You could say Josh Olson had been brewing beer for decades before Crooked Mouth Brewing in Endicott ever poured its first pint.
“My dad’s been a homebrewer since the early ’80s, so I would brew with him as a kid,” Josh said. “From the very beginning I found it interesting. I love the smell of it. I enjoy the whole process.”
“Then when I was in my mid-20s, I started getting into craft beer, but at the same time, realized I had a pretty bad gluten intolerance,” he said. “So, that kind of led us to brewing all of our beer gluten-reduced because it was kind of the only beer I could drink.”
It wasn’t long before brewing got more serious – and more social. Josh met Sean Campbell through Sean’s uncle, and the two started spending weekends doing what most homebrewers dream about: cooking up batches in the garage and drinking them with friends.
“We would put some meat on the smoker at 8 or 9 in the morning and brew beer all day, and then have ourselves a feast afterwards,” Josh said. “We had a pretty sweet little homebrew set up in the garage. It was just kind of a smaller version of what we have here.”
That “here” is now a full-fledged brewery and kitchen that opened in 2022 in Endicott after some delays due to the pandemic. Crooked Mouth quickly built a reputation for quality beer and a laid-back atmosphere. What makes Crooked Mouth really stand out isn’t just the outstanding beers on tap, though, but the big names on stage.
Stand-up comedy has become an unexpected calling card for the small brewery, with surprisingly big names booking sets in the intimate space. It’s a niche they’ve nurtured over the years to the extent they even introduced a four-day comedy festival.
“We’ve been bringing in some pretty big comedy acts,” Josh said. “It’s become a thing.”
It’s a nice fit amid a vibrant Binghamton-area brew scene that Crooked Mouth is proud to be a part of.
“I think the local craft beverage scene is strong,” Josh said. “The Southern Tier Craft Beverage Trail has 9 or 10 different places and we’ve got a couple of spots down the road that have opened within the last year.
“There’s good reason to come through this area for a craft product,” he said.
