Benny Boy Brewing , Chelsey Rosetter and Ben Farber
Benny Boy Brewing owners Chelsey Rosetter and Ben Farber had a dream to create LA’s first outdoor craft beer and cider house experience and they turned to SCORE Los Angeles to help make it come true.
The husband and wife entrepreneurs came to SCORE Los Angeles in 2016 and met with several mentors who each had different expertise to share. Gudo Husson, a SCORE mentor who founded and ran five businesses during his career, helped the couple refine their pitch deck in 2016 to attract investors and then continued to provide advice as the business took shape.
“Starting any business isn’t easy but doing something that takes this much planning and investment in equipment, infrastructure, and production during an unprecedented pandemic is truly commendable,” noted Husson. “Chelsey and Ben spent years doing a beautiful buildout.”
Benny Boy Brewing opened in Lincoln Heights earlier this year and celebrated its grand opening in March. The unique inside/outside tank bar experience offers world-class beer crafted from Old World traditions that Ben learned during an apprenticeship in Belgium. The business also serves a ‘new generation’ of hard ciders that are created the way that craft ciders used to be: with quality ingredients, less processing, zero filtering, and natural carbonation.
“The result is a cleaner, classic beer and natural dry cider,” according to the Benny Boy Brewing website. “It’s all straight from the tanks so it’s as fresh as it can be.”
The inside-outside design of the brewery, tank bar, and beer garden provides a unique setting and is a perfect business model for the times – especially in DTLA, which continues to go through a renaissance post-pandemic.
“Benny Boy Brewing has all of the things that you’ve come to expect from a great brewery -- a prime view of shining production tanks, beers by the flight, the aroma of grains steeping, knowledgeable staff, and drinking puns galore. But at Benny Boy, we have ditched the indoors to bring the craft experience outside.”