Page Title

MICROBREWERY TO OPEN IN VICTORIA

CREAMERY BUILDING COMING TO LIFE SOON

Dan Norton, one of the two owners and co-founders of Enki Brewing Company, spoke at the March 11th council meeting.

He sought approval from the Victoria City Council to apply for wholesale/manufacturer's small brewer off-sale and on-sale liquor licenses to open and operate a microbrewery business in the old Victoria Creamery building in downtown Victoria. It was approved with a 5-0 vote.

Applications will now be sent to the State of Minnesota for processing and their approval.

Dan Norton and John Hayes, the other partner, have entered into a three-year lease with the property owners, Mary Meuwissen and Barbara Zadeh, partners at the Counselor Realty office in the Clocktower Building adjacent to the Creamery.

Mr. Norton, who said he would be relocating to Victoria on April 1st, made introductory remarks to the Victoria City Council that Monday evening . . .

"My co-founder John Hayes has been a resident of Carver County since 1991. I was a shoe designer for Nike for athletes all over the world. In 1980, I started brewing my own beer. We used to bring in athletes and put on a clam bake and home brew for the guys. John is a homebrewer since 1999 and we've kept up a relationship."

From the council packet we learn that Dan and his wife Jean have two children, one in college and one a senior in high school. John and his wife Lisa have four children, three graduates of Waconia High School and one at St. Joe's in Waconia.

"We're not doing this for a big expensive hobby," continued Mr. Norton. "We liked the atmosphere and camaraderie here. I spent four years in Germany for Adidas and I used to go on tours of breweries, over 150. I've got a collection of 151 German one-liter mugs.

"We're looking at this as a business. Why Victoria? John has been here since 1991. We both grew up in Portland, Oregon. There are no more street corners available in Portland for a brewery. Minnesota is a state that's kind of growing and open for opportunities. It's a great area. There's a relationship to look forward to.

"We like these tourist maps where there is a destination area, like the Creamery itself. John sent me a picture of it long ago. I immediately fell in love with it. It looks like the perfect brewery.

"A plan? We wanted a small commercial building. We can only sell our own beer. We'll also be doing tours. We want to be educational about our business. A growler is a half gallon jug, labeled, capped, and sealed.

"The Creamery has tremendous character. It also has a lot aches and pains. We're tearing out a lot of the old walls and piping now. A brewery has to be very clean. We've torn out a lot of the old walls and ceiling. For the most part there was a nice tile floor.

"We'll be putting in some new windows and making it an attractive place. We'll have an outdoor beer garden, completely contained, a nice summertime outdoor beer garden.

"John's wife is kicking around the idea of starting a garden club, wanting to clean up the landscape area and make that attractive as well.

"A tap room? We're looking at a capacity of about 50 people, plus another 20 in the beer garden. We don't want to be open very late. We'd like to participate in a lot of events in the community -- the Volksfest, Classic Car Nights, the Fishing Contest, Lions Weekend, and others.

"We have no intention of being a restaurant. We'd like to supply the menus [or local eateries] at the brewery. A lot of places in town have a food truck.

"Most of our renovation work to date has been inside. They're supposed to deliver our equipment on April 19th, from Portland ... Our goal is to make good beer, not too exotic."

Mr. Norton mentioned various types of beer that would be brewed at Victoria including a Lake Bavaria Kolsch, such as Pilsner Urquell, also an Auburn Lake Amber Ale, such as New Belgium Fat Tire.

"I've had 40 years of experience in product development," he continued. "John and I have totally different tastes in beer. We're self funded. Our mission is to be friendly, two beers at a time. We'll be working a lot at the Creamery. You're welcome to come in and take a look around."

Mr. Norton was asked how the company got its name, Enki. He said Enki was a Sumerian goddess of running water. The name is also an anagram for Nike, where the two partners began their dream of this brewery.

Said Councilmember Strigel, "How awesome to see the Creamery Building being put to such great use. I think it's a great fit."

Said Mayor O'Connor, "It's only slightly pre-mature, but welcome to Victoria."

Click here to continue Microbrewery.

Drs. Dungey, Menser & Associates

Victoria and Waconia. 952-443-2816