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Brian Burns is the brewer at Cellar Rats Brewery in Madison at Debonné Vineyards. These newly arrived fermentation tanks will be moved into the new brewery now under construction adjacent to the existing winery.
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Beer lovers rejoice! Debonné Vineyards is adding beer to its long-established selection of award-winning, craft-made wines. Now beer drinkers can sample micro-brews alongside their wine-drinking counterparts.
Brian Burns, assistant winemaker at the winery for the past six years, is now the brewer at Cellar Rats Brewery. Named for those who work in wine cellars, Cellar Rats effectively binds the two beverage-making crafts together.
Besides Burns, the other “cellar rats” are winemaker/beer chemist Ed Trebets and Tony “Junior” Debevc, assistant brewer and heir apparent. Burns has been training Debonné employee Benny Bucci to take over his former position.
A new logo is still being developed. It will feature rat caricatures of the three men. Those familiar with them will recognize which rat is which – the rat with the large nose is Burns, the one with the big ears is Trebets and the rat with the prominent teeth and funky hairdo is Debevc.
More than a hobby
The brewery is a lifelong dream-come-true for Burns, who has literally lived, breathed and drunk beer since he was 17. He researched beer at the library in high school, eventually becoming the youngest member of a group of home brewers called the Wort Hogs (wort is unfermented beer).
“I was just 17 or 18. No one my age was interested in brewing beer. Drinking beer, yeah, but not brewing beer,” Burns said.
He was fascinated with the foamy beverage even before that. As a kid he listened to family members laughing and having fun at parties and longed to be a part of it.
“I would cook with my grandma and she would give me a little bit of her beer,” he remembers. “The first time I drank beer with her I hated it. But when she gave me that first little sip, I felt like I was a part of all that. That’s what beer means to me – being together with people, your family and friends and having a great time,” he said.
He is serious, not to mention excited, about the brewery. The best part for him?
“Bringing it past the hobby stage has had a pretty intoxicating effect on me,” he said. “Just being able to brew beers that I like and to have people drink and enjoy the beers I once brewed in my mom’s kitchen. And to bring them to life, really.”
Making a dream a reality
Burns isn’t the only one serious about the brewery. Debonné owner Anthony Debevc already has invested $200,000 in the project – about $75,000 in equipment including brewing and fermentation tanks, as well as $125,000 for a building to house the brewing operation and tasting room.
The new tasting room will be accessible through the existing winery. Tasters will be able to view the brewery operation through a glass floor that looks down over the tanks. It will be a more formal setting designed with bus groups in mind. Half the group can sample wine and beer while the other half tours the facility.
Debevc sets great store in Burns’ passion and dedication to the brewery.
“Brian has had an interest in making beer since long before he started working here,” he said. “We thought we’d use the talent we had on staff to provide a craft-made beer like our craft-made wine.”
Debevc purchased the three-barrel beer-making system from a small brewery in Franklin, Pa. Burns will brew about 600 or 700 gallons a month, fermenting and aging the beer onsite using his personal collection of recipes. It will be sold on draft only, not bottled.
He will eventually introduce four beers starting with a golden lager. A light ale will be next with more specialty beers to follow. Burns wants to brew a stout and a barrel-fermented beer, something he can do uniquely at the winery using wine barrels. At first, to offer more of a selection, the winery will serve beer from other microbreweries.
A new dimension to wine country
Debevc says the brewery continues a long-standing tradition at Debonné to produce their own products. He thinks it will attract a whole new crowd.
“There are a number of people who enjoy wine but have friends who don’t care for it. Not many wineries serve beer, and no one in the area is producing their own,” he said, adding that he has heard rumors of a free-standing brewery coming to the area.
He hopes to ride the wave of resurgence of interest in craft beers.
“We were one lonely winery out here in 1972 when we opened,” Debevc said. “People would come out to try what was being produced in this area. Out of that grew an industry of 20 wineries and it has become a major draw. What we’ve done is create a brewery that we hope will add another dimension to the wine district.”
He says the area needs more fine restaurants, accommodations and other entertainment to make it a significant destination point.
“People are coming out here for entertainment like they would go to the warehouse district in downtown Cleveland,” Debevc said. “The wineries themselves have had to become part of that entertainment.”
He mentioned Niagara-on-the-Lake as an example.
“It didn’t develop until they increased their food and retail industry,” he said. “Now it’s a great place to go and sample wines, shop and see a theater production.”
Crop insurance
There is a little bit of worry hanging over the new venture. With the explosion of small breweries comes a worldwide shortage of hops and barley caused by bad weather in Europe, an increase in the price of barley and a decrease in hops production in the U.S.
Debevc plans to put in an eighth-acre demonstration plot of hops to show visitors how it grows. He says growing hops isn’t a stretch for the winery as it needs the same wet conditions and similar harvesting equipment as grapes do. And, if the shortage continues, the brewery just might have to use that test plot.
“So we’re serious about it,” he said. “It’s not just a hobby; it’s a serious commitment, an investment and new venture for our company.”
Burns for one can’t wait till the grand opening targeted for Memorial Day weekend.
“People may say that I’ve consumed a lot of beer,” Burns says, “but really, beer has consumed me.”
Free Samples is a regular dining feature written by Laura Freeman,
editor of Lake County Business Journal.
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