Richie Tevlin had been dreaming of running his own brewery for years before a branding concept came to him, appropriately enough, in a haze of intoxication during a friend’s bachelor party.
“It was like, I had this image of this astronaut, pointing at the stars,” the 31-year-old recalled to Billy Penn; a vision he quickly put on paper once back home.
Two years later, that astronaut has evolved from a hasty sketch to the fully formed mascot of Space Cadet Brewing Company, scheduled to launch in early October.
It’s a single-batch operation; each recipe is brewed only once and just enough for 80 cases and around 40 kegs. Even beers he hopes will become best-sellers, Tevlin stressed, will not return.
“I don’t want to create a beer and then just keep brewing it over and over, I want every batch to be special,” he explained. “Because we’re small-batch, and because I know how to write recipes, I can put out new [ones] all the time to keep the brand fresh.”
The label of Splashtronaut, a Space Cadet Brewing Co. pale ale. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
Tevlin traces his interest in craft brewing back to his days as a Penn State business major, reading about small brewery owners as case studies. Inspired by those “front-and-center leaders,” he researched, “getting in front of their brand, beating the drum, hitting the pavement, and selling to people,” Tevlin purchased a homebrew kit and quickly fell in love with the process.
Brewery school followed, and then jobs at Flying Dog, Philadelphia, and Victory brewing companies, where he became head brewer, developing recipes throughout the pandemic and overseeing the buildout of Victory’s Center City taproom.
“From there I just decided, what am I waiting for?” Tevlin said. “My whole adult life has been in preparation for opening up a brewery.” He struck out on his own last November, focusing on building up Space Cadet while also finding time to host the BrewedAt podcast, a series of twice-a-month conversations with local brewers, bar owners, and “craft beer-adjacent people” including policy makers.
Richie Tevlin donned an astronaut costume to create promotional material for his company, Space Cadet Brewing, ahead of its availability in Philadelphia in October ’24. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
With plans for Space Cadet to eventually settle into its own production space, Tevlin has currently opted for a contract-brewing approach. Estimating a buildout would set him back $2 million, he’s instead keeping overhead costs low and avoiding outside investment — beyond his parents’ 8% share in the business — by partnering with Workhouse Brewing Co., working in their King of Prussia-based production space on perfecting his first batch of recipes.
“I can open a space anytime,” he said. “But I only get one chance for a launch.”
Space Cadet’s initial rollout will consist of a staggered trio of low ABV, hoppy beers, led in early October by Splashtronaut, a 5.5% pale ale. The 16 oz. cans will feature the first of a series of panels by illustrator Matt Gaudio charting the misadventures of the astronaut mascot in a story set to unfold across label art for the brewery’s upcoming beers. The three designs for the first wave of brews depict the hapless cadet prepping for his first foray into space; Splashtronaut art has him training in a public pool.
The label of Teacher’s Pest, an IPA by Space Cadet Brewing Co. (Kimberly Paynter/WHYY)
For each recipe, approximately 2,000 cans will be produced, and distributed by Penn Beer across Philadelphia, Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Lehigh, Montgomery, and Northampton counties. With limited availability and sequential label art, Tevlin hopes the cans will grow into collectors’ items, but the focus, he insists, is on producing quality beers.
“I want [Space Cadet] to be considered one of the best breweries in the world. I’m not just here to sell a brand,” he said. “I’ve been brewing for 10 years. I feel very confident about what I’m doing.”
For more information visit spacecadetbeer.com or follow @spacecadetbeer on Instagram.