HOW TWO COUSINS

BECAME COOL

John and Doug are cousins who grew up in the same neighborhood in London without really knowing each other. Mostly because they are 16 years apart, but also because their mothers did not get on. At all.

Which wasn’t cool.

And so began a weird dance around family, friendship, and business that has brought the two cousins closer together and cool with each other in a way neither was expecting. Which has left the rest of the family scratching their heads.

Doug did M&A at Diageo for 7 years before leaving to focus on start-ups in the drinks space, while John was a freelance photographer working for style brands and magazines all over the world. What finally reconnected them was their passion for well-crafted lager and a desire to do something completely different that was fun.

John was online reading about lager when he stumbled across an online course on ‘The Science of Brewing’. In this course, there was a suggestion that brewers could still achieve a lot of energy and water savings in the malting process, but they hadn’t realized it yet. This sent John down a rabbit hole, where he discovered that there was a way to brew beer without malting barley at all – it was by using raw barley and enzymes.

On Doug’s advice, John started a home brewery (in Brooklyn, NY) where he spent countless days experimenting. The cousins shared ideas about every step of the process on a daily basis, culminating in a multi-award-winning lager and the launch of Cool Cousin Brewing.

As the brand gained momentum, two new cousins were adopted.

Carlo Nerko, who brings with him years of business and investment expertise, and Paul Kamzelas, a veteran of the New York brand consulting and advertising industry.

So together, the guys have begun their mission to share their yummo beers with the world, and to change the brewing industry as you know it.