E-Malt.com News article: USA, KS: Three Rings Brewery opens in McPherson

A Moundridge man able to trace his beer-making genes back some 12 generations to Germany has collaborated with his father to open a new microbrewery in McPherson, Hutchinson News reported on June 11.

Three Rings Brewery, 536 Old-81 Bypass, opened its doors on June 11, inside a former car detail shop.

The brewery will offer its craft beers in kegs, as well as in 32- and 64-ounce “growlers,” said owner Ian Smith. They are starting with five beer varieties.

“People can come in and buy a growler, we’ll fill it with beer, and they take it home and drink it,” Smith explained. “When it’s empty, they can bring it back and refill it.”

The brewery will be able to offer limited samples to visitors, but it cannot sell beer by the glass, Smith said.

Besides retailing to individual patrons, they plan to sell their products through distributors.

Ian Smith’s ancestor, Berend Brauer, was a master brewer at Einbecker Brewery, in the town of Einbeck in north central Germany, Smith said.

“Legend states that Martin Luther had a cask of his favorite Einbecker beer at his wedding and that he owned a grand stein that had three rings,” according to the brewery’s website. “The vision of Martin Luther enjoying our great-grandfather’s beer from his three-ringed stein is the basis to our namesake.”

For Luther, the rings symbolized the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.

Three Rings' five varieties will include a blonde ale, a pale ale, an IPA or Indian pale ale, a wheat ale and a stout.

Smith began home brewing about a decade ago, after a visit to the Anheuser-Busch plant in Fort Collins, Colo., piqued his interest, and he decided that is what he wanted to do for a living.

He earned a degree in food science from Kansas State University, working at Tallgrass Brewing while going to school and then interning at Boulevard Brewing last summer.

Brian Smith has worked in the bakery and food science industry for 30 years. He’s currently corporate quality manager for Grain Craft flour mill in Wichita.

“We came up with our own recipes,” Ian Smith said. “We found a beer that was similar and based it off that, then as we kept home brewing, we tweaked it and tweaked it some more. It’s all our own thoughts, our own recipes.”

Though Ian lives in Moundridge, they chose McPherson for the brewery because of the population base and availability of a building that met their needs.

“I wanted to stay close to where I lived, and saw McPherson as a really good place to have it,” Smith said. “Not only for its base population, but for the workforce that comes into McPherson every day.”

The building required some cleaning up, but no major remodel, Smith said. Their investment was in the brewing equipment, which is mostly stainless steel.

“We have a seven-barrel system,” Smith said. “There are 31 gallons in a barrel. From start to finish, it takes anywhere from 12 to 14 days to brew a batch.”

Besides his father, Ian’s wife of five years, Shayna, is helping out in the business. They are currently the only employees, but they expect eventually to add more, he said.


11 June, 2016