Tapping into a Trend

New local breweries want to quench area’s thirst for beer

Two craft beer companies to open in Madison, Ind.;
one in Crestwood, Ky.

By Phyllis McLaughlin
Contributing Writer

April 2018 Cover

(April 2018) – Breweries were a staple in Madison, Ind., from the early 1800s until Prohibition in the 1920s. Prohibition triggered the bankruptcy of the Madison Brewing Co., the last of its breed in the city.
But the industry is seeing a Renaissance, not just in Madison but regionally and nationally.
Last fall, 3rd Turn Brewing Co., established in 2015 in Jeffersontown, Ky., opened a second location, 3rd Turn Oldham Gardens, at 6300 Old La Grange Road in Crestwood, Ky. The site of a former landscaping operation, Oldham Gardens sits on 3.7 acres, including a beer garden that is almost a full acre.
“We didn’t have high hopes for the first months (for the new location) because of the time of year,” said Greg Hayden, who owns and operates the brewing company with Brian Minrath and brothers Ben and Dale Shinkle. “But it’s coming along extremely well. We’re surprised that we’ve filled up the location on most nights. It’s a great sign of things to come.”
This spring, 3rd Turn will add 50 parking spots to its lot that now has 70 spots. Plans are to add another 50 by the end of the summer, Hayden said.

Their business plan includes building a brewery on site, too, but Hayden said that they must first determine what capacity of a brewing operation they will need there.
The idea is to create a space for groups as small as two and as large as 20 – a place where families and friends can connect with each other.
“We are ready to host weddings and corporate events of 250 to 300 people,” Hayden said. The brewing company also hosts events such as “Yappy Hour,” which features adoptable dogs from local rescue organizations.
The company’s successes at both locations bode well for the two new breweries that are on tap for Madison – The New Madison Brewing Co., 3463 Shun Pike, and the Mad Paddle Brewing Co., to be established at 301 West St. in downtown.
The business plans for the two companies couldn’t be more different.
The New Madison Brewing Co.’s name is an homage to the city’s last large brewery – Madison Brewing Co., which was located in the Greiner building on Park Avenue downtown. That also was the site of Madison’s first brewery, established by Jacob Salmon in 1823.
Mathew Greiner, a brewer from Cincinnati, started his own brewery in 1854 in the building that still stands on Park Avenue, just west of Ferry Street. Greiner’s was best known for its famed “Madison XXX Ale,” which was marketed throughout the Midwest and as far south as New Orleans. It was touted as the perfect refreshment “after a tiresome journey or shopping tour,” according to a page on the National Park Services heritage website, www.NPS.gov.
It later became Madison Brewing Co. and was a successful operation until 1920, when the 18th Amendment was passed in 1920, also known as Prohibition, making the production and consumption of alcohol illegal nationwide. Intended to reduce the evils brought on society by alcohol, Prohibition spawned the black market and bootlegging, as well as organized crime, instead and was finally repealed by the 21st Amendment in 1933.
There have been other breweries, including the Union Brewery established in 1863 by Peter Weber, a native of Alsace, France. That was located in a huge, three-story brick building that once stood on the northwest corner of Main and Vine streets, according to www.VisitMadison.org.

New Madison Brewing Co.

Photo by Don Ward The New Madison Brewing Co. building is taking shape on Shun Pike on the Madison, Ind., hilltop. The owners plan to make beer there and sell it at local restaurants.

At their production facility and tasting room that is now under construction on the Madison hilltop, New Madison Brewing owners Nick Privette, Daryl Hardesty and Chris Bratten plan to brew and bottle several styles of beer, primarily for distribution to local restaurants and liquor stores. They hope to be open by next fall.
They have no plans to establish a taproom or pub downtown, nor do they plan to offer food at the tasting room, at least in the near future, Privette said. Tasters will be welcome to bring their own food with them or encouraged to order in from local restaurants.
“You’ll be able to come in and sit down and have a couple of beers,” or purchase “growlers” for carryout, Privette said. Otherwise, “we’ll work with anybody who wants to sell our beers. We can self-distribute locally, which is a benefit to everyone in town,” because New Madison can sell its products wholesale without additional distributor fees.
Privette and Hardesty, co-workers at Indiana-Kentucky Electric Corp. power plant, have been home brewing beers for several years.
They incorporated in 2016, two years after they started a brewing operation in Privette’s basement. For the new facility, they brought on Bratten, Privette’s former Indiana University roommate who works in sales and will help market and sell their products.
The response from friends and others who have tasted their beers has been very positive, Privette said. And through sampling their own creations, “we pretty much know what works.”
The brewery has no specialty product at this point but is focusing solely on ales. They have developed their own recipes, including one for a porter-style ale, which is a dark, malty beer similar to stout – like Guinness.

Photo provided The former Lamson Feed Mill building at West and Second streets in Madison, Ind., has been purchased by Jerry and Larry Wade, who plan to developed it into their future Mad Paddle Brewery. It is expected to open sometime in 2019 after much-needed renovations.

There also are two India Pale Ale beers, or IPAs. “That’s what sells around here,” Privette said.
Unlike porters, IPAs are strong on hops, and the flavors of each beer depend on the type of hops that are used in the brewing process. One offering from New Madison will be a bitter, citrusy IPA; the other will be sweet, “almost fruit-juicy,” he said.
They will also sell a raspberry-wheat variety of ale, using real raspberries that are added after the beer is fermented. As the berries ferment, they “dry out the flavor,” so it won’t be sweet,” Privette said. “It tastes like raspberries, but it’s dry.”
They also will brew a lighter ale similar to the popular national brands, like Budweiser or Miller.
“It won’t be the same,” but it will appeal to those who prefer those beers and will be an “easy drinking” ale, Hardesty said.
Their flagship beer “will be what the town likes the best,” Privette said. “Our goal is (each of our beers) will be a very strong version of that style,” with about a 6 percent alcohol content. Special higher-alcohol beers will rotate through the menu seasonally.

Mad Paddle Brewing Co.

Photo provided A prototype of a can of Mad Paddle Brewery beer shows what the future brewery will be producing in Madison, Ind.

While New Madison’s focus is on production and distribution, Jerry Wade has big plans for his Madison project, which he plans to be a destination brewery – and eventually small-batch distillery – in the former feed store at 301 West Street, on the northwest corner of West and Second streets.
Originally to be named Four Founders, Wade has named his project the Mad Paddle Brewing Co. – a nod to the history of the building he purchased from Peter Ellis at the end of March. “Paddle” is not a reference to Ohio River travel, but rather the paddles that were used to move grain from the loading dock on the first level to storage bins on the upper levels of the building, he said.
An Indiana native and Ball State alum, Wade said he has been “marooned in Minnesota since 1987,” where he prospered as a financial planner until 2016, when severe back issues and surgeries forced him into disability and retirement.
Wade is a true entrepreneur whose initial decision to buy stock in MTV during the early 1980s led him into a career in the financial industry. A published writer and on-air financial expert, he founded Wade Investment Partners in 2015 to help fund independent filmmakers and has been involved in the real estate market in Indianapolis.
One of his biggest projects there was the $350,000 renovation of a Victorian-era house and carriage house, which were converted into a luxury rentals. His philanthropic work includes Remember our Heroes, a charitable organization he founded and ran from 2001 to 2006 that connected military veterans with classrooms in Minneapolis-area schools.

Photo provided A look inside the former Lamson Feed Mill building today shows what currently houses West Street Art Gallery.

Together with his brother Larry Wade, a retired computer technology entrepreneur who lives in Denver, Jerry Wade was convinced during a vacation to Madison that he wanted to bring a project there to tap into the tourism industry and help boost the local economy – as well as to purchase, renovate and preserve one of Madison’s historic downtown buildings.
“There are 140 microbreweries in Indiana – five in Bloomington, three in Columbus,” Wade said. “Madison, with its tourism and festivals, was overdue for a downtown microbrewery.”
While Larry Wade “fell in love with the Greiner building,” Jerry Wade said the opportunity to buy the feed mill – which, at the time, wasn’t on the market – was clearly a better choice, in terms of location – just a block north of Bicentennial Park, where most of Madison’s festivals are held.
The first step in the renovation will be replacing the building’s three roofs, which Wade anticipates to cost from $75,000 to $100,000.
Wade anticipates that the building won’t be ready until early 2019. So in the meantime, the brothers have contracted with the New Albanian Brewery in New Albany, Ind., to produce their beers until renovation is complete and a brewery operation can be started in the West Street building.

Photo provided Beer brewing equipment arrives by truck at the New Madison Brewing Co. location on Shun Pike on the Madison, Ind., hilltop. The owners hope to have beer by fall.

Brewmaster Josh Hill said he was introduced to Jerry Wade by Steve Thomas, owner of Madison’s Thomas Family Winery, at February’s Brewers Guild Winterfest in Indianapolis. Hill said he will be creating a light blonde ale, tweaking a recipe that was used for a beer he made for the Dubois County Bombers.
“Ales are quicker to brew,” Hill said, adding that this will be his first experience with canning beer using a mobile canning unit.
“Their business plan is one of the best I’ve ever seen,” Hill added, “especially for someone who hasn’t been involved in the craft beer industry. He really did his research and is fully prepared. I’m really excited to work with him."
They plan to have beer ready for sale by the weekend of Riverroots (Music & Folk Art Festival) in early June. Initially, the beer will be sold at festivals out of a renovated 1942 GMC fire truck they found in Osgood, Ind. The truck has been fitted with taps and will be featured at local festivals throughout the summer and fall, Wade said.
Eventually, the brewery will become a “brewstillery,” where other spirits such as bourbon or vodka also will be produced and sold on site. The taproom will be “self serve,” where patrons can pour their own beers, spirits or wines.
Mad Paddle won’t be making its own wine, but the idea is to offer high-end wines by the glass. “It will make the $300 wines affordable” to anyone who wants to give them a try, Wade said.

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