beer

WYOMING — Linus and Renata De Paoli left their corporate lives working as engineers in Germany and have opened a new brewery to introduce a range of international food and beer culture to West Michigan.

The De Paolis moved to West Michigan in December 2020 to open 3 Gatos Brewery LLC in the former Kitzingen Brewery located at 1760 44th St. SW in Wyoming. The couple both worked at Ford Motor Co. in their home country of Brazil and were transferred to Germany before they changed career paths.

Owner Linus De Paoli started taking brewing classes in Germany shortly before he quit his job at Ford. While taking the classes at the world-renowned brewing training institute VLB-Berlin, De Paoli met Rommie Bailey, who owned Kitzingen Brewery at the time. Bailey was looking to retire and proposed that Linus and Renata De Paoli take over Kitzingen.

“We made the decision to buy the business because we were not just buying an asset. We were also buying the customers so we were not starting from scratch,” Linus said. “When you buy something that’s already up and running, you can start making money on day one, and we already had a set of regular customers that were used to coming here.”

The goal was for the brewery to open in 2020. After several pandemic-related delays, 3 Gatos had its soft opening on July 2, which was well-attended by the local community and mug club members. The brewery is now gearing up for a