USA, ND: Harry Cow Brewing Company expanding to the Dakotas

A popular Byron brewery is expanding to the Dakotas, the Rockford Register Star reported on March 14.

Todd McLester, owner of Harry Cow Brewing Company, said he is about two months from breaking ground on a second location in Box Elder, South Dakota, home of Ellsworth Air Force Base.

“We’ll be right next to Rapid City,” McLester said. “Box Elder and Rapid City are just like Rockford and Loves Park. They’re just divided by a road.”

The new brewery will sit on seven acres adjacent to the Air Force base. In addition to craft beer and cocktails, Hairy Cow will serve appetizers, wood-fired pizza, salads, coffee, wings and desserts.

Related: Comings & Goings: Hairy Cow Brewing Company brings 'awesome' beer to Byron

“I’ve been going through (Box Elder) for decades, going out to visit my brother’s place in Montana,” McLester said. “And for the last several years, I’ve been hanging around the Black Hills area—hiking, fishing and biking out there. I just really like the area. There’s a great craft beer community, a lot of nice restaurants. It’s booming.”

The announcement comes after a report led some of McLester's Illinois customers to believe he is relocating the Byron brewery out of state. The Byron location will remain open. He hopes to have the South Dakota brewery up and running later this year.

“I’ll be going back and forth between the two locations,” he said.

The plan was to start building two years ago, but rising interest rates put the project on hold. The brewery is expected to create 60 jobs in the Rapid City-Box Elder area.

Box Elder is about 840 miles from Byron.

15 March, 2024