USA, SD: Buffalo Ridge Brewing now alive in Hartford

It’s hard to believe that Buffalo Ridge Brewing was only a pile a dirt just five months ago. Now, this project is alive in Hartford, KDLT News reported on November 10.

“It’s really fun to be able to see how these things can just come from nothing being here but a plan and a dream,” says Hartford Mayor Jeremy Menning.

The plan for the brewery started in February of last year, and the owners broke ground on the property in June. The 4,000 square foot facility is located on north Main Avenue and will brew about 1,500 barrels per year. However, one of the owners never thought he would be in this business.

“The opportunity to partner with someone who really knows the brewing process and knows the scalability of the brewing process. That part of it and once I tasted the beer I was like, ‘Wow this is really, really, really good,” says Co-Owner Damon Sehr.

The other owner, Chris Tuschen, is originally from Hartford and moved to the west cost for about twenty years. But it did not take him long to find his passion.

“Seven and a half years ago, I (kind of) took home brewing as a hobby. We were living out on the west coast in Oregon and been there for quite a while drinking some really good beers at a lot of good breweries out there. So I picked up the hobby of home-brewing, and it became more of a habit,” says Co-Owner Chris Tuschen.

For Chris, he says this is a “homecoming” that he and his family will never forget.

Tuschen explains, “It’s been exciting. It’s been (you know) a lot of fun to reconnect with people in town and meet a lot of the new people in town. It’s twice the size it was when I moved away. That kind of growth in 18-20 years have been gone, and it’s just amazing to see the differences.”

With this brewery in town, Mayor Jeremy Menning says people can expect the town to keep flowing from here.

“Just having a brewery, kind of that local gathering place where people can come together in downtown, it’s gonna serve Hartford so well,” says Menning.

Buffalo Ridge Brewing will be open Thursday through Saturday. The brewery will also have a rotating list of 12 to 14 beers on tap. Some will change seasonally.

10 November, 2018