S2, E18: Thieves Guild Cidery - Max Knudsen & Jordy Kirkman

A fantasy tavern where you can grab a tankard of cider, play a board game you’ve never seen before, and watch a Dungeons and Dragons campaign unfold at the next table sounds like a gimmick until you hear how Thieves Guild Cidery actually got built. We sit down with Max and Jordy to trace the real story behind one of the most distinctive Salt Lake City bars and why going all-in on “too nerdy” was the smartest business decision they made.

We talk about growing up nerdy before it was cool, finding community through places like Quarters Arcade Bar, and then taking a lockdown-era homebrew habit to a full-scale craft cider operation. They get honest about the non-glam parts: scaling fermentation from small batches to hundreds of gallons, building a business plan that lives in a spiderweb of Excel sheets, getting outside validation from industry experts, and the surreal moment of asking a bank for “lots of money” and hearing yes.

Then we get into the world-building: DIY props, 3D printing, soldering, custom lighting run by microcontrollers, and why outsourcing the design couldn’t match the vision. Even the bathrooms are part of the experience, from a dark, dramatic, Ministry of Magic-inspired room to the “Paperback Paradise” wall of hilariously altered fantasy covers. We also dig into what’s next, including canned cider drops, getting product into other bars, and Apples and Daggers, their festival that’s aiming for a true adult renn fair vibe in Utah.

If you love Salt Lake City nightlife, craft cider, themed bars, board game bars, or just stories about building something weird and real, hit play. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’d actually wear a cloak to happy hour, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

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