Registered architect Vedad Huric may seem like an unlikely founder of a beer company, but SAMPLE is anything but ordinary. Using his extensive architecture and design skills, Vedad saw a gap in the market to deliver a beer that perfectly encompassed taste, quality and design.

To find out more about SAMPLE and what makes Vedad tick, we sat down with him as part of our ‘Meet The Maker’ series.

How did SAMPLE come about?
I never intended to launch SAMPLE as a commercial venture. The story originates back to when I was setting up my own architecture practice and I was thinking of ways to get new clients. Usually, clients will only deal with large companies, so I decided to set up a networking session between suppliers, clients and potential clients.

I always saw beer as a connective medium or a supplement that connects people and sparks new ideas. So I decided to present what my architecture firm would look like, but presented it in a beer format.

What was your experience with alcohol and beer, prior to creating SAMPLE?
I knew nothing about the alcohol industry; it was new to me, so it took me a little bit of time to get traction. I gave the first batch I ever made to some friends who worked in the hospitality space, and they showed it to some hospitality leaders who were really pleased with it. So I started making more and more beer.

Next thing I knew I had no spare time, so I started working part-time at the practice, before quitting my job altogether and taking on SAMPLE as a full-time job.

Why did you call it SAMPLE?
I didn’t have a name for the beer at the start, but in architecture, we are predominantly surrounded by samples, whether it’s material samples or anything that goes into a building.

I thought it would be great to call it SAMPLE and every networking session I could brew a different sample or variety to keep it exciting. The idea was to really express a perfect beer, what it could look like in holistic form including the taste and the quality as well as the design.

Why Pale Ale and ¾ IPA over other beers styles?
For me, it was less about finding a difference and more about finding a balance. I saw commercial beers as being very complacent and lacking experimentation, whereas craft beer was the complete opposite. But sometimes it went too far in the opposite direction. Brewers were adding more hops, more malt and more alcohol.

Doing pale ale or golden ale required it to be perfectly balanced, so our beers are very refined and well considered. A good reference would be minimalism, but the hardest thing to do is to design something minimal, because it actually has so much detail. This is the approach I’ve taken from my background of design and architecture.

What is SAMPLE’S point of difference?
It’s the refinement and balance. Everything that we do is about wanting to be the supplement for great ideas. We want SAMPLE to be the great conversation starter, the beer at great festivals; we’re really getting into the creative industry where great ideas come to life.

Who is your target consumer?
If you look at our social media, anything that comes out of SAMPLE is gender neutral. We don’t actually show any humans in our Instagram, it is all very focused. We like to think that in regards to our target audience, age does not really matter.

In the past, the beer industry was quite boring in my eyes, as beer has always been considered a cheap drink. It’s never been on the same level as a good bottle of wine, but why can’t a really good bottle of beer sit next to a really good bottle of whiskey?

I hate when people say to me, “it’s just beer” because it isn’t just beer. There’s a lot of thought and consideration that has gone into it, it’s more of a lifestyle. We envision SAMPLE being consumed at any sort of event or occasion that has the ability to encourage conversation and inspire things with people beyond that environment.

Because that’s what SAMPLE is. It’s a lifestyle.

Feeling inspired to drink SAMPLE? Grab the full range on Tipple here, and we’ll deliver it to you within 30 minutes. Plus, it’s discounted for a limited time only! Have a maker you want us to interview? Let us know here.