Envision Alumni Edition Fall 2018

Alumni Brewing Their Own Success

By Brad Stager

While there are people who say their jobs are driving them to drink, two College of Engineering alumni are going further by owning a brewery and building a craft beer business.

With busy, fulfilling careers in the telecommunications and finance industries respectively, Leslie and Chris Johnson were making good use of the skills and knowledge they learned at USF on behalf of their corporate employers. While the Johnsons had professional success, what they did not have was an abundance of time to spend with each other or to pursue personal activities.

The couple's answer was to quit their jobs and earn a living through something reflecting their interests, among which, craft beer brewing was highly placed.

"Chris and I wanted to do something on our own and Chris was already a brewer," says Leslie, who earned her BSCE from USF.

johnson and maggie

Chris Johnson and Maggie

The Johnsons spent about a year researching their self-financed venture, which is named after the appointed time, 6:10 p.m., when they would try to rendezvous after their individual busy work routines came to a pause for the day.

"We were betting everything on it, but the excitement and passion we had in it gave us confidence."

They also had the benefit of Chris' almost 30 years worth of experience in brewing beer, which he became interested in while attending USF in the early 1990s, about the time the craft beer industry was taking shape.

"You just didn't hear a lot about it," says Chris, who earned a BS and an MS in Electrical Engineering at the College of Engineering. He recalls obtaining the information and equipment he needed for his new hobby during the Internet's earliest days entailed a much different routine than exists now.

"You had to buy out of the back of magazines because there was no Amazon Prime back then." At a time when most knowledge still resided between two book covers, Chris researched brewing techniques at the USF library where he discovered that he and a College Dean shared a common interest.

"I checked out three books on the science of brewing and opened up the cover of one of the books and I noticed it was donated by Dean (Michael) Kovac."

Possessing an interest, knowledge and an engineer's appreciation for managing a natural process that yields a desired product, Chris began his beer-making journey.

"I just brewed it in my apartment and me and a buddy had contests to see who could brew the best beer."

With experience, Chris' beers gained competitive recognition beyond his circle of brew-loving friends, such as placing third out of 790 brewers from across the country in the 2011 National Homebrew Competition's light hybrid category and capturing the gold medal in the Best Florida Beer 2017 professional competition's European Sour Ale category with Silky's Sour, which according to its tasting notes, is a Belgian-style sour ale that pairs well with pork, shellfish and cheese.

610 brewing

Most recently, Chris' Mischievous Black entry won the gold medal in the 2017 Great American Beer Festival's dark lager category.

As an indication of Six Ten's reputation and popularity among local craft beer drinkers, Tampa Bay Business Journal readers voted Six Ten Brewing as Tampa Bay's favorite brewery in the publication's 2016 Battle of the Brews. Chris says fulfilling the tastes of his customers is as demanding a job as meeting the technical needs of the financial services industry.

"I wanted to follow my passion and all the experiences in corporate America prepared me for it. When you add the passionate component into that, it doesn't feel like work. I'm here many, many hours a day; weekends, nights, holidays, but I don't mind it because I'm enjoying 100-percent what I'm doing."

As an electrical engineer, Chris has gained an appreciation for the interdisciplinary nature of brewing technology, which he says combines chemical, mechanical and industrial engineering principles.

"It was eye-opening to me, as I learned about other forms of engineering," says Chris, who adds that performing daily housekeeping is as important as installing and maintaining the latest equipment or shopping for the best ingredients.

"Sanitation is key for brewing, so it's a lot of cleaning."

According to Leslie, what the Johnsons want to do is go beyond just brewing and serving beers and ales in their combined production facility and tasting room.

"It's a business but it's also a community, about sharing and helping out each other," she says. "Our brewery is a community center."

Some of the ways Chris and Leslie use their business as a way to help others include fundraising for organizations such as Life Path Hospice, Greyhound Rescue of Tampa Bay and the Tampa Tantrums roller derby team through beverage sales and bingo games. The Johnsons also bring an educational family element to their operation by hosting activities such as a children's brewing day, where kids can learn about beverage-making by creating their own carbonated root beer. Leslie says their adult customers enjoy learning a few lessons at Six Ten as well.

"Educating our customers about craft beers and seeing their immediate joy is rewarding."

There is no kitchen for food preparation at Six Ten Brewing, but it is a favorite stop of the Tampa Bay area's many food trucks, offering cuisine ranging from ramen served with waffles to burgers and pizza. Guests of the tasting room can also carry in their own food or order food to be delivered. Six Ten is dog-friendly and has a friendly dog, Maggie, an eight-year-old toy fox terrier who is a trained therapy dog and enjoys socializing with customers.

"She goes around looking for someone who needs a smile on their face and gives them a little attention," says Leslie.

You can learn more about 610 Brewing and the craft beers they serve as well as upcoming special events by visiting the website