Q+A: Wyndee Forrest:

Brewery owner takes community aspect of business to heart

Edison Graff / Courtesy

From left, head brewer Cameron Fisher is joined by co-owners Wyndee and Dave Forrest at CraftHaus Brewery.

Wyndee Forrest is co-owner and founder of CraftHaus Brewery, which recently celebrated five years in business and opened a tasting room downtown, CraftHaus Arts District, which they lovingly call The CHAD. She and her husband, Dave — both UNLV graduates — had no experience in the craft beer industry but with patience, determination, passion and help from willing mentors, have forged a successful business in Southern Nevada.

When did you acquire a taste for beer and where does your passion for the beverage come from?

On a trip through Europe, we were sitting on a canal in Amsterdam and were served beautiful, full-flavor beers. Not only did the beers open our eyes but when we looked around at the beer garden, it was bringing people together. This experience eventually led to Dave homebrewing, which was a passion that took over our house, with brewing and fermentation. When we decided to turn our passion into a profession, we met amazing people in the craft beer industry. Those people exemplified camaraderie by sharing their knowledge and time. We learned that new breweries were not viewed as competition but just the opposite: “A rising tide floats all boats.” Our craft beer journey led us to discovering our passion of building community around quality-driven beers.

How many are on your team and what is your management style?

We have 13 team members that include our brewery production team and beertenders. With the addition of our Arts District location, we more than doubled our staff. Every day is a new challenge, and what worked yesterday may not work today. I try to empower those around us to make the best decisions they can. Being open and transparent seems to guide me to make honest decisions.

How do you give back to the community?

The craft beer industry is a wonderful example of being community minded. We ask our community to support us daily, and in exchange, we reciprocate that support. We donate our product and time to benefit locally focused nonprofits. We have a few organizations that are special to us — Chris Curtis for a Cure helps local families challenged with ALS, and we canned our Silver State Blonde in special pink cans this month for Breast Cancer Awareness month.

What are your three biggest accomplishments?

First, being asked by The Brewers Association to represent Nevada’s breweries and march on Capitol Hill last spring. I had the opportunity to speak for our state’s craft brewers and meet face to face with our legislators. It was an amazing opportunity to bring light to our brewing community.

Then, celebrating our brewery’s fifth anniversary on Sept. 14. My husband and I had never owned a business, let alone worked in the craft beer industry, and to make it to five years was an amazing milestone.

Last, being able to have a positive impact on our state’s craft beer industry by amending licensing in Henderson and Las Vegas to become more friendly to independently owned businesses. Our state is behind the curve on craft breweries and it’s primarily due to antiquated laws that were written for casinos. I am proud to have a little push in the right direction.

What’s the best business advice you’ve received?

Tomme Arthur, owner of Lost Abbey, said, “I’m not in the craft beer business, I’m in the business of staying in business.”

If you could change one thing about Southern Nevada, what would it be?

The perceived rivalry between the northern and southern parts of the state. We need to band together to make effective change.

If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?

I lived in Japan and would love to get back there. My kids would love the digital, video gaming aspect and it could be balanced out by visiting Shinto Shrines. The food, culture and people made a big impression of who I became in my early twenties.

Who do you admire?

My husband is tireless with managing the juggle between our kids, a full-time job and the brewery, and he is a business leader. He is always learning and has such a positive demeanor with not only our team members but our family as well.

What is your biggest pet peeve?

Complaining about a situation without offering to make a positive change.

What would you want to eat as your last meal? And what sort of beer would you pair with it?

I would gather the amazing chefs from our neighborhood in the Arts District — Chef James Trees of Esther’s Kitchen, Chef Justin Kingsley Hall of Main Street Provisions and Chef Vincent Rotolo of Good Pie. I would challenge them all to make a last meal of their dreams because I could experience something I could not dream of myself. I would pair the beer that made me fall in love with craft beer, Saison DuPont.

What is something that people might not know about you?

I was a professional dancer from the age of 16 to 24. I never actually danced in Las Vegas, but that is also how I met Dave. Dave worked with the children’s program and I was a dancer in the shows for Royal Caribbean cruise lines.

Wanting to stay within the entertainment industry, but retire from performing, I found UNLV offered a bachelor’s in entertainment management. I moved to Henderson to attend UNLV at the Harrah’s School of Hospitality. My PR internship in my final year of UNLV was with AEG at the Colosseum Theater when Celine Dion first had her residency.

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