E-Malt.com News article: USA, SD: Dakota Shivers Brewing opens in Lead earlier this year

After sweeping across the nation over the past 20 years or so, the craft beer boom finally has come to the western South Dakota’s city of Lead, Washington Times reported on September 6.

Linda and Steve Shivers opened Dakota Shivers Brewing earlier this year in the city of 3,000-plus residents. The brewery has five craft beers on tap: 5280 Pale Ale, Old English Hood ESB, Vertical Mile IPA, Dark Matter RyePA, and Whistle Blowin’ Stout. And they’re brewed by Linda Shivers below the taproom.

Steve Shivers has homebrewed beer on and off for roughly 30 years. He said he learned from that and from a childhood friend, Hal Tippens, who owned Raven’s Ridge Brewery in Fairbanks, Alaska, in the 1990s.

“When we first thought about opening our own brewery we called him and said, ‘Hal, talk us out of it’ - and he did try,” Steve said with a laugh. “Once he failed, he became a great mentor.”

Tippens has such an impact on the Shivers that they decided to name one of their fermenters after him.

Some states that have been a part of the craft beer craze for years boast dozens of breweries, like the 210 establishments in Oregon. Although it’s not surprising for its relatively sparse population, South Dakota is home to roughly 16 craft breweries, and more are pending, the Black Hills Pioneer reported.

“I always tell people around here that we’re on the frontier of craft beer, because we’re the last place in the country where this is really starting to take off,” Steve Shivers said.

Despite being a new and fairly small business, Dakota Shivers Brewing is already taking off, both regionally and online.


09 September, 2015