By Amy Sherman
WKTV Contributing Writer

Take a lifelong dream, add in some time in Europe, and a hearty dose of Brazilian heritage, and you’ll brew up something awesome in Wyoming, Michigan. 3 Gatos Brewery recently opened, and is offering up something unique to the brewing scene here in West Michigan.

“The good thing here is that everybody is knowledgeable, everybody is passionate,” said 3 Gatos co-owner Linus De Paoli about the beer and brewery scene in West Michigan. He owns the brewery with his wife Renata. “There is great craft beer everywhere.”

Well, we couldn’t agree more.

“We just fell in love with it, with doing it and sharing it with people, and the whole history of beer, we were just drawn to it,” said Linus. “So we asked, could we make a living out of this?”

The couple took the leap, and purchased the former Ktizingen Brewery in Wyoming in 2020,  after leaving their corporate jobs with Ford Motor Company.

 

“We just kept asking ourselves this question,” said Linus about turning brewing from a passion to a livelihood.

 

Renata was a huge force in the development of the brewery, explained Linus, as her palate is spot on. She’s also “brutally honest” according to Linus. The couple, who formerly were both engineers, got transferred from their native Brazil to Koln (Cologne) Germany. The beer culture there grabbed their hearts, and through a series of events, they met the former owner of Kitzingen Brewery, and discussed purchasing the brewery. Linus came to visit Grand Rapids in February 2020, right before the pandemic hit. “It’s not the best time of year to visit,” said Linus about coming to GR during the cold weather months.

 

The brewery endured several pandemic induced delays to opening, but finally welcomed the public into their remodeled Wyoming storefront this past summer. It’s a bright and open space, located in an unassuming strip mall on the busy 44th street corridor. Gone are the heavy German decorations that used to grace the space, in are bright colors, and a simple, slightly modern design.

 

Linus comes to West Michigan with a ‘world’ of experience, having worked as a brewer’s apprentice in Germany, and eventually taking over the role of head brewer, working to refine both his technique and craft. He now offers a complete range of styles at 3 Gatos, from traditional German brews, to beers that are decidedly much more American.

Renata has helped guide what beers are brewed since the start. “She’s the best quality control I have,” he said. From classic German beers, like the stellar, crisp and clean Kolsch that I sampled, to more unique brews like the raspberry flavored Chartreaux, 3 Gatos offers a little something for everyone.

Another great thing that has developed from their Brazilian heritage plus time in Germany is the food menu that is available here. You can go simple snacking, and just get some of the freshly popped, and lightly salted corn that seems to always be going at the end of the bar. Or, peruse the menu for something more substantial, and decidedly Brazilian in flavor.

Try the Torta de Palmito, a popular, and unexpected offering, that is a pie made with hearts of palm, tomatoes and corn. Sandwiches are interesting, with a Mortadela made in the Sao Paulo style, or a Linguica featuring Brazilian sausage on a specially made Brazilian style roll baked just for 3 Gatos by Nantucket Bakery.

You can also grab brewery favorites like a soft pretzel with beer cheese, or an American style hamburger here.

 

3 Gatos “has been a dream of my wife and I” said Linus. “It’s been our dream for some years, since we started homebrewing.” I asked if his homebrew was really that good in the beginning. He replied “If I had to go back, I would probably not serve it to people. Some of the first ones, no, definitely not.”

They offer an amazing array of styles at 3 Gatos, using about 5 different yeast strains to brew their beers.

 

We joked about how being a brewer is really actually being a janitor, since so much of the job is about sanitation. “Totally,” Linus said. “If you look at my mug club mug, mine actually says ‘janitor’ on it. Brewing work is actually 99.5% cleaning.”

Linus is happy that he doesn’t have to explain certain beer styles to his mostly West Michgian clientele. “They’re knowledgeable about beer. I don’t have to describe to every person who walks in our bar what an IPA is, which was kind of the case in Germany. I’d bring beers I was brewing at the brewery in Germany to friends and they would ask, what’s this eeee-pa? Eeee-pa?”

“They know a lot about German-style beer, but not about what is coming from the outside,” Linus explained about the current brewing scene in Germany.  “It’s hard to convince them to try something new.”

“There’s a small craft beer movement now,” in Germany, Linus said. “It’s gaining traction, with young consumers who are more aware of what’s happening outside of the country, and who are more curious to try different things. It’s a slow change that is happening over there.”

Not so here in Michigan. Linus has been impressed with our ability and interest in embracing the new. “That’s the good thing about the new world, we don’t have 1,500 years of tradition,” he said. “We can just go crazy and try everything, fusion, different types of food, different types of beer, and just get crazy with it.”

“I think it’s great,” said Beth Legate, a first time 3 Gatos customer, that I met at the bar during my visit. “They’ve really held onto some of the old German side of things. And I’m ok with German-style beers, but they’ve also introduced a variety now. I enjoyed it when I visited before, but now it’s even better.”

And while the space was friendly before, “it’s even friendlier now” said Legate, as she sipped a pint of Main Coon, a New England IPA from the brewery. She lives right nearby in Grandville, and had to give a shout out to her neighborhood brewery Osgood’s, where she has a mug club membership. “That’s my jam,” she said with a smile. She recommended Osgood’s pickle pizza, when you are not visiting 3 Gatos.

 

The biggest surprise of my interview was the fact that Linus is a proponent of the three tier distribution system here in Michigan…..which you don’t normally hear. While he’s not a big fan of all of the regulations around the sale of alcohol across the state, he does like that the system gives a little more power back to the little guys, as opposed to how things work in Europe. “There are positives,” Linus said about the system. “A bigger brewery cannot abuse its economic power to push beer to the detriment of the smaller breweries.”

 

Part of the draw to opening a brewery in a foriegn country was specifically the welcoming atmosphere of the West Michigan brewing scene. Beer City USA has done a great job of making these newbies feel welcome, according to Linus.

“Linus and Renata are wonderful people and they’ve done a lovely job of learning quickly and collaborating in the community,” said David Ringler, owner of Cedar Springs Brewing Company. “I think their Brazilian and European dual theme will serve them very well and we look forward to a “collaboration brew” on Bridge Street in the future.” Ringler recently took delivery for new brewing equipment for his new brewery location on the West Side of Grand Rapids, which will hopefully open in 2022 and will be called Kusterer Brauhaus.

Ringler continued, “I wish them the best,.” We can confidently say that all of West Michigan agrees. Good luck to you, 3 Gatos.