Got Beer? Nichole Pelletier Can Brew It!

An entrepreneur often jumps into unknown territory, or walks right off the path and into places that make others wince, asking, “Why would you do that?” It takes guts, hard work, a bit of luck and ultimately, a core offering that stands on point.

And thus, Nichole Pelletier finds so many of us beer fans, home brewers and wanna-be-entrepreneurs clamoring at Crooked Current every weekend.

Well, and also for the AMAZING brews this woman churns out weekly.

If you’ve not yet found your way to Crooked Current, get on over to 560 Mineral Spring Avenue. Tucked into the side of Lorraine Mills sits the teal-embellished brewery with its rotating list of brews to sample or pours to sip with friends.

When I arrived at Crooked Current to interview Nicole, Jason Lourenco, co-owner of Crooked Current, greeted me at the door and immediately poured me a sample of their Blueberry Wheat. We settled into a corner of the cozy brewery.

“This is two-and-a-half times the size of our first space,” Jason said. Just two years ago the couple opened the brewery and quickly made a mark on the Rhode Island Craft Beer circuit.

“People say it’s about how I layer flavors,” Nicole shrugs as I ask her about the fanfare she and Jason got when they opened. Something to notice about Nichole right away: She’s quietly humble about her accomplishments.

Jason, who also happens to be her partner in life, chimes in, “I’m biased for good reason; she’ll downplay what she does. She has a gift.”

Nichole’s churned out more than 30 styles in 19 months, each one with unique twists like the upcoming Mango SMASH Pale Ale. “I’m a fish – I look at everything and touch everything,” Nichole laughs. “Jason doesn’t like to grocery shop with me! I saw mangoes were on sale, and they were beautifully ripe and I hadn’t seen perfect mangoes like that in a long time.” Nichole put those mangoes to good use with a single malt, single hop recipe; like many of her creative concoctions, she employs a straightforward recipe to showcase her ingredient(s) of choice.

Her inspirations for concoctions like Oatmeal Raisin Stout come via ingredients or experiences. For instance, her famed ice cream beer, the Neapolitan Brown Ale, which was something she worked hard to figure out. “I used ice cream as my inspiration – what’s summer without ice cream?!” She nods as I look longingly toward the tap.

After they poured me a fresh tasting of the Hawaiian Porter (holy hell if you’ve not yet had this beer, get thee to the brewery now. Stop reading. Finish the article while you’re there drinking) we discussed how a homebrewer makes the leap from brewing for just family and friends to making a commercial venture.

One evening after a frustrating day, “I made an off-the-cuff remark that I wanted to own a brewery. I didn’t think Jason would say okay, but he did!”

“There are lots of moments we could say ‘starting point’ but that moment was probably it,” adds Jason. A lot of hard work and smart steps took place between then and now, but in short, Nichole jumped off the 9-5 path and together they hacked a trail into unknown territory.

“It’s a dangerous job, actually,” she smiles holding her arms out to show a recent burn. “I’ll never not have a mark somewhere or smooth hands but it’s worth it.”

Now here’s the part where we mention she’s the only female brewer/owner/operator in Rhode Island. Does that make a difference? I ask Nichole and Jason as much as I ask myself. There are a lot of researchers out there noting the shift in beer drinking demographics – from craft beer consumption to active participation in the craft beer community and industry — those darn women keep on doing more with beer.

“I’m able to move with less constraint,” Nichole thoughtfully chooses her words. “This is due in part to the size of my operation with a one-barrel system,” but perhaps this is also because she’s not yet been cast into a particular role only having to make a certain style of beer. A quick glance at the brewery’s t-shirt with Rosie the Riveter declaring “We can Brew it!” nods to the uniqueness of being one of the first in a group. But she won’t be the last or the only. And that’s just fine with all of us. There’s room for great beer in Rhode Island and we’re the lucky ones who get to drink it.

[One last thing: The Pumpkin Maple Ale is about to go in the kettle now and will be released in September.]