Chappell Brewing
Address: 2285 South Main Street
Telephone: 801-455-3478
Website: chappell.beer
District: South Salt Lake
“We’re much better at making beer than marketing. At the end of the day, we just want people to feel like they’re hanging out in our living room, enjoying something we love to create.” Tim Chappell’s path to owning his eponymous Chappell Brewing, one of the smallest breweries in Salt Lake Valley, was anything but linear.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, New Hampshire - the last town before the Canadian border - Tim left home at seventeen with little more than three hundred dollars in his pocket. Heartbreak pushed him onto a Greyhound bus heading west, and it dropped him in Salt Lake City for the first of several stays. Over the years, his life meandered through Colorado, Oregon, and China, but he always seemed to find his way back to Salt Lake.
Before beer, Tim’s world revolved around food and the outdoors. He worked as a chef and wilderness guide, spending years in kitchens and seasonal jobs until life nudged him toward a different kind of craft. But when he and his wife, Jen, got married during the height of the Great Recession, work became scarce. “We were economic refugees,” he said with a wry smile.
An opportunity came for Jen to teach math at an international school in China, and they jumped at it. Moving overseas meant leaving restaurant kitchens behind, but Tim still wanted a culinary outlet. The catch was that he was on his wife’s work visa and was not allowed to have a job. So instead, he turned his attention to home brewing, figuring out how to brew beer in Southern China, where craft beer was still a novelty. Together with a few friends, he founded a home brew club that quickly grew to a few hundred members in its first year. About twenty-five percent of the group were English-speaking expats from all over the world; the rest were local Chinese enthusiasts.
What began as a hobby became something more. Tim soon started consulting for bar owners who wanted to learn to brew. He navigated the complexities of Chinese beer laws, helped source equipment and ingredients, trained staff, and advised on recipes and menus. He even consulted remotely via Skype for breweries in Mongolia and Southeast Asia. “That’s really where I cut my teeth commercially in the industry,” he explained.
When Tim and Jen eventually returned to the United States, Salt Lake City was the only American city on their list. The mountains, the desert, and the promise of outdoor recreation called them back in 2015. But despite his years of experience, his résumé from China was met with skepticism. Tim found himself applying for jobs at breweries, only to be offered little more than minimum wage. “I just couldn’t afford to start all the way over for twelve dollars an hour,” he said.
So, Tim pieced together a life. His day job was as a head technician for a ski mountaineering company in town, while he kept his consulting business alive on the side. During summers, he traveled back to China and Mongolia to continue advising breweries. He even helped build a production brewery in Oregon in 2018. At home in Salt Lake, he set up a small lab, developing recipes and water profiles tailored to different cities for his clients.
Then the pandemic hit. Housing values went up, and Tim and Jen decided it was time to take a leap. Along with one partner, they pulled every bit of equity out of their home and opened Chappell Brewing. They began construction in the spring of 2022, working for eleven months before finally opening their doors in March of 2023.
When asked how it has been since then, Tim did not hesitate. “Terrifying,” he said. Opening a brewery in the wake of the pandemic was no easy feat. Nationwide, beer consumption had dropped - people were drinking less, focusing on mental health, and cannabis use was on the rise. The first year and a half was about survival. They ran as lean as possible, with the simple goal of breaking even. “Since then, we’ve been adding one thing at a time,” Tim said. “Now we’re at least on an upward trajectory.”
Chappell brewing is intentionally small. The three-and-a-half-barrel brew house produces about two hundred barrels a year, with the capacity to grow to five hundred. It is a lean operation with just one main employee, plus friends who pitch in where they can, sometimes doing sales calls. His wife handles the books, and Tim does everything else - brewing, bartending, cleaning, and whatever else that needs to be done in between. For Tim, he admits," it is a bit scrappy. We’re not chasing growth for growth’s sake; the goal is to sustain something meaningful and community driven.
While Chappell Brewing’s production may be small-scale, it does not hold back on flavor, or personality. Tim describes his beer as modern American ales brewed unapologetically. He does not do lagers. Instead, he focuses on bold, memorable ales that push boundaries without sacrificing balance. “It’s easy to make a beer that sounds weird,” he said. “The challenge is making it drinkable, enjoyable - something you actually want another glass of.”
The lineup is playful, both in names and approach. “Craft Beer Sucks” is a pale ale brewed at seven percent ABV, using techniques that make it deceptively light and sessionable. “This Is the Hazy” nods to Utah history while delivering a juicy double hazy IPA with unique hop combinations. His small-batch Barrel Series comes out about three times a year, each batch an experiment in creativity. The first, “I Soak on the First Date” (a cheeky reference to local culture), was a miso-based sour infused with yuzu and ginger, aged in sake barrels. Another, “Platypus Milk,” is a thirteen percent golden stout matured in rare Madeira barrels sourced from Portugal.
Even the fruit beers have a culinary sensibility. A strawberry rhubarb tart ale drinks like a refreshing, balanced Gatorade - never too sweet or overly sour. Tim’s background as a chef shows in the way he layers flavors, always thinking sensory first rather than rigidly adhering to style guidelines.
In addition to the beer lineup, Chappell has non-alcoholic beverages, including cannabis-infused hop water, and a full liquor license.
Despite having no marketing budget, Chappell Brewing is currently the highest-rated brewery in Utah on Google, holding a 4.9-star average. Word of mouth brings people in, and the quality keeps them coming back. Most of the beer is sold directly from the taproom, with a few draft accounts at Deer Valley and Slackwater, plus occasional cans-to-go.
The taproom itself reflects his easy-going, fun philosophy. It is unpretentious and welcoming. The beers are served in mason jars, not fancy glassware, to emphasize comfort over presentation. The space functions as what Tim calls a “community third place” - part brewery, part neighborhood gathering spot, an extension of someone’s living room. Locals treat it exactly that way, dropping in for a pint and lingering “We’re not here to be an Instagram brewery. We’re here to make good beer, treat people well, and give our neighborhood a place to gather. If it feels like you’re sitting outside on our patio today - like you were at home - then we’re doing it right.”