. He uses Munich Malts instead of the typical caramel.
A lot of his brewing, like many other brewers and musicians with their music, has been inspired by other brewers and their styles. In fact, inspired by the 2005 movie, American Beer, where five guys headed out on a road trip in search of beer, Sean embarked upon his own 30 day beer road trip. Seeing so many of his favorites beers at the source was something he won’t soon be forgetting. This along with home brewing helped grow his passion and styles for the beer he brews now at Cedar City.
“That was the seed. I saw that documentary and it helped me get passionate about wanting to be a brewer. Made me wonder what it would look like for me to take a road trip.” (Sean)
And road trip he did. Spending time in Cleveland, New York, Boston, New Hampshire, and Vermont, with friends all along the way. Sounds like a brilliant way to learn more about the beers and breweries we love and the people behind them.
Moving Forward with Support
And it is the people behind Cedar City that make the beer, the food, and the community possible.
Support from within and from vendors is crucial for every brewery, but even more so when you’ve only just begun. Everyone has a role when it comes to fine tuning all the processes. Everything from getting the beer flowing, dialing in business practices, and ensuring that the community is both welcomed and welcoming.
And at Cedar City, the vendors and the team are all that and more. But what really counts is the community. From the beginning, the community was excited to have a new business in their midst, especially one that encapsulates building connections around good beer and good food.
And Sean wants to keep it that way.
“When it’s a brew day I don’t want any distractions. I’m focused on what’s going on because this is the first step in the process. There’s money on the line and a whole lot of time and effort involved. I’m focused on brew days to ensure our success.”
And Malteurop Malting Company is right there with him to continue that success.
“Malteurop knows when I need help and knows when everything’s good. I am very happy with that relationship and doing business with Malteurop.”
When you have good vendors, a good team, and a good community, anything’s possible.
Future of Craft Beer
Including the future. Although nobody can see into the future, especially when it comes to the future of craft beer, Sean sees days, months, and years filled with all of the above and more.
And since others also see seltzer in their future, Sean is also working on dialing in the seltzer process. A business, even a brewery, needs to transition to match the wants of their customers. And right now those customers are wanting good seltzers right alongside those good beers.
And while there are no NA beers being brewed at Cedar City, there are plenty of companies out there getting that option dialed in quite nicely. Sean wonders, though, how long those and seltzers might stick around.
“Some companies are getting the NA options and seltzers dialed in but many are still struggling. More and more are getting them dialed in as time goes on, but they also might bottom out like seltzers are beginning to.” (Sean)
He might not be able to foresee the future in the industry, but he knows himself, and knowing that, he knows that Cedar City will continue to brew quality craft beer, no matter what the future holds.
“I’m definitely more old school when it comes to brewing. It’s not to say I won’t use adjuncts. It’s not to say I won’t blur style guidelines, but I want a good clean beer fermentation.”
Getting Personal with Beer
And while Sean’s future most definitely includes beer, it also includes music. In fact, music has never left. It’s always been intertwined in everything that Sean does, including brewing beer. With his favorite movie being The Blues Brothers, he even gave himself the title of the Winnebago Driver while working previously at East Nashville Beer Works.
We’ll let him explain that reasoning to you.
“I decided that’s what I was gonna call myself. Blues Brothers is my favorite movie and there’s the scene that says, ‘I’m Tucker McElroy, lead singer, and driver of the Winnebago.’”
Although, there’s no actual Winnebago involved. Just the fun reference to a movie full of music and a career full of beer.
Along with a fridge full of it, too. One of the benefits of teaching about beer is that he has a wide variety of beers leftover from what his students bring in. Beers like Franziskaner Weissbier, 3 Floyds’ Gumballhead, Perennial’s Abraxas, and more. Along with that he also has some Stag Beer from Belleville, Illinois, from a recent visit home and brews from New Glarus from his girlfriend, who – you guessed it – is from Wisconsin.
“Let’s be honest; my fridge is pretty much filled with beer since I do eat out a lot.” (Sean)
When you don’t need food in your fridge, fill it with beer.
Outside of beer, Sean loves going to live shows. And in Nashville, he’s got his choice of venues and music. He also has a passion for hiking.
“For me a good day is going for a hike and getting a beer afterwards. And if it’s a rainy day, going to a record shop and digging through everything they have and then getting a beer afterwards.”
Malteurop Malts Behind the Beer
Long before Cedar City found its home in Lebanon, Sean was brewing with Malteurop malts.
“First time I met Rick (Craft Sales Manager) I was already familiar with the malts from a home brew supply shop, and I brewed a beer with their 2-Row Malt and honey and took it to a party. The beers that I brewed with them were excellent. I still have people come up to me and state how amazing that beer was.”
It’s no wonder that when Sean reconnected with MMC as a pro brewer, it wasn’t a hard sell to continue with them.
“Just brewed a Mexican lager with their Pilsner and Vienna Malts – and how they played together – I’m really happy with it.”
And when asked about the importance of using different malts, Sean’s answer included brilliant words of wisdom.
“It’s the painters having all the colors on the pallet.”
But it’s more than just the malts, it’s the relationships.
“It’s been great from the get go. Rick’s easy to work with. He’s excited. That’s what’s fun about working with him is that excitement that he brings.”
Thank You!
Malteurop recognizes the effort that breweries put forth every day to craft the beer we all love. That is why MMC’s Craft Sales Managers – managers like Rick Barney – want to highlight a few of these breweries.
And why not do so during American Craft Beer Week.
Because in the end, it’s not just about the beer, but about the community that gathers around the art and science that is beer.
“At the end of the day, the brewer is an artist. That’s one thing I love about brewing is that it engages the science of biology and chemistry and there’s this artistic side as well. That’s the beauty of brewing beer.” (Sean Jewett, Head Brewer at Cedar City Brewing Company)
Connect with Cedar City Brewing Co
112 Public Square
Lebanon, TN 37087
For more stories with Cedar City Brewing Co, be sure to listen to their full interview on the Craft Beer Travel and Adventure Podcast with Living a Stout Life.