Hillman Beer’s Origin Story: How a Brooklyn Homebrewer Won a GABF Gold Medal in North Carolina

Some of the best craft breweries don’t start with investors or a business plan. They start with a batch of beer brewed somewhere it probably shouldn’t have been. For Hillman Beer, that place was a garage in North Carolina, and the person responsible was Brad Hillman — a Brooklyn transplant who had spent years quietly turning a weekend hobby into something worth paying attention to.

The story of how an independent, family-owned brewery went from a first homebrew to a nationally recognized award is not a story about luck. It’s about making deliberate choices, staying true to a brewing philosophy, and building a place where people actually want to spend time. That’s the Hillman Beer origin story, and it still shapes everything the brewery does today.

From Brooklyn to a Garage: Where It All Started

Brad Hillman first picked up homebrewing in 2006 while living in Brooklyn, NY. What started as curiosity quickly became a disciplined practice. Over the years, Brad developed a clear point of view about beer: classic styles, made with care, are harder to pull off than they look — and worth doing right.

When the Hillman family eventually landed in North Carolina, that homebrewing practice found a new home: the garage of Greig and Brandi Hillman. The first beer to come out of that garage was a Dunkelweizen they named Dingaudamnit — a name that tells you exactly what kind of brewery Hillman was going to be. Unpretentious, honest, and not taking itself too seriously.

That garage phase wasn’t just a romantic origin story detail. It was where the brewery’s core identity took shape. According to Hillman Beer (From Grain to Glass), the team’s philosophy has always been focused on “making classic styles really well” rather than trying to reinvent what beer is. That commitment to quality over novelty became the foundation everything else was built on.

The decision to open a proper brewery was a family one, made together. Brad, Greig, and Brandi moved from garage batches to a real taproom near Biltmore Village in Asheville, NC, opening their doors in April 2017. It was a neighborhood-scale operation from the start — a pub-style space designed for conversation, not spectacle.

Hillman Beer’s origin traces directly to Brad Hillman’s homebrewing practice, which began in Brooklyn in 2006 and evolved into a family-run brewery in Asheville, NC. The Hillman family’s decision to open together, grounded in a shared philosophy about classic beer styles, gave the independent brewery a clear and consistent identity from day one.

What GABF Recognition Actually Means for an Independent Brewery

Winning at the Great American Beer Festival is not a marketing exercise. It is one of the most competitive beer evaluations in the country, and placing there — especially in back-to-back years — means something real about what’s happening in the brewhouse.

Hillman Beer earned a Bronze medal at the GABF in 2017 for their Four Fat Baby beer, just months after opening. The following year they took Silver for their ESB. In 2019, that same ESB came back and won Gold. Three consecutive years of national recognition at one of the country’s most respected brewing competitions, all within the first three years of operation.

According to the Brewers Association, the GABF evaluates thousands of beers across dozens of style categories each year, with judges drawn from professional brewing and sensory evaluation backgrounds. A Gold medal in that context is not a participation award. It’s a statement about consistency, technical skill, and an understanding of what a given style is supposed to taste like.

For a family-owned brewery in its first few years, those medals carry a particular weight. They validated that the approach — classic styles, careful process, no shortcuts — was producing beers that could stand next to anyone’s in the country. As Hillman Beer’s own beer page puts it, you don’t need an advanced beer vocabulary to enjoy what’s in your glass. But behind that approachability is a methodical brewing process that the GABF results confirm.

“Independent craft breweries represent a commitment to quality and community that goes beyond what any large production facility can replicate. When a small family-owned operation wins at the national level, it demonstrates what’s possible when passion and process align.”

According to the Brewers Association (2023), there are now over 9,000 craft breweries operating in the United States. Earning three consecutive GABF medals in that environment is a genuine achievement, not a statistical inevitability.

Hillman Beer’s three consecutive GABF medals — Bronze in 2017, Silver in 2018, and Gold in 2019 — confirm that the independent family-owned brewery’s commitment to classic styles and careful brewing translates to nationally recognized quality. For a pub-scale operation in Western North Carolina, those results set a clear standard that continues to define the brand.

What Makes a Family-Owned Brewery Different

Independent, family-owned breweries operate differently from corporate brewing operations — and that difference shows up in the beer, the space, and how the staff treats you when you walk in.

At Hillman Beer, the family story isn’t a marketing angle applied after the fact. Brad, Greig, and Brandi built this brewery together, made decisions together, and opened a second location in Old Fort, NC in July 2020 together. The pub-style experience at both locations — full kitchens, communal tables, dog-friendly spaces — reflects what the Hillman family actually values, not what a brand consultant recommended.

According to the NC Craft Brewers Guild, independent craft breweries contribute significantly to local economies and regional identity, particularly in areas like Western North Carolina where tourism and local character are closely linked. Hillman Beer holds membership in the Guild, the Asheville Brewers Alliance, and carries Craft Malt Certification — affiliations that reflect genuine investment in regional brewing quality, not just marketing credentials.

The brewery is also deliberate about its physical spaces. Both locations were designed for people to stay a while — to sit at a table, order food from the full kitchen, bring the dog, and talk to whoever’s next to them. That environment doesn’t happen by accident. It’s a direct expression of the founding belief that beer is best when it brings people together.

There’s also something worth noting about the brewing approach itself. Hillman doesn’t chase every new style or trend. They make beers they believe in, refine them over time, and let the results speak. That’s how an ESB brewed at a pub-scale operation in North Carolina ends up winning a Gold medal at a national competition.

Independent family-owned breweries like Hillman Beer distinguish themselves through consistent values, community investment, and a brewing philosophy that prioritizes quality over novelty. The Hillman family’s hands-on involvement at both their Asheville and Old Fort locations ensures that the original vision behind every batch of beer remains intact.