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BY PHIL ROCKROHR
Times Correspondent | Friday, September 10, 2004 | (No comments posted.)
The owners of Three Floyds Brewing Co. in Munster have an unusual problem for a growing business.
They're getting too big for their britches, but they don't want anybody else wearing the pants.
"It would be great to bring somebody in with $1 million. But it's a question of quality. Do we want to keep it small and simple or risk spinning out of control?"
That's how protective Mish, a native of Griffith, and his partners, also local products, are of their carefully crafted beers. Brew master Jim Cibak grew up in Calumet City and founder Nick Floyd in Homewood.
Three Floyds, which opened in Hammond in 1996 and moved to Munster in 1999, is one of a number of microbreweries in the region and Chicago area quenching the thirst of beer lovers whose tastes stretch beyond Bud and Old Style.
Duneland Brewhouse Pub and Restaurant continues to operate at 5718 S. Franklin St. in Michigan City, but Aberdeen Brewing Co., 210 Aberdeen Drive in Valparaiso, stopped brewing its own beer last month and shipped its equipment to a brew pub in New York.
One beneficiary of the change at Aberdeen is LaPorte's Back Road Brewery, which now has as many as four of its beers on tap at the restaurant.
Back Road brewer, co-owner and founder Chuck Krcilek began as a home brewer in 1990 before opening the brewery in 1996 and building a loyal customer base in restaurants and liquor stores in Northwest and Central Indiana.
"It's been growing quicker than I think I can keep up with it."
Back Road will grow a little more, thanks to a state law passed this year allowing any small brewery that does not have a restaurant to sell beer by the glass. Krcilek said he hopes to have a small tap room set up at the brewery by October as an addition to the package sales.
Back Road's beers won three golds at this year's Indiana State Fair, but Krcilek said, "What's more important than awards is a good sound customer base that comes in on a regular basis."
Nationally, Three Floyds, which produces an average of 10 different beers a year, is among the highest-rated breweries in the Chicago area, along with Goose Island Brewing Inc. in Chicago and Flossmoor Station Brewing Co. in Flossmoor.
Three Floyds, named after Floyd, his father and brother, is growing so fast the microbrewery only is able to supply beer to about 20 percent of its demand, Mish said.
That's how good the beer is. If you check the Internet, the users of www.beeradvocate.com and www.ratebeer.com rate the microbrewery's Dark Lord Imperial stout as the second best beer in the country.
Three Floyds ranks four beers in the former site's top 54 and five in the latter site's top 100. The latter has nominated the microbrewery as the fourth best such operation in the country and seventh best in the world.
"It's very aromatic in the nose," Mish said of the company's beer.
"It smells grapefruit- and pine-like. It has a little more bitterness than malt character."
Last week, Three Floyds began construction of a 2,000-square-foot brewpub at its current site, 9750 Indiana Parkway. Mish is hoping the restaurant and pub can meet some of the excess demand.
Matt VanWyk, master brewer at Flossmoor Station, 1035 Sterling Ave. in Flossmoor, said the brewpub opened eight years ago in a 98-year-old building that once housed a Metra and Illinois Central train station.
"The Metra train comes right to our door actually," VanWyk said.
Flossmoor Station offers a full menu of "American heartland cuisine," including burgers, chicken, steak, ribs, fish, salads -- "the whole works," he said.
The brewery serves at least 10 of its own beers, including eight year-round and two or three seasonal brews.
"Our offerings run the gamut from light to dark to hoppy to mild and everything else in between," VanWyk said.
"Basically, it's an American version of all world styles of beer."
Because microbreweries only began opening in the Chicago area in the 1990s, local companies sometimes face an uphill struggle selling beer to fans of less flavorful suds.
"Chicago is a tough market, because there are a lot of Miller and Bud drinkers," VanWyk said.
"But they are coming to us or Three Floyds or Goose Island. I think there are just as many craft brew drinkers in the suburbs as the city."
Area microbreweries
* Three Floyds, 9750 Indiana Parkway, Munster, (219) 922-3565; open to the public 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday; www.threefloyds.com
* Back Road Brewery, 1315 Michigan Ave., LaPorte, (219) 362-7623; tours offered 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays; www.backroadbrewery.com
Area brewpubs
* Flossmoor Station, 1035 Sterling Ave., Flossmoor, (708) 957-2739; www.flossmoorstation.com
* Duneland Brewhouse Pub and Restaurant, 5718 S. Franklin St., Michigan City, (219) 878-9180
* Goose Island operates two brewpubs in Chicago located at 1800 N. Clybourn Ave., (312) 915-0071; and 3535 N. Clark St., (773) 832-9040; www.gooseisland.com
* Harrison's Brewing Company, 15845 S. LaGrange Road, Orland Park, (708) 226-0100; www.harrisonsbrewpub.com
* Piece, 1927 West North Ave., Chicago, (773) 772-4422; www.piecechicago.com
* Rock Bottom Brewery, 1 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, (312) 755-9339, a chain with branches in 15 states; www.rockbottom.com.
If you go
The annual Back Road Brewery open house will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 25 in the brewery parking lot, 1315 Michigan Ave., LaPorte. In addition to a sampling of beers from BRB, representatives from Three Floyds and Duneland Brewhouse will be serving up samples. Entertainment will be provided by a 13-piece German oompah band. Admission is $5, 21-and-over show.
Area microbreweries
* Three Floyds, 9750 Indiana Parkway, Munster, (219) 922-3565; open to the public 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday; www.threefloyds.com
* Back Road Brewery, 1315 Michigan Ave., LaPorte, (219) 362-7623; tours offered 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays; www.backroadbrewery.com
Area brewpubs
* Flossmoor Station, 1035 Sterling Ave., Flossmoor, (708) 957-2739; www.flossmoorstation.com
* Duneland Brewhouse Pub and Restaurant, 5718 S. Franklin St., Michigan City, (219) 878-9180
* Goose Island operates two brewpubs in Chicago located at 1800 N. Clybourn Ave., (312) 915-0071; and 3535 N. Clark St., (773) 832-9040; www.gooseisland.com
* Harrison's Brewing Company, 15845 S. LaGrange Road, Orland Park, (708) 226-0100; www.harrisonsbrewpub.com
* Piece, 1927 West North Ave., Chicago, (773) 772-4422; www.piecechicago.com
* Rock Bottom Brewery, 1 W. Grand Ave., Chicago, (312) 755-9339, a chain with branches in 15 states; www.rockbottom.com.
If you go
The annual Back Road Brewery open house will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 25 in the brewery parking lot, 1315 Michigan Ave., LaPorte. In addition to a sampling of beers from BRB, representatives from Three Floyds and Duneland Brewhouse will be serving up samples. Entertainment will be provided by a 13-piece German oompah band. Admission is $5, 21-and-over show.
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