We have a new Bottle Share Playlist and on this occasion, the person in charge of distributing flow left and right is Elliott Konig, General Manager at Freddo Fox. From sunny Miami, Florida, to the musical series of C R A F T E D.
Surely you will agree with me that in the beer world the figure of the brewer tends to monopolize all the media attention. I'm not saying it's not deserved, as they are true rock stars. From their creativity and their recipes, the liquid magic that makes us so excited is born. It is logical that they raise so much interest and admiration.
But for an album like Thriller to come out, it is not enough to have Michael Jackson in the recording studio, right? A Quincy Jones is also required, composing, arranging and directing the musicians. That is why Elliott, in addition to being a good friend and a great person, is one of the professionals behind the scenes in the world of beer whose role in the equation I would like to acknowledge. Just so that we understand each other: if we were talking about football, I’m always in favor of Barça, but for the rest, make sure to put me in Elliott's team.
Born and raised in the North Miami Beach/Aventura area (Miami, USA), Elliott is a first generation North American. His father, born in Bogotá (Colombia), grew up in Caracas (Venezuela), and his mother, who was born on the island of Curaçao, also grew up in the capital of Venezuela.
His relationship with beer began early: “I started regularly drinking at around the age of 15 since we know of a few local gas stations and stores that would never check IDs. I got my first fake ID during high school and from then on I never had a problem getting a beer. We’d typically get the usual domestic beers and if we wanted something special it would be the imports of the time Heineken and Corona”.
A big Gators fan, which he has inherited from the University of Florida, Elliott has a degree in Political Science. During his university days, specifically the third year of his studies (2002), he traveled to Spain for the first time as part of a program at FSU (Florida State University), the “rival” University. He spent five months in Valencia, from January to May.
In addition to experiencing Las Fallas in person, he would attend the Mestalla stadium on many evenings to see the city's team play, and even celebrating the Valencia C.F league championship (after 30 years without winning) together with the Valencian fans. Elliott took the opportunity to travel through Europe and drink a few pints of Guinness and Franziskaner: "From this point on I knew I wanted to live in Spain."
A few years later, with a couple of master's degrees on his curriculum and several stays in Spain combined with his studies - he was also working in Dublin, Curaçao and Toronto -, the opportunity arose to move to Boston and join the investment department of a Hedge Fund management company: “Boston is where I finally had the chance to dive more into craft beers. Harpoon IPA was on tap just about everywhere which is what finally got me into IPAs on a hot summer day and with great bars all over the city I started to get into lots of other breweries like Allagash, Pretty Things, Jack's Abbey, and Clown Shoes to name a few. At the time Trillium and Treehouse were just coming to their own so the big thing at the time was getting any friend making the trip to Vermont to bring you back a case of Heady Topper from The Alchemist. "
It was at this time that he finally managed to obtain his European passport (Austrian, thanks to his Vienna-born grandfather), and convince his company to let him work from Spain. In 2014, he moved to Valencia.
When talking about craft beer and Valencia, Elliott mentions that an important moment was the opening of Olhöps, at the end of 2014. He quickly established a great friendship with Pablo, Mauro and the entire Olhöps family. As he tells me “Olhöps quickly became a reference point in the city for craft beer enthusiasts and during their first year I had the chance to meet some incredible people from the Spanish craft beer scene who had come for events at the bar like Aran (La Pirata ), Ernesto (Yria), and Txus (Laugar) to name a few ”.
In late 2016, Elliott received the news that the company he worked for was going to be taken over by another, larger company. Everyone was happy except him, knowing that he would probably be forced to return to the United States. Installed in Valencia, and after dedicating ten years to the world of finance, Elliott thought that the time had come to change and do something that he was really passionate about. When questioned by his former colleagues about the reasons for his resignation, the answer was clear: “I'm currently living through the boom of the craft beer revolution in Spain and meeting lots of amazing people in the sector. I'm going to find a way to work in craft beer ”. Did he indeed.
A few months later, speaking one day with Pablo from Olhöps at the bar, the two of them came up with the idea of making ice cream with beer: “We launched Hop Cream in September 2016 with an event at Olhöps and quickly drew interest. We were able to do events around Valencia and eventually started collaborating with breweries and bars to make them ice cream. In March of 2017. Following that festival we had the chance to attend more events in Madrid, Valencia and as far as Groningen, Netherlands. We were also invited to serve ice cream at the first MASH Beer festival in 2017. " In addition to the Hop Cream project, Elliott also contributed to the creation of H2ÖL, Ölhops' gypsy brewery, and helped them create two of their first releases: Beergin, with Yria, and Imperial Torrija, with Tyris.
The Hop Cream project was going well and it was fun, but the financial aspect of it made Elliott feel the need to find a second job. At the end of 2017, he saw that Edge Brewing was announcing on their social media that they were looking for administrative staff, and he decided to contact them. The months went by, and he didn't get any response from the brewery.
Then one day, when Elliott already thought he would have no choice but to go back to work in finance, he found a good offer for spending the weekend in Barcelona. What he did not know at the time is that this improvised trip would mean a new plot twist in his story: “With no plans other than to visit bars, on the train I sent a message to Robin to see if he wanted to meet up one of the days. We had gotten to know each other well over the year doing events together and I wanted to invite him to some drinks to say thank you for all his help and support. When I heard back from him he suggested I come by the brewery instead so I can see the whole Edge team and catch up ”. Apparently, despite not telling him anything for months, they had been discussing his incorporation internally. The following week, Elliott was hired as General Manager. And the rest is history.
While at that time Edge Brewing already had a history and enjoyed notable recognition within the craft beer scene, I believe that the incorporation of Elliott was essential for the brewery to continue evolving. During the next three years, Edge managed to win the Campeonato Nacional de Cervezas at Fira de Poblenou (2018), and incorporate The Shelton Brothers (importers) as co-organizers of the Mash festival (together with Garage Beer Co.) - Elliott, In addition, was key in managing the logistics that allowed bringing fresh beers from some of the best North American breweries to the festival -, and also an unbeatable outcome: the Best Brewery of the Year award at the Barcelona Beer Challenge (2020).
At present, since January 2021 to be more specific, and after the sale of Edge Brewing to a new owner, Marcus Tybell (ex Brewski), Elliott has become a partner in this new project and occupies the position of General Manager of Freddo Fox; the Barcelona brewery that is injecting fresh air into the national and international beer scene. At the moment, Freddo Fox has launched five beers on the market, and it all looks very promising. This is a project that revolves around a modern brand, with a style/philosophy that fits perfectly with the vibe that permeates the urban and artistic district (Poblenou) where the brewery and soon store are located. Extravagant and daring recipes are created that focus on innovation and where they are playing with new varieties of fresh hops, doing collaborations with the best national and international breweries, and working with a team of professionals that accumulate many years of experience in the field.
With that said, the time has come to see, or rather, to listen, what Elliott brings us in his Playlist. Because what he proposes through his careful selection, and which he himself recognizes has been one of the most difficult things he has done in his life (how exaggerated are the guys from Miami...), is a sound journey in which the order of the songs, cadences and rhythms have been designed to flow and intertwine with each other. An eclectic mix in which rock and hip hop, broadly speaking, are somehow the cornerstones: ALO, Dave Matthews Band, Arcade Fire, Talking Heads, Jimmy Buffet, Foals, Paul Simon, John Mayer and the Grateful Dead VS Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, Luke & Trick Daddy, The Pharcyde and Kanye West & Dwele. Enjoy it!