Lazy Loon Brewing: Victoria, MN

So back to beer related stuff!  I was recently excited to discover that one of my homebrew club members was secretly converting his garage into a production brewery...unexpected and very cool!  I met with owner and brewmaster Jonathan Lueck to check out his facility and get the skinny. 

Proud papa showing off his beery offspring!

Getting to Jonathan's home in Victoria, MN was a pretty quick trip for me from Waconia.  His home is on a lot that used to host a decrepit farmhouse and some of the left-over debris remains...currently being used as a haunted house for Halloween.  In the attached garage of this unassuming but nice home lurks stainless steel, pallets of cans, and large lager coolers.  The door to the house from the garage apparently had to be sealed over to conform to regulations for a production brewery.   I have to say that this brewery garage is the first of its kind that I have ever visited--and after visiting hundreds of breweries, that is saying something!  Not only is Lueck brewing small batches there, he has his own Cask manual canning line as well.  The canning line has the ability to convert to an automated system in the future and handles 12 and 16 oz cans.  Each can is labeled by hand in advance of filling.

Canning beer on a small scale!

Jonathan has a degree in Economics, and is a practicing CPA and Attorney focused on small business consulting.  With said background he certainly has the knowledge needed to start a successful small business, something that many brewery owners lack.  He spent a great deal of time and effort looking into the necessary laws and requirements needed for opening his brewery and as a result was able to get his home brewery going fairly quickly. 

When asked about the origins of his interest in beer, Jonathan responded: "
With a German farming background, I seemed destined to have an interest in beer.  My hobbies have always involved being a “creative craftsman”.   As I started to learn more about how beer is made, the more I appreciated the craft of brewing.  The  potential for creativity is endless."  His favorite beers to drink are lagers and change with the seasons.  He mentions specifically migrating back to Schells since they have done an amazing job at developing craft lagers.

Not only does Jonathan like to drink lagers, but also to brew them.  I asked him about his decision to focus on those styles for his brewery, and his response was very technical:  "Craft breweries currently have roughly 10% if the market.  The craft brewing industry continues to go after and gain additional market share.  However, the trend is to continue to seek additional market share with the same approach.  I took a step back and analyzed the market to identify an approach to reach the part of the market that craft beer has not focused on.  The answer was obvious, lagers."

The biggest question I had for him was "Why build your brewery in your own garage?"  In typical fashion he returned with a well thought-out and economics minded answer:

"Establishing a brewery on my property allowed me the opportunity to enter the industry without the pressure of producing at levels necessary to cover the fixed occupancy costs.  This gives me the ability to be flexible and creative.  The small batches and labeling of cans provides the freedom to continue to develop the brand through many styles of beer, rather than being married to a minimum order of over 90,000 pre-printed cans.  If you think about it, we have the flexibility of a taproom with the portability of a full production brewery.   The establishment of this brewery is also a proof of concept that a nano-brewery model can produce and package.  We are now in a position to consult with others who wish to enter the brewing industry, but do not want to mortgage their future to do so."

"The long term goal is to continue to work the business plan with a focus of moving the location off site.  The future location will be a production facility with a tap room.   We are seeking a location that will allow us to have a tap room that is an experience, rather than just another room to drink beer."

To me this sounds like a good plan for a small business--gaining a following and name recognition with the eventual plan to increase production over time.  This has a similar feel to contract brewing with another brewery, but with the benefit of having more control over your beer and the brewing process from the beginning. 

So what about the beer you ask?  Jonathan let me try out a few of his test batches before their unveiling to the beer world.  Up front, I'm not as much of a lager guy, but I do respect and appreciate well crafted lagers.  Lueck's flagship beer is the Lazy Loon Lager--an American pilsner style that will have a broad appeal to those who are wary of "Craft Beer."  I liked the taste I had, enjoying it more than some American lagers from the big guys. 

The next taste was a summer version of the Lazy Loon with lime.  I got to try two different batches, each using a different technique for adding the lime flavor.  Both were bright and refreshing, but my favorite was actually when I blended the two samples together!  Haters may hate, but there is something happy about a hint of lime in a lighter lager.  The base beer for this has more flavor and body than another popular "lite" version of lime lager.

The Volksfest is his version of a maltier lager for fall, not quite an Octoberfest/Marzen but in the same vein.  This was also a decent and drinkable beer, but a bit too sweet for my personal tastes.

His Hat Trick is a label that will potentially be like Schells Snowstorm--a seasonal beer that may be an entirely different style and experience each time.  An intriguing prospect for those who tire easily of the same old thing, and one that allows him some opportunity for experimentation in recipe design.  This is early in the life of Lazy Loon Brewing and Jonathan is clearly working on dialing in his small 1 barrel brew system and lagering methods.  As a result of this, there is going to be a bit more variability batch to batch than in larger production breweries.  He seems open to suggestions and is interested in trying new things.  He has some interesting ideas involving collaborations with Jack Of All Brews homebrew club that I'm excited about!
To finish Jonathan wanted to make sure to thank the folks at Surly for their assistance,  Mike at Vintage in Chanhassen,  and Jason at MGM (Chanhassen, Chaska, Waconia, and Spring Park).  His beers are already on the shelves, so you don't have to take my word on it: try them yourselves and tell me (and him) what you think. 

 

Enki Brewing: Open For Business!

Back in January of this year I had the fortune to meet up with Dan Norton to discuss his upcoming scheme of opening a brewery in either Victoria or Waconia.  I posted the results and their cool logo in this blog and have been impressed with how many hits I continue to get on that posting.  In fact that post has the most hits of any I have written in the past two years!  Since January I have had a chance to hang out with Dan, his partner in crime John Hayes, and brewmaster Jason Davis several times.  I feel privileged to have been included in some of the planning and unrolling of the brewery and have been thrilled at their involvement with Jack Of All Brews.  I think this will be a great long term partnership for all of us! 

Enki Brewing is housed within the circa 1917 historic Creamery Building in Victoria (West of Chanhassen on HWY 5.)  I posted a mid-construction update a ways back that includes some pictures of the massive demolition and remodel required to get the building up to code for a modern age: check it out here.  Since then, they have continued to work long hours getting the place in shape to open for the Summer months.

Dan in front of the newly installed brewery prior to the opening

I stopped by the brewery on the night of their first batch, an evening fraught difficulty due to equipment issues, but giving them good experience on the new brew system.  When they initially told me that the goal was to open in June or July I thought they were insane...especially after seeing some other new breweries take well over a year to get going.  But in mid-June they quietly unrolled their first beer on a small local audience and have continued to have the tap room open for business!  At the time of this writing they are open Thursday and Friday from 4-10, Saturday Noon-10 and every other Wednesday for Victoria's classic car night.

Recently I have been traveling a lot (see my extensive notes on the Oregon beer scene and discussion drinking with geeks in previous entries) and actually missed the opening for the brewery.  I'm happy to say that I finally had a chance to get out there this Wednesday during the classic car night event.  The difference between the previous visits and today is extensive!  They have put in a small bar with tap connections directly to large serving tanks in a cooler behind the bar.  A door opens from the tap room to an outdoor Biergarten area that I think they will need to enlarge to make room for crowds.  The location is fantastic: right in the middle of the quaint downtown area and walking distance from School of the Wise and Floyd's for those who want some food after visiting the tap room.

John and Kent manning the bar!

At this writing, they had two beers on tap with more planned for the future.  Their first is called Citric Journey and is really not a beer that fits a current style.  By color I'd call it an American Amber, but the flavor profile is much more malty and toasty than that, ending with an almost roasted note.  Hops are present and contribute some bitterness and aroma, but this is not a very hoppy beer overall.  Clocking in at around 7% ABV it really goes down smoothly and the alcohol is very subtle.  For a first outing, I think this beer is a great start!  The second beer was just released this weekend and is an unusual Auburn Kolsch.  There was some issue with the filter not working right and the beer is a bit more cloudy than they wanted, but it does not affect the flavor at all.  A red kolsch is an interesting idea and one I have never seen before.  To me it lacks some of the fruity yeast character I expect in a kolsch and has a hint of roast that makes this taste more like an Irish red.  Don't get me wrong I like it, but I think it could do with a bit of tweaking to get the character they are looking for.  Overall for the first two beers to come out of the brewery, these guys are putting out interesting and very drinkable beers.  Their next is going to be a golden ale with the goal of having at least four beers on tap at a time.  Based on this visit, I'm excited to try more.

Biergarten

Compared to where Enki started, there has been much change to the brewery building, but it has kept some of the old feel including the rough walls, open timbers, reclaimed stained glass and the weird gargoyle faces on the side of the building.  The only issue I see with the place is that they may get popular enough to run out of space!  But that is a good problem to have for a brewery.  I'm very pleased with the tap room, the beers and the vibe here.  I'll admit I can't be a totally unbiased observer since I have known these guys for a while, but I try to be honest with myself and my readers.  Visit the brewery and tell me what you think!  Check them out on the Web, and Facebook.  Tell them I sent you!

Enki Brewing Update! Construction and Deconstruction

The creamery building--future site of Enki Brewery

A while ago I posted the first official press info about the upcoming Enki Brewing in Victoria, Minnesota.  Since then, I have consistently had about 30-100 hits on that particular blog post daily, showing a continued interest in this planned local brewery.  The brewery is being opened by current Victoria residents Dan Norton and John Hayes.  Dan has recently relocated here from Texas:  the poor guy probably expected summer by now!

Just this past Friday, Dan and Enki's Brewer, Jason Davis were able to join up with the monthly Jack Of All Brews meeting and give us a bit of an update on how things are going with the brewery.  Dan also invited me over to the building itself on Sunday and I was able to take some pictures of the process and show me the blueprints.

Really cool and slightly creepy exterior of the creamery!

The brewery building is a historic creamery that was built around 1917, and has been empty of activity for many years.  There is an apartment upstairs, and by Minnesota law the stairs connecting the residence to the inside of the brewery had to be torn down.  That was one of the first things that Dan and John did to get the building up to code.  Still, living upstairs from a brewery sounds like heaven to me, even if you do have to get in via the outside doorway!  As a very old building, there were some serious structural issues that the guys discovered over the last few months.  The roof has been replaced, holes in the walls and ceiling patched, painting, new windows, new doors, etc.  The electrical system needed an upgrade to handle the type of voltage necessary to run the mechanicals in the brewery as well.  They needed to invest in a huge new boiler, since much of the energy for their brewing system is steam generated. 

Massive new boiler

Local and state codes have resulted in some issues as well, leading to surprise costs and timing problems.  The taproom requires separate bathrooms for men and women, which led to the discovery that much of the antediluvian sewer piping needed to be replaced, resulting in having to tear through up to 10 inches of solid concrete!  Better now than later I guess, but not fun.  The mill room requires a lot of work to make it dust proof (and hence explosion proof!)  With all the structural work needing to be done, they have a tight schedule to get things finished.  The fermentation tanks are due for arrival in about a week and the guys are very excited about that!

The view from above before demo...

After the plumbing revamp...

More plumbing related destruction!

I was able to see (but not taste) the first few homebrew sized test batches that were brewed at the brewery.  Ah, reminds me of my old basement!  I plan to do an interview here with Jason Davis at some point to get more info about him and his plans for the beers, but I thought I'd give him a little time to get settled before I hold him to anything.

Overall, the Enki guys have made a lot of progress, but still have a lot of work ahead of them to get things up and running by summer.  The building is very cool and has a lot of character, which will really make this venue stand out amongst all the other Minnesota breweries.  I'm very excited to see what kind of traffic and business that Enki will bring to the tiny downtown Victoria area.  I know that I plan on having a beer at Enki and then heading right across the street for a sandwich at School of the Wise.  I aim to continue bringing you details and updates about this brewery over the next few months when things really get rolling.  Thanks again to Dan, John and Jason for including me (and my readers) in the process.  It isn't every day I get to document the entire process opening a brewery and taproom!  Oh, and check out Enki on their Facebook page as well for more up to date info.

Future patio where I can have an Enki beer while looking down at the lake!

Enki Brewing

You heard it first here folks:  A new local brewery rises from the frozen landscape to burn brightly upon the steel grey horizon!  Enki Brewing will be a new production brewery located in Victoria, Minnesota.  They will be the closest brewery to where I live and this makes me very happy!  Way too many breweries have been opening in Northeast Minneapolis or in St. Paul and not enough out West, leaving us to feel unloved and forgotten by the brewing community.

Enki is a long time dream of Dan Norton and John Hayes, two fellows who met while both working at Nike many years ago.  Both men are avid homebrewers and have finally taken the plunge to start their own business and finally work for themselves.  The current plan is to move into the historic Victoria Creamery, building a production brewery and tasting room into the existing structure.  Being such an old building, there will certainly be some changes necessitated by local and state laws regarding breweries, but this will hopefully not cause any unnecessary delays in their schedule.  The fermentors and brewing equipment have already been purchased and a head brewer has been hired, so this looks like it will really happen soon!  The goal is to be serving fresh local beer by this Summer, both at the tap room and on draft at local drinking establishments.  They are also aiming to have a patio area off of the tasting room for outdoor seating during the warmer months.  Being in the depth of the Minnesota winter I find it difficult to remember that we do get some nice weather here.

I met with Dan Monday at my bar where we discussed these plans as well as the local beer scene over some homebrews.  Dan is a very friendly sort of guy who knows more sports trivia than I'll ever comprehend, and seems very excited to be taking this next step in his career.  The partners and their brewer have already been at work this past week brewing up some smaller scale test batches to come up with their flagship beer.  From the sounds of it this may be a kolsch, a refreshing and lighter style with subtle fruity notes that should appeal to beer geeks as well as those who are still nervous about drinking anything with color or hops in it.  Not a bad idea for a good craft cross-over beer for our more conservative area.  They hope to do at least one lager since Dan is a huge fan of them after living in Germany for several years, but since these tend to take longer to ferment and clear it may be tougher to start with one.

When asked about the name of the brewery Dan revealed that Enki was the Sumerian Goddess of running water, as well as being an anagram for Nike, where the two partners began their dream of this brewery.  The logo is pretty wicked as well, and I've put in my order for a hat already!

It seems that they are willing to embrace the Jack Of All Brews club and involve us in beer releases or tastings and possibly even eventually brew one of our homebrew recipes commercially!  I'm very excited about the ability to be involved in these things and I know a lot of our members will be as well.  I'm sure that Enki will need volunteers to help out at the brewery and with events and hope that we can assist with those things. Dan and John also plan to make it to some JAB meetings which should be a great way for them to get acquainted with a bunch of the local beer fans.

I think these guys have a good goal and plan and seem fun and down to earth.  I have every hope that they will succeed and make a stellar local beer that I don't have to drive 45 minutes to have on tap.  As with any new brewery in this time of rapid craft beer growth they have a lot of hurdles to jump over before they can succeed: local laws and inspections; local tastes in beer; learning a new brewing system; getting beers into bars and restaurants; learning how to use the local water; and potential for hop and grain shortages.  I wish them lots of luck and will do everything I can to help their plan!

Addendum:  As of June 2013 Enki Brewing is open for business!  If you are coming to this blog entry late, I have a review of the brewery here.  Feel free to check it out--and to check out the brewery itself!