USA, IN: C.T. Doxey Brewing Co. to open soon in Anderson, IN

Dale Van Deraa looked for a lot of places to build a brewery from the ground up, including Arizona and Oregon, The Herald Bulletin reported on August 26.

Even once he settled on opening a brewery in Anderson, it took a few different ideas and locations before he found the right fit.

C.T. Doxey Brewing Co., of which Van Deraa is founding brewer, will open soon at 718 Jackson St., Anderson.

Van Deraa said he decided to move back to Anderson in his brewery location search after visiting with friends, local business owners and former Mayor Kevin Smith on a trip.

"It really felt like the right place to be," he said.

Van Deraa previously went into business with Dan Hiles, owner of Kettle Top Brewhouse. The two were going to open Branch Water Brewery next door to the brewhouse but chose to open their own breweries separately due to creative differences. That's when Van Deraa and the Oakley Brothers decided to partner up.

Despite having different addresses, the brewery shares a building with the Oakley Brothers Distillery. The distillery taproom is expected to open in about six weeks, and the brewery taproom will be the next project on deck for the team.

However, C.T. Doxey is a licensed brewery now, meaning Van Deraa can brew beer that can be sold in local establishments. Even though the Oakley Brothers taproom will open first, Van Deraa will be in business as the distillery plans on having about six taps of C.T. Doxey beer in its taproom indefinitely.

Jerrad Oakley, co-owner of Oakley Brothers, said he thinks the partnership is ideal for business, as with friends and couples, one person might like craft beer more while another may want spirits or a cocktail.

“I think it’s a match made in heaven,” Oakley said.

“Or a batch made in heaven,” Van Deraa quipped.

The team plans on offering flight pairings with spirits and beer, as well as beer cocktails once the distillery taproom opens.

When that happens, Van Deraa would like to have 12 to 16 taps, with eight of the taps being devoted to beers that are staples and around the brewery most of the time. With the other taps, he plans on getting adventurous.

Beer fanatics who attended Anderson on Tap in June saw a C.T. Doxey booth among the vendors. Since the brewery wasn’t licensed at the time, Van Deraa was at the beer festival as a home brewer.

He showed some of his creativity with the selections he presented there, including a hazy India Pale Ale, a dry-hopped pale ale and a smoky spruce-tip wheat beer. While the spruce tip wheat wasn’t his favorite brew, he made the beer with spruce tips he picked in his back yard.

Van Deraa is starting with a three-barrel system, which can brew about 100 gallons at a time. Eventually, he would like to grow into to a 10-barrel system.

The brewer, who has both practiced with home brewing and through a position at River North Brewery in Denver, said he is looking forward to contributing to the revival of the local economy and historic downtown Anderson.

29 August, 2017