I first became acquainted with Scotzin Brothers while working on an August article for TheBurg on Alter Ego Brewing Co. (“Beer Ambition,” p. 26).
Alter Ego’s owners had started as home brewers, with Scotzin supplying the necessary equipment and ingredients. However, as I got to know the store’s manager, Brad Moyer, I realized that Alter Ego’s owners weren’t the only enthusiastic Scotzin customers passionately pursuing their hobby. So, I went in search of what made this wine and beer making supply store so special.
When I started my search, I had originally thought that Scotzin catered to home brewers alone. However, I quickly learned that they are equally important to the home vintner (wine-maker) community. In fact, when Scotzin Brothers first opened more than 40 years ago, it was an extension of brothers Paul and John Scotzin’s love for making wine, not beer.
The original Scotzin Brothers store dealt in television and appliance sales and repair, but what started as a backroom operation gradually became the primary business. Beer making supplies were only added later as the microbrew craze took off.
A Brewing Community
The obvious first step was to talk to Brad Moyer further. Moyer has extensive brewing experience, both privately and with some leading microbreweries. He uses his position at Scotzin to help other people find the same passion.
“This is the one thing I have discovered that I am both passionate about and good at,” he says. “I never stop learning, never stop reading and never stop doing.”
Most importantly, Moyer is tireless in working to foster the store’s homebrew culture.
“I don’t believe in recipe secrecy, so I will always share what I’m doing with the community,” he says. “This is much more than a retail store. It’s a resource, a social place. People never come in, buy something and just walk out.”
However, this community isn’t only local. According to Moyer, 80 percent of his customers come from a radius that reaches south from the tip of West Virginia and Hagerstown, Md., and goes north to Mansfield and Williamsport, Pa. However, the store’s reach extends further when it comes to large equipment. Scotzin’s stock is so extensive that customers regularly come from as far as Connecticut to buy specialty equipment.
Wine and Beer
Next, I met with two of these avid customers/community members. Mario Billow, from Enola, owns a funeral home and is an avid vintner. Kristen Richards, from Harrisburg, works in sales and is a brewer. As to be expected, a sampling of the fruits of their labor preceded any actual conversation.
Billow began making wine in 2006, first trying his hand at the starter kits available at the store. However, it didn’t take long before he moved on to fresh grape pressing. He now cultivates 24 vines in his own backyard.
His favorite grape is chambourcin, a French/American hybrid. But he also makes cabernet, merlot, Vidal Muscat, chardonnay and sour cherry wines. One of his proudest moments came in 2008, when he decided to send some of his wine to the annual American Wine Society competition.
“Every single one of my wines won medals,” says Billow. “The only complaint was that my wine was too young.”
In response to that critique, he now ages his wines for years before he bottles them.
Richards started brewing in the ‘90s. Like Billow, she started with kits and then ventured into all-grain brewing, the homebrew equivalent of using fresh grapes. However, her life became hectic, and she had to stop in 2002. Then, in 2011, she felt the itch again and has been brewing almost non-stop since then. She recently upgraded her brewing equipment and now uses a sophisticated, completely computerized system.
Richards is especially interested in brewing India pale ales, the highly hopped beer style that has become incredibly popular in the United States, although there isn’t a style that she won’t try to make.
For Richards, it is easy to experiment, since she has such a rich source of information.
“You can always come into the store and get whatever you need and get any questions you may have answered,” she says
Both Billow and Richards say they couldn’t imagine doing what they love without Scotzin, which offers both a wide range of specialty equipment and a network of knowledge.
Online and Upward
Even with such a dedicated community, Scotzin Brothers isn’t resting. The store recently launched its online store, allowing them to reach even more people; they have already begun shipping international orders.
To help foster greater community, Moyer is launching his own brew club where home brewers can come together, sample each other’s creations and pool their experience and knowledge.
For Moyer, Billow and Richards, along with Scotzin’s like-minded customers, expanding the community was as simple as taking that first sip. It was the passion of others that brought them into the hobby. Now, they want to pass it on.
Scotzin Brothers is located at 65C N. 5th St. in Lemoyne. For more information, visit www.scotzinbros.com or call 717-737-0483.
