Take a sip of Peace Tree Brewing Company's limited edition double IPA, a brew so deliciously hoppy the taste actually tickles your nostrils, and look around the tap room. It's hard to believe that in fewer than 13 months, this recently ramshackle building just off the Knoxville town square was transformed into a fully functioning craft brewery with anything-but-rural decor.
Ask for another sample (the Red Ramble this time, or the Rye Porter?) and peek through the window behind the bar into a production area where gleaming stainless steel equipment transforms the simplest ingredients into unique beer. Peace Tree, which gets its name from a historic sycamore stump that juts out from under Lake Red Rock, is the endeavor of Megan McKay Ziller and her husband, Scott Ziller, both 37 and her dad, Dan McKay.
The McKays have a background in business (they own McKay Insurance, which sits kitty corner from Peace Tree on Main Street, and Megan earned her MBA from the University of Iowa), but beer was more of a hobby. Scott started home brewing in 2006, without the slightest inkling that four years later he'd be able to take breaks from his insurance job at a watering hole he helped build.
In March of 2009, they bought the property at 107 W. Main St., which in its heyday was a Nash Rambler dealership, but had fallen into total disrepair. They toyed with the idea of turning it into a laundromat or storage facility before Dan read an article in the Wall Street Journal about the growing craft beer market.
"We bought a book called, I think it was literally 'How to Start a Brewery,' by the brewers association," said Megan, who got into the concept alongside the men in her family after she noticed how much time they were suddenly spending on beer-making sites. (The probrewer.com forums became particularly helpful.)
Although making a profit and guarding some trade secrets is important, the owners quickly discovered the wealth of information-sharing and cooperation in the craft brewing world, where the emphasis is on quality and creativity.
"This is a weird industry," Megan said. "It's grown out of the home brewers, and the people in the craft brew industry do it for the love of beer."
The next step was to hire a brewer. They chose 35-year-old Joe Kesteloot, an ISU fine arts graduate who discovered he loved brewing and might make a better living at it, then became certified through the American Brewers Guild.
"He was the only brewer we interviewed that homebrewed, which to us was important," Megan said.
Peace Tree lured Kesteloot (the only applicant who brought samples of his beer along with a résumé) back to Iowa from Minnesota's Cold Spring Brewing Company, and he started experimenting. The first batch was ready in October 2009, right before Iowa changed its laws to permit the sale of higher alcohol beers.
"It just opened up a whole new range of beers," Kesteloot said (of the legislation). "It's more of the beers I like to brew."
Beers like the Blonde Fatale, an 8½ percent Belgian Blonde Ale that will knock you off your stool if you refill one too many times.
Kesteloot is also looking forward to a fall sweet corn beer that takes its flavor from locally grown Dan-D Farms kernels. The first batch he created last year sold out in a few hours. Kesteloot is hoping the 1,240 gallons this time around lasts through the "Blues, Brews & BBQ" event at Peace Tree on Sept. 25.
Although the brewery switched gears a bit from experimentation to production mode (they're being distributed in more than 20 Hy-Vees and have contracts with even more bars and restaurants), Peace Tree is making strong strides as a leader for the next generation of Iowa beers.
