E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Big Dawg Brewhaus expands with new name

The "Big Dawg" on Richmond's west side has a new name: Noble Order Brewing Company. The former Big Dawg Brewhaus at J&J Winery has experienced so much growth, the owners have changed its name to better reflect the type of beer brewed and to aid in product distribution, pal-item.com reported on December, 15.

"We're pretty excited about all the changes and we've got a great product to back that up," said Melody Haist, who owns J&J Winery with her husband, Jeff.

They share ownership of the brewery with Mike Miller. The winery opened in 2009, and the brewery was added in 2011. In 2013, they expanded the half-barrel brewery into a 15-barrel brewery.

"It was a big change," Miller said.

Under the guidance of brewmaster Richard Shroyer, they now produce about 2,000 barrels of beer a year, making Noble Order the biggest brewery in eastern Indiana.

"That puts us in the top 12 to 15 Indiana brewers," said Miller, who also is a brewer.

The increased production made it possible for Noble Order Brewing Company to secure a distribution contract with World Class Beer of Indiana, a division of the Monarch Beverage Company in Indianapolis. Noble Order beers offered to regional stores, bars and restaurants include Blood Orange Wheat, White Horse Wheat, Thistle Sitter Scotch Ale and Tobias Apricot India Pale Ale.

World Class Beer of Indiana is the founding member of the World Class Beer Network, an association of American independent beer distributors that is dedicated to the promotion of craft and specialty beers.

"These beers can be found all over the state," Miller said. "Our hopes are it will only expand the reach of Richmond. Richmond's always been innovative in its own right. That's where our passion lies — these products are created here in Richmond."

"This change describes our brewing style best," said Melody Haist, who also is the brewry's "yeast wrangler."

Miller said arrangements already are in progress to build a second 15-barrel brew house with a full bottling line at an off-site location. That expansion, he projects, will allow them to produce 8,000 to 10,000 barrels a year.

That volume would bring Noble Order Brewing Company into the same distribution level as Sun King and Upland Brewing.

"It's a very competitive industry," Miller said. "In Indiana, the craft beer movement has really taken hold."

In Indiana, the brewing and beer wholesale industry has made an economic impact of more than $3.3 mln and provided more than 38,000 industry related jobs, according to the Beer Institute's website.

The Richmond brewery's growth has increased the number of employees to eight, including general manager Mike Babcock. Noble Order is one of only three Indiana breweries to have a lab, where it employs two chemists.

Open year-round, the winery-brewery is more than a bar, Babcock said, with a family friendly restaurant and indoor and outdoor space for meetings, weddings and receptions.

"We just think we have a great thing going," Melody Haist said. "It can only get better."


17 December, 2014