feature
Lawrence dudes making brews
A new local brewer, Barnyard Brewing, is looking to make its niche in Lawrence and follow the trend of Americans buying premium beers.
Photos by Ryan McGeeney rmcgeeney@kansan.com
By Ross Stewart rstewart@kansan.com
Heath Hoadley co-owns Barnyard Brewing, a homebrew project that is looking to become a microbrewery. Hoadley studied to become a brewmaster in Chicago and Munich, Germany. He got his first brewing job in Eugene, Oregon, at the age of 21.
Heath Hoadley is in the barn again mixing up the medicine. The sun's steadily setting. He's got the Bunsens burning.
He adjusts the levels and releases a steady stream of wort.
In the backyard of a home just east of downtown Lawrence, something is brewing beer.
Barnyard Brewing, operated by co-owner Mike Hummell and co-owner and brewmaster Hoadley,started late July 2008 as a homebrewing project in the hopes of becoming a full-blown microbrewery. Hoadley, an experienced brewmaster, brews 47-gallon batches of beer in a red barn in the backyard of Hummell's home, converting wort, unfermented beer into beer.
What they're entering into is the craft-beer industry, which means they're making beers that have a more complex flavor than a standard American pilsner such as Budweiser or Coors. Think New Belgium beers, or better yet, a few local-craft brews such as 23rd Street, Free State or even Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri.The craft-beer industry has grown 12 percent in the first half of 2008 and grew the same percentage from 2006 to 2007, according to the Brewers Association.
The increase from 2006 to 2007 was just short of 1 million barrels of beer—from about 7 million barrels to a little more than 8 million.
What is a craft brewer?
Standing tiptoe over a barrel in a pair of gray galoshes, Hoadley stares in with a flashlight to check the grain. The barn doesn't emit an enjoyable smell. There are three huge,
gleaming stainless steel barrels, giant Bunson burners and a walk-in freezer crammed into it. Country music blares from a radio in the corner.
Hoadley studied to become a brewmaster at several schools, including the Sieble Institute of Technology in Chicago and Doemens Academy in Munich. Germany. The first job in the brewing industry he had was in Eugene, Oregon, where he was a dishwasher at a
brewery. The assistant brewer fell asleep on the toilet at the job. He was fired, and Hoadley had just turned 21 and was offered the job.
He looks up from a barrel and waves me over to smell it. I assumed it was going to smell unpleasant, like wet decomposing grain, but upon sticking my nose over the rim, I was surprised—it smelled like sweet, warm oatmeal, not emulating the often-ripe smell emitting from the barn.
Barnyard Brewing can't legally sell the beer it produces because it is considered a homebrewery. In Kansas, you're either a microbrewer or a homebrewer. A homebrewer produces small batches of beer for noncommercial consumption.To legally sell the beer in Kansas, Barnyard Brewing has to produce its beers in a commercial or industrial space with a license.
"There are laws regarding self-distribution
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April 16,2009
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