Meet Matthew Curling | Owner / Brewmaster @ Variant Brewing Company

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matthew Curling and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matthew, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
The thought process behind opening Variant was simply due to my passion for brewing. Being able to open the business in my hometown where I was born and raised in a giant bonus.

I fell in love with brewing much like many fall in love with cooking. There’s a lot of complexity in brewing – from recipe formulation, process, ingredient selection, & using ingredients in different ways to manipulate flavor. It really became such a enjoyable part of the process for me that we decided to incorporate that into our brand and name – hence, Variant.

Variant is all about variety and trying new things. We like to take existing recipes and brew them different ways and create a whole new beer from them.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Brewing is in some ways similar to cooking, or at least that is how I see it. We are always finding creative ways to make new beers by getting inspired by ways to tweak recipes using different hops & yeast strains or adjuncts such as herbs, fruits, spices, flavors, etc. After four years of operating we have created 317 different beers and hope to continue to grow that number and that is something we are very proud of.

I believe we got to where we are today because we believe through our commitment to quality & experimentation. We have surrounded ourselves with a great team who are just as equally passionate about being creative which really helps expands our knowledge and educate our consumers. I want everybody who walks through the door to learn more about beer and leave more excited than when they came in.

A big challenge would be is that since we are constantly creating new recipes and flavors, we don’t always land on a win. But we pride ourselves on consistency and quality and with that commitment if an idea doesn’t come out as planned, we don’t serve it.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I was taking a friend around Roswell that is visiting from out of town we’d likely do much of the following –

Canton Street is the home of downtown Roswell and has lots of great local restaurants, bars, & shops. Lots of great dining options available for lunch & dinner and many even late night. Just a great street to hop around and hangout.

We’d hit all of the Roswell breweries and now meadery, which includes us, Gate City, From the Earth, & 5/4 Meadery.

There’s a beautiful hiking trail @ the Mill, Vickery Creek.

East Roswell Park has a fantastic disc golf course.

There is the “Art Around Roswell” sculpture tour that we’re proud to be a part of with various art sculptures from many wonderful artists that are spread throughout the city. We get a rotating piece of art to feature each year in front of our building. Our current piece is “Bad Hair Day” created by Jeffie Brewer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I got into brewing as a hobby in my early 20s. In 2014 I was able to work at Cherry Street Brewing for a short while to get some more hands on experience while working on our business plan and developing what Variant is today.

We’re a small family business, my wife and I work together at Variant and work closely with my father, brother, & sister as their company New Kent Capital is our business partner, building developer, investor, & landlord.

Without the help of everyone above it would definitely be difficult to keep the wheels turning.

Website: www.drinkvariant.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/variantbrewingcompany/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/variantbrewing/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/variantbrewingcompany/

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/variant-brewing-company-roswell

Image Credits
Lauren Curling