Duesterbeck’s Brewing Company adds large outdoor patio to the mix
By Heather Ruenz
A local microbrewery that opened last fall is growing leaps and bounds in spite of being limited to carryout during the recent stay-at-home order. That temporary change wasn’t without its challenges but in true entrepreneurial spirit, the owners went with the flow.
“We never really shut down but went to carryout and constantly readjusted how we did things,” Laura (Duesterbeck) Johnson said last week while taking a short break on the new patio at Duesterbeck’s Brewing Company.
The brewing company was an idea born in a conversation among members of the Duesterbeck family’s sixth generation – sisters Lindsey and twins Laura and Leslie.
“The barns had been starting to go down hill for a while and we were wondering what to do. We also wondered how we were going to get our kids to want to take over the farm some day,” Laura said.
Her husband, Ben Johnson, a dentist in Delavan, has been brewing beer since he was 19 years old.
“I started on a stovetop in my apartment,” Ben said in an earlier interview, and opening a commercial brewery was a dream of his.
The idea combined the best of both worlds.
One of the ways the family was successful during the coronavirus shutdown was by regularly announcing new releases.
“That was huge and really helped bring people in, constantly offering new releases. Normally, we plan a new release once a month but during that time we did one about every two weeks,” Laura said.
Those recent new releases were Irish Red ale, Peach Milk Parlor IPA, Blackberry Sour, and Chester White Orange Mango and Chester White Cherry hard seltzer.
Duesterbeck’s offers a variety of containers to carryout beer but they faced an unexpected challenge when those weren’t easy to purchase during the coronavirus shutdown.
“The crowlers (32 oz. cans) seemed to be the most popular but the growlers (64 oz. bottles) also were. There was a shortage on both because all of the microbreweries were buying them as everyone’s carryout business increased,” Laura said.
Neighborly connections
Next up for DBC in the new release department are Strawberry Milk Shake and Strawberry Sour. They’ve teamed up with a local producer, the Jacobson family of The Apple Barn, for the strawberries needed for those drinks.
“Their strawberries are amazing, they’re our neighbors and we think it’s important to support local,” Laura said.
Duesterbeck’s has also partnered with Friends on the Square, which has its food truck business, Friends on the Go, parked at the brewery on the weekends.
Friends’ sells meat from another local business, Sorg’s Quality Meats, including pulled pork sandwich, pulled pork nachos, hamburgers, and hot dogs.
DBC sells some simpler food options including soft pretzels with dip in two sizes, fresh cheese curds, fresh cheese, summer sausage and beef sticks, pretzels, chips, tortilla chips and salsa.
Adding yet another neighbor into the mix, Duesterbeck’s is now selling Sperino’s pizza.
“Cory (Aune) made a frozen pizza just for us and it tastes just like a Sperino’s pizza,” Laura said.
For now, she said, Duesterbeck’s is going to see how things go with Friends but there’s the possibility of expanding food trucks at DBC in the future or for special events.
A special group is set to make a stop at DBC on Saturday, July 4, Sweet Abilities. It’s a mobile ice cream business that provides equal working opportunities to people with a variety of different abilities.
New outdoor space
In an effort to protect the health of staff as well as their customers, Duesterbeck’s is currently limiting the number of people allowed in the Tap Room to 50. But because the brewing company is on a farm, there’s plenty of open space to work with.
“The new patio is great. We hope it will help people feel more comfortable stopping by and is something we planned to do all along,” Laura said.
A stage next to the patio will feature live music, which kicked off last weekend. More concerts are being added and Laura’s mom, Cathy Duesterbeck, is handling the bookings.
Upcoming concerts include those listed below; all the shows begin at 6:30 p.m.:
• Saturday, June 13, Tim Breidenstein;
• Friday, June 19, Jestin Jay Trio;
• Saturday June 20, The Gravity of Youth;
• Friday, June 26, Liam Nugent;
• Saturday, June 27, Hannah Sattler;
• Saturday, July 18, Kenny and the Knight Owls
To see the latest lineup on the summer concert series at Duesterbeck’s, visit the website and look under the “Events” tab.
Another new outside activity set to begin soon is a 12-week Cornhole League on Thursday nights. For details about the league visit Duesterbeck’s Facebook page or send an email to zjohnson68@outlook.com.
On the horizon
According to Laura, Duesterbeck’s is moving along as planned.
They’ll start a canning line soon, which will feature 12 oz. cans of beer but only one kind at a time – beginning with Crop Duester – because they have to purchase an entire pallet of the cans. After many recommendations which included getting plastic pallets or the box ones, they are trying to narrow down the preference to one.
“We’re on the game plan for what we wanted to do this summer with the outdoor patio and stage. We moved up taking down the pig barn because the guy doing the patio was also going to do that so it made sense to move it up,” she said.
The “pig barn,” which is what Laura and her sisters knew it as growing up, was in bad shape. It will be rebuilt next year and add yet another dimension to Duesterbeck’s.
“It’ll be a place that can be rented out as we’re constantly getting calls from people wanting to rent the Tap Room,” she said.
Another upgrade is that earlier this week the driveway and parking lot were paved.
The current drink menu at DBC includes: Crop Duester cream ale, Bees Be Crazy hefeweizen, The Pig Farmer pale ale-American, Irish Red ale, Bentist Candy IPA, Muddy Duroc brown ale, Oatmeal Stout, Bourbon AgRONomy, Pleasant View Double IPA, Blackberry Sour, Peach Milk Parlor IPA, Roosterbeck amber lager, and Chester White Orange Mango and Chester White Cherry hard seltzers.
A gluten free beer, RedBridge, is also available.
Numerous sizes are offered – 16 oz. glass, 32 oz. crowler or 64 oz. growler. Guests wanting to try several flavors can opt for a 5 oz. taster, or beer flights of four or six beers.
Those looking for non-alcoholic drinks also have several options: Sprecher’s soda – root beer, cream soda, grape, orange, cherry cola, cherry cranberry, bottled water and kombucha, which is on tap, in lemon grass, raspberry, peach blush or juniper rose flavors.
There is also a variety of merchandise available for purchase including t-shirts, hoodies, koozies and hats in different colors and styles.
Duesterbeck’s Brewing Company is at N5543 County Rd. O, Elkhorn. The current hours are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 2 to 8 p.m., Friday, noon to 10 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.
For more information call (262) 729-9771, visit dbcbrewery.com or follow them on Facebook.
