Tej Dhawan
Partner, Formation Partners
Co-founder, Plains Angels

Homebrewing

Tej Dhawan, a staple in Des Moines’ startup scene and a co-founder of the Plains Angels investing group, has brewed some fantastic beers over the years. I had the opportunity to stop by his house during a brew session to discuss his love of craft beer and homebrewing. 

His start in creating alcohol wasn’t with beer at all; rather, a friend suggested he give fermenting wine a try. 

After his first and only batch of wine failed, Dhawan found the love of brewing — and he hasn’t looked back in the eight or nine years since. 

“Beer is just easier and tastier,” he says. 

Five to six times a year, pungent aromas of barley and hops engulf his kitchen — much to the dismay of his two children — as it transforms into a brewery. The brew process is fairly quick and simple, he says. 

“If you can bake a batch of brownies, you can brew beer. It just may take a little bit longer,” Dhawan says. 

That’s not to say brewing is without its pitfalls. A certain preciseness is needed, as both sanitation and temperature can make or break a beer. And though he has brewed a variety of styles of beer, not all have turned out as planned. An attempt at a hefeweizen failed after the temperature was off by a few degrees during the fermentation process. 

Perhaps the most difficult part is having the patience to wait for the first sip of his creation as the beer ferments and conditions during a process that can take weeks to months, depending on the beer. His flagship brew, a peat-smoked porter that he has brewed 15 times, takes six months from start to finish. The inspiration for his peat-smoked porter comes from a trip with friends to the Laphroaig Distillery, which produces scotch on an island off the coast of Scotland.

So what’s next for Tej? Distilling whiskey. 

A license and still are in the works.

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