MUNSTER, Ind. – Nick Floyd’s path to becoming one of America’s most respected craft beer makers has been, to quote his brewery’s motto, “not normal.”
His original brewing operation was pieced together out of a random assortment of equipment that included an old Canfield’s cola tank, gigantic wok burners and Swiss cheese fermenters he bought from a Wisconsin scrap yard.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” says Floyd, recalling the early days of Three Floyds.
Floyd, 43, has come a long way from his inaugural year in 1996 when he produced 300 barrels of beer out of an old warehouse in nearby Hammond.
Three Floyds, which is known for its flagship American pale ale Alpha King, the colorfully named American pale ale Zombie Dust and a Russian imperial stout ominously called Dark Lord, is on pace to make more than 40,000 barrels in 2014. That’s up from roughly 30,000 barrels last year.
Floyd, 43, laid the groundwork for an even bigger 2015 with the purchase this year of a $4 million bottling line that is set to be installed early next year. He also recently bought the building next to his current Munster brewery to build a distillery for gin, whiskey and other spirits.
Three Floyds is one of 10 finalists in USA TODAY’s Entrepreneur of the Year contest. Profiles of other contenders will run next week, and a winner will be selected in December… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT USA TODAY
His original brewing operation was pieced together out of a random assortment of equipment that included an old Canfield’s cola tank, gigantic wok burners and Swiss cheese fermenters he bought from a Wisconsin scrap yard.
“I had no idea what I was doing,” says Floyd, recalling the early days of Three Floyds.
Floyd, 43, has come a long way from his inaugural year in 1996 when he produced 300 barrels of beer out of an old warehouse in nearby Hammond.
Three Floyds, which is known for its flagship American pale ale Alpha King, the colorfully named American pale ale Zombie Dust and a Russian imperial stout ominously called Dark Lord, is on pace to make more than 40,000 barrels in 2014. That’s up from roughly 30,000 barrels last year.
Floyd, 43, laid the groundwork for an even bigger 2015 with the purchase this year of a $4 million bottling line that is set to be installed early next year. He also recently bought the building next to his current Munster brewery to build a distillery for gin, whiskey and other spirits.
Three Floyds is one of 10 finalists in USA TODAY’s Entrepreneur of the Year contest. Profiles of other contenders will run next week, and a winner will be selected in December… CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL STORY AT USA TODAY
Steve G
Couldn’t agree more!!