Nostalgia Brewing: “It’s About the Beer”

DeliveryRank chats with Timm Miller, co-founder of Cocoon Brewing. Timm is dedicated to creating a welcoming space where guests can enjoy craft beer, cocktails, and delicious food in a relaxed atmosphere. With 20 taps and a diverse menu, Timm and his team offer something for everyone.

Nostalgia Brewing prides itself on evoking memories and bringing people together through its craft beer. How do you use beer names, events, and your overall atmosphere to create a sense of shared community and nostalgia among your guests? 

Most of our beer names are in reference/homage to local and national sports and automotive nostalgia.  We then try to generate quirky and funny descriptions tied to the names that we utilize on our print menus and cans.  In addition, we offer a fun and inviting atmosphere with many board games for people of all ages to enjoy.  Our venue includes not only our taproom but also a large indoor/outdoor biergarten and two outdoor patios.

Your brewery focuses on crafting unique and approachable beers. Could you share insights into your brewing philosophy and the inspiration behind creating beers that balance creativity with familiarity? 

My personal beer preference is for lagers and ales.  However, my other brewer prefers IPA’s so we strike a great balance that allows us to offer our customers an extensive variety of quality brews.  We also attend many conferences and festivals each year to gain insight into what’s hot in the industry and to see what others are doing to make their breweries a success.  Just as recipe generation sometimes takes trial and error to find perfection, success and growth require open mindedness and a willingness to occasionally take risks.  While we do enjoy coming up with new and innovative brews, there are certain “signature” or “flagship” beers that we keep on tap year-round for those regulars who enjoy the favorites they are familiar with.  

Nostalgia Brewing incorporates themes that resonate with childhood and simpler times. What inspired this concept, and how do you ensure that these nostalgic elements remain fresh and relevant for a modern audience? 

I actually inherited the Nostalgia name when I purchased the company.  The former owners had a different concept geared more towards sci-fi and old movies, but I decided to go in a different direction by keeping the name and just changing the theme of the business.  The largest demographic for craft beer enthusiasts is generally men aged 30-50, which coincidentally includes many sports fans.  This concept allowed us to save the extensive expenditure of a complete re-brand while putting a greater focus on our target demographic. 

Beyond serving beer, you provide memorable experiences through trivia nights, food pairings, and themed events. How do you go about designing these events to deepen customer engagement and align with your nostalgic brand identity?

We do not currently have trivia nights.  However, we do utilize social media to promote our beers with recommended food pairings.  In keeping with the nostalgic theme, we also play mostly 80’s music in the taproom and during the spring/summer we have live music a few times per month (including our “First Fridays” party with beer specials). Our live entertainers play music predominantly from the 60’s-90’s.

As a growing brewery, what challenges have you faced in balancing quality, creativity, and consistency while scaling your operations, and what are your plans for the future in expanding both your offerings and community reach?

When I took ownership, the business suffered from mediocre quality beer and a food menu that made no sense for a brewery.  They were also structured more like a restaurant, in a manner to promote food over beer and turn fast ticket times.  We were not only tasked with overcoming any negative stigma created by the previous ownership but also in designing a new menu more suited to a brewpub.  Our goal is not to rush customers out but rather to keep them here and drinking as long as we can.  Our catch phrase “It’s about the beer!” signifies our commitment to our customers and to providing quality beers.  A strategic focus on sanitation and cleanliness has allowed us to greatly improve the taste and quality of our brews.  We donate to many local charitable organizations and events for raffles and fundraising, host parties, and occasionally donate our space.  

Our business is located within the Creekside District of Gahanna, which is a vibrant area filled with local small businesses, beautiful fountains, and walking paths along the creek that passes through downtown.  It is a source of pride within the community and much of our taproom business is driven by foot traffic that has come to enjoy the scenery. 

In regard to expansion, we have been considering an additional taproom location and upgrading/upsizing our brewing equipment.  We just began self-distribution in Q3 of 2024 so we need to be able to ramp up production to meet this new demand.  A small canning machine was also purchased in 2024 so that we could begin offering carryout beer from our taproom.  Distribution is done solely with kegged beer (either 1/6 BBL or ½ BBL).  We only can for in-house sales. 

If you would like to find out more about Nostalgia Brewing Co, please visit https://www.nostalgiabrewing.com/