2016 Planning Commission Packets

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John: The Wild Brunette ... when I was working at James Page, they had a wild rice boch. It was something silly, like 2 percent wild rice. And I'm like, "at least get enough where you can taste the wild rice." Have some character present. So that was one that was for sure going to happen. I also really liked porters, so 1 researched porters ... IPAs were even hot back then, so that was a gimme. The Little Barley (Bitter), which is a British -style bitter, was actually supposed to be a pale mild, but it was the first beer brewed on the system and the efficiencies were higher then estimated. So we checked the ABV and all that kind of stuff and it wasn't a pale mild, it was more of bitter. That's named after our first child, who was called Little Barley when he was in Laura's womb! Laura: Rosie, our daughter who is 14, has Rosie's Old Ale. I have the Wild Brunette, but there's no beer named after you (John) ... yet. John: I was once asked to lower the alcohol in some of my beers, but I was like "you know, I could do that, but the beer that they have will be less memorable. It will be less like what I've made that beer to be." So, it's like: if I fail it's going to be on my own terms. It's going to be because I'm making this beer the way I think it should be made. How's your relationship with other breweries? Laura: The Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild is very popular. That's gotten much bigger. When we first started, we were able to host the Minnesota Brewers Guild party here and I remember there was only, you know, 20 people. But that was 15 years ago. How many breweries or brewpubs were here in Minnesota? 15? Not many and now there are so many. They just had their gathering at Surly, the big complex. We pretty much know the old time brewers. What's it like running a business as a married couple? Laura: Well, when we first opened up the business, we were here quite a bit. That became challenging because there were too many cooks in the kitchen... we had heated discussions about this and that ... I'm a nurse, cover the insurance and house bills, which was critical at the very beginning. Then two kids ... so I kind of just stepped back and said, "you go ahead, baby." That was an important thing, because then I was there as a consult, not decision maker. It made much more sense and went more smoothly. After that, piece of cake. Sometimes he forgets to talk to me about certain things, he's got a lot on his plate. But we have a cool relationship and a lot of support with the kids. That's huge. Without my parents being able to watch the kids and the balance, it would have been a nightmare. We had a lot going for US. Having a business that's stressful taxes a marriage, but we were very blessed to not have any of that happen.