What’s brewing on Maple Street?

Katie Davidson – who moved back to Creston in the fall of 2018 with her husband, Andrew Rullestad, and their daughter, Vienna – said one of the things she missed most from their former neighborhood in Grand Forks, North Dakota, was the breweries.

“Those were the places we would always go and hang out. They were kid friendly, so we’d meet our friends, our kids could go and play there together, and we could have a couple beers and hang out,” said Davidson. “They were just really nice third spaces to hang out at when we weren’t at work or home.”

Back home in Iowa, Davidson said she and her family patronized Torrent and Alluvial breweries while they lived in Ames. However, now that they live in Creston, the nearest brewery is more than an hour away.

“We’ve said, and other people have said that Creston would benefit from a brewery for years now, and I know a couple other people had thought about doing it and never gone through with it – because it is a lot of work, time and money and a learning curve if you don’t know how to brew already,” said Davidson. “But, when the SWCC job didn’t work out for me, we thought, ‘Well, all the reasons we moved home are still here, so, let’s do something. And we did.’”

Making plans

Rullestad said his wife started researching the market early this year.

“She was looking at how many people Creston serves – not just the number of people that live in town, but the number of people who shop here and come through here for different reasons and it seemed like it would be kind of a cool idea and she went from there,” he said.

But, Rullestad admitted he wasn’t always sure the plan would become a reality.

“I do remember being kind of like, ‘OK, that’s cool. Let’s look into it’ and kind of blowing her off,” Rullestad said.

However, after a conversation with Iowa Beer Minister Jay Wilson of Prescott, their first attendance to the Iowa Brewer’s Guild annual meeting in June and subsequent volunteer work at the Iowa Craft Beef Festival, their day dream became a plan.

“That’s where it started to sink in,” said Rullestad. “Once you start telling people our plan is to do this, then that’s getting feet and it’s becoming real.”

A community

As Rullestad and Davidson have travelled across the state, and as far as Iceland to meet and learn from other brewers, they have found that the brewing community is an inclusive place.

“Everybody we’ve talked to was helpful,” said Rullestad. “Every breweries is different – whether it’s decor or how big they are or how small they are. Everybody had different set ups for equipment. Some of them are kind of thrown together and one we went to in Iceland was completely automated, had touch screens, and was super shiny and fancy, yet they can both produce great beer.”

As Davidson and Rullestad learn to brew, residents of Union County have been giving them feedback on their beers, which have been sampled at the Taste of Union County events and at the Elks Lodge during Balloon Days.

“They are excited,” said Davidson.

Of a Raspberry Wheat Ale Davidson and Rullestad sampled at a Taste of Union County event in Afton, Davidson said it was fun to see the response from individuals who might not consider themselves brewery goers.

“Many of them said, ‘I don’t normally like beer ... but, I would drink this.’ So, that is fun and gives us the boost to keep going,” she said.

In addition to the Raspberry Wheat Ale, other flavors the couple have sampled are Lemon Drop Saison, Blueberry Honey Ale, Honey Wheat, Belgian Orange Double and a Cream Ale.

Davidson said her personal favorite beers to drink are sours.

“Which we haven’t tackled yet because they use wild yeast, which can be volatile and we aren’t really set up for that. Of the beers we brew, I like the Raspberry Wheat, but my favorite is the Lemon Drop Saison and the alcohol content is pretty high,” she said.

Rullestad said he thinks the craft beer has been slow to take off in Creston because the “beer culture” has predominately been centered around domestic beers, such as Busch and the like, but he believes there is enough interest to make Hot Air Brewing a viable business.

“I think for a lot of people, they are trying something they hadn’t before and maybe didn’t realize beer can taste like this and it’s still a beer,” he said.

Maple Street

Rullestad and Davidson closed on the purchase of a building, 212 N. Maple St., which will serve as their primary residence and the future Hot Air Brewing Company.

Currently, frame work is being completed on the couple’s residence, which will occupy the rear of the first and second floors.

“We’re really trying not to put the cart before the horse,” said Davidson. “We don’t want to have two projects going at once. We wanted to get the house part of it done so we have a place to go and relax after a long day of doing whatever it is we’re doing.”

David Marroquin designed the airy living space and brewery, which will be bought to life by construction contractor Chris Brown.

Much of the work to date has been done by the help of volunteers, such as members of Creston Area Little Stuff – Jon Carroll, Randy Vicker, Andy Ide and Jane White, in addition to friends such as Brian and Jacob Zachary, Jean Weisshaar, Blake Fry-Schnormeier.

“Creston Area Little Stuff has been awesome. I’ve had their tools for over a month,” said Davidson. “Jon has spent hours in there. He’s been hauling out plaster, pulling up carpet. It’s been really, really awesome.”

Future plans

Davidson said she is thinking about different crowd-funding ideas such as allowing independent investors to purchase a “Founder’s” pint glass, which would be sold for $1,000 and kept at the brewery.

“Any time they come in their first beer is free. If they come in once a week, they pay that off in four years, I think,” said Davidson. “And, I’m hoping people come in more than once a week if they are excited about it.”

Hot Air Brewing is anticipated to host weekly trivia nights, a stash of board games, live music, and pop up artisan events.

“We won’t have TVs, so that will be a little unique, but we will have music playing,” said Davidson. “We’ll probably have a projector, so if there is a big game or we can show the Olympics – a special thing – but otherwise, we’re not going to have TVs above the bar. It will be a little bit different.”

Davidson said they are hoping to utilize a piece of the outdoor space between the brewery and the historic post office.

“We would love to have a beer garden ... or several tables for people to have a beer, watch their kids run around and enjoy the weather,” said Davidson.

Davidson is looking forward to working with local artisans and makers who want to sell their hand-crafted wares out of the space on occasion, and host live music, such as the students enrolled in Southwestern Community College’s School for Music Vocations. In the future, she hopes to hold larger events such as wedding receptions.

“Eventually, more of a five year plan would be to finish the basement, so it could be used as an event space. It’s huge,” she said.

But for now, they are focused on one thing – perfecting their brew process.

“We had never brewed before this summer. The most important part of this is, we know if we don’t have good beer, it’s not really going to be a successful venture.”

For more information, follow Hot Air Brewing on Facebook.