Hidden Gems: Meet Chris Creech of The Glass Jug Beer Lab

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Creech

Hi Chris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I got introduced to homebrewing in college, with a group of 5 of us – including my future wife and business partner, Katy – all chipped in and purchased a homebrew kit. We continued to brew through graduation, and post-college I got really involved in the local homebrew scene, running a popular homebrewing blog, attending events, and brewing weekly.

After a few years working for a digital marketing firm, Katy and I decided to open a retail beer and wine shop that would focus on local craft beer. Most local breweries were not yet packaging their beer in bottles or cans, and the regulations in NC had recently been udpdated to allow retail beer shops to refill growlers, so that became our niche, and where we got our name – The Glass Jug.

We quickly found that our community wanted a place not just to shop for beer and wine to take home, but also a place to meet friends, hang out, and enjoy a craft beverage, so we expanded into a larger space with an outdoor beer garden, more seating, and the same huge selection of craft beer, wine, and other beverages.

We also used that opportunity to become the first retail beer and wine shop in North Carolina to add an on-site brewery, where we began brewing our own beers exclusively for our bottle shop and taproom.

We’ve continued to expand on our offerings at our bottle shop taproom, and we have since added a small amount of wholesale distribution of our beers in the Triangle area. We also opened a second taproom in Downtown Durham, adjacent to Durham Central Park. That taproom is more singularly focused on the beers we are making, highlighting all of the one-off and experimental beers we are brewing.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We saw tremendous growth from 2014 through 2019, as craft beer was experiencing a huge surge in popularity. However, COVID certainly brought challenges, hampering our ability to build community and host people in our taprooms. We were also trying to open our second taproom during the peak of the pandemic, causing delays, added costs, and a rocky launch of the new space.

Sicne then, we’ve seen the overall consumer preference for beer flatten a bit, so we have had to get creative to maintain our growth. We have leaned into our beer garden and focused on the community atmosphere, adding an outdoor stage for live music, comedy, and other entertainment, as well as a family-focused area with activities for kids and seating that is separate from the main beer garden area.

We’ve also had to watch the beverage preference trends and be sure our bottle shop selection is meeting the interests of our guests. This has meant a big addition of craft hard seltzers in 2021, and now a shift to hemp-infused beverages in 2024, which now make up roughly 10% of our to-go beverage sales.

We’ve been impressed with The Glass Jug Beer Lab, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
The Glass Jug Beer Lab is a family-owned local craft brewery with a focus on experimental and one-off beers, using new processes and ingredients to recreate classic recipes and imagine new ones. We follow the scientific process and implement strict quality assurance standards in all of our beers. Our brewery is a lab where everything is precisely measured and documented, but also a place where we can be creative, trying new ways to approach this historic beverage.

In addition to housing our brewery, our Research Triangle Park location is also home to one of the Triangle’s largest retail beer and wine shops. With over 500 SKUs on the shelf, we have the perfect craft beverage for everyone, whether it’s craft beer, wine, cider, seltzer, sake, mead, non-alcoholic, or hemp-infused beverages. The large beer garden is family-friendly and perfect for group and corporate outings. A mist cooling system provides comfort in the summer, while real wood fire pits create a warming ambiance in the fall and winter.

The Downtown Durham taproom is adjacent to Durham Central Park and within the Bullpen Social District, allowing guests to grab a drink to-go and enjoy it during a picnic in the park, at the playground, in the gardens, or as you shop at other local stores downtown. We collaborate with Durham Central Park on many events, including the annual Durham Oktoberfest in the fall and the Bull City Beer Mile in the spring.

The most popular brands we brew are our twin IPAs – Opacity and Transparency. Opacity is a hazy, juicy New England-style IPA that is extremely smooth with big pineapple and mango notes and very low bitterness. Transparency is a more modern West Coast IPA that is crisp and clear, with a moderate bitterness, and big citrus, grapefruit, and pine notes from the use of West Coast hops.

However, our lager program has also been growing rapidly. Bunsen, our year-round Amber Lager is an approachable, easy-drinking Vienna-style lager that pairs well with food, especially around a fire pit with friends. Seasonal rotating lagers are also a staple on our menus.

Lastly, we launched a brand of traditional alcoholic ginger beer in 2023. Harper’s Real Ginger Beer is crisp and refreshing, utilizing all real ingredients – no added flavors. It’s 5.5% alcohol by volume (ABV) and is naturally gluten-free. Harper’s is punchy enough to stand up as a mixer in your favorite cocktails, but is also crisp and dry enough to enjoy by itself.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Craft beer saw historic growth in the 2010s and is now experiencing the effects of a maturing industry where growth has flattened in the 2020s. Consumer preferences are always changing and fads like hard seltzers and hemp- or THC-infused beverages can sway people away from beer, in addition to preferences for wine or hard liquor.

However, beer is not going away, and while we will likely see a few years where more breweries open than close, the ones that stick around are the ones that are not only producing an excellent product, but that are tied into their community, providing a space for relaxation, collaboration, and fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://glass-jug.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glassjug
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/glassjugbeerlab