Next Wave Awards Brewer of the Year: Liz Nicol

There are exceptions to the rule, but we’ve reached a point in American craft beer culture when most taprooms can’t pull in crowds with good beer alone. Some have tried to navigate the rising tides by offering experiences customers can’t replicate at home, like Lukr-poured pilsners, turning bocks into beer brûlée with piping hot iron spikes, and, well, doubling down on weekly trivia nights. But none of these tactics fully confront what are arguably the two things holding taprooms back the most: a lackluster status quo of hospitality and catering to the same demographic they’ve been from the get-go.

Recognizing and addressing these pitfalls are just a part of what makes Boston-based brewer Liz Nicol’s Drawdown Brewing a breath of fresh air. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a longtime sports and beer enthusiast, Nicol is also fostering a space where beer quality, inclusivity, and entertainment all share equal importance. But to understand how she got to where she is today, we need to roll back the clock to a time when a career in beer wasn’t on the radar.

Credit: Ned Jackson

Like many professional brewers, Nicol’s career path hasn’t been linear. After growing up in Indianapolis, she went to Purdue University to pursue an education in engineering, and landed a job in the world of civil engineering and public works upon graduation in the mid-aughts.

At the time, one of the first big craft breweries in town was Sun King Brewery, and Nicol had its Sunlight Cream Ale at a house party. “That was kind of my first ‘eureka moment.’ I remember thinking, ‘You can do this and not be Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada?’” she says. “That experience definitely influenced my love of craft beer and eventually got me into home brewing.”

For over a decade, it was a hobby she indulged in while working her way up the corporate ladder in civil engineering. In 2013, Nicol relocated to Boston, and then a trip to Europe inspired her to turn the homebrewing hobby into a career.

Credit: Ned Jackson

The itinerary was initially drafted around the 2016 men’s UEFA (Union of European Football Associations) Championship in France, but Nicol and her friends did a few sidequests to Germany and Belgium to check out the local beer scenes. The adventures brought them to Düsseldorf, where Nicol fell in love with altbier. Then, they went to Belgium, where beer garden culture and its sense of community gave her the second — and most crucial — “eureka moment” that would inspire her to eventually build Drawdown Brewing.

“You had all these coworkers and people who lived down the road all just hanging out together, having a good time, and drinking a beer,” she says. “That definitely inspired what I wanted Drawdown to be. It was kind of a tipping point that got me to start writing a business plan and taking it seriously.”

Upon returning to Boston, she picked up a second job in production at a local brewery to beef up her chops, but after a year, the learning curve started to plateau. So, she put her energy back into civil engineering work to build capital to start a brewery of her own.

Through the pandemic, Nicol worked remotely, and when restrictions started to ease up, she noticed that a lot of the city’s soccer bars weren’t around anymore. “I always played sports growing up, and I’m a big sports fan in general,” she says. “I think sports are a great uniter of communities and definitely bring people together that wouldn’t necessarily hang out otherwise. So for that to be part of Drawdown’s ethos was very natural.”

Beyond making a sports bar — or rather, sports brewery — Nicol knew she wanted Drawdown to be a place where women and members of the LGBTQ+ community could feel at home. Being that craft beer has long been white dudes with beards serving other white dudes with beards, she saw her endeavor as a way to give other demographics an opportunity to enjoy what the industry has to offer without feeling like outsiders.

Credit: Ned Jackson

“Gay bars and gay spaces are also drastically disappearing from this country,” she says. “I always wanted Drawdown to be a very community-driven space, so it felt right to bring the queer community together in a safe space where they can watch sports or ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ and try a beer if they inherently don’t feel welcome at other breweries. We want Drawdown to be that spot.”

After finding a suitable brewing space in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, Nicol officially opened Drawdown Brewing in December 2023. Inspired by the Sun King Brewing cream ale that initially got her hooked on beer and her 2016 Euro trip, she put a cream ale, an altbier, and a porter on the opening menu. All of those remain flagship offerings today, along with a rotating New England IPA on draft, because what would a Boston brewery be without one?

“We’ll always have an IPA or two on the menu, but I think what sets us apart in Boston is we’re more of a malt-forward brewery,” Nicol says. “We like to focus on some really great styles that don’t necessarily get a ton of attention.”

Even with brewing unsung styles and carving out a niche as an LGBTQ+-friendly sports bar, Nicol acknowledges that it’s going to take more outside-the-box thinking to thrive at a time when more breweries are closing than opening in the U.S. Also, Boston is in close proximity to some of the most celebrated breweries in the country, like Tree House and Trillium. In Nicol’s eyes, the key to success in this era is one that’s been long overlooked by the industry at large: hospitality.

Credit: Ned Jackson

“I like to tell my staff that we’re in Boston — you can go to countless locations and get a really great beer,” she says. “But we also want to provide really great service and hospitality, and I feel like not everybody does that.”

Now nearly two years in business, Nicol has already done a collab beer with Sam Adams, built up a local fanbase, and hosts countless events that bring people of all walks of life together. It’s proof that craft beer isn’t dead — it just needs to change up its song and dance, and find ways to embrace the audiences it’s long ignored.

“We’re trying to excel every day, but I think our existence alone is a good indication that you can cater to all types of people. You don’t have to cater to the stereotypical demographic,” Nicol says. “That’s not the only way to survive.”

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