It started when Laura asked John, then an enthusiastic home brewer, if there are brown ales, red ales, even blond ales—why not a brunette ale? With that spark, John developed his signature wild rice brown ale, the Wild Brunette. Before long, he had to expand his home brew setup because friends were drinking all his beer, eventually opening a beloved neighborhood brew pub. When demand there outgrew supply, the full brewery and tap room in Wisconsin was the next logical step.