ABOVE: Tom Chapman, Bob Luedtke and Al Hurney pour beers and chat with customers at Fairmont Brewing Company. There will be a one year anniversary celebration at the brewery on Friday, Jan. 24.

FAIRMONT– Fairmont Brewing Company is celebrating one year under new ownership on Friday, Jan. 24. While the brewery opened at its Downtown Plaza location in April of 2022, it’s been under the ownership of three couples– Bob and Diane Luedtke, Tom and Crystal Chapman and Alexandra Hurney and Josh Tesdahl– since December of 2023.

Bob said it was around October 2023 that they learned the former owners, Joe and Lea Riemann, would be selling the brewery.

“Josh and Tom and I were sitting here having a drink one night when Joe told us,” Bob recalled. “The three of us looked at each other and said, ‘it looks like we’re going to buy a brewery.'”

The three couples already had an established relationship and were already involved in the brewery with Tom and Bob helping out with mechanical odd jobs when needed and Al working in the taproom under the Reimanns.

“When we had a chance to buy it, we figured we had all of the skills between us,” Bob said.

“And we didn’t want it to go away,” added Al. “We all liked to come here. It was a good thing for Fairmont to have.”

Prior to this brewery opening, there hadn’t been one in Fairmont in quite literally over a century.

“It’s an atmosphere that Fairmont didn’t have. We want to be family-friendly and all-inclusive. Come hang out and bring your kids. It’s not late night bar hopping,” Al said of the brewery, adding that it’s just open from 4 to 9 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Bob added that they have games and some chalk walls to help keep children occupied. The brewery also boasts a popcorn machine and sells a few other snacks but allows customers to bring in outside food, too, whether it’s pizza getting delivered from a local shop or people bringing in their own charcuterie boards.

“One of the smartest things we’ve done is not try to do food, but work with the food trucks in the area and there are so many. It’s great for them and great for us,” Bob said.

As for the beers, Bob pointed out that in this part of the world, many people drink Busch Light or Bud Light but it’s nice to see that people are willing to try something else.

Some of their better selling beers include the Stateline Lager and Dilly Dally, a pickle beer that Bob called “bizarre” but noted that people love it.

“We buy pickles by the pallet,” he said.

They also offer their own seltzers in rotating flavors including pomegranate mango, mixed berry, green apple and mojito.

“The customers are kind of used to seeing something new every week,” Bob said.

Bob said that he used to make wine and hadn’t made much beer, though Josh had been a home brewer for many years. In the future Josh would like to try making his own root beer to sell at the brewery, too.

While you may assume that the drinks on tap are what the three couples are most proud of, in fact it’s the environment that they’re able to provide to the community.

“It’s a brewery but it’s about so much more than the beer,” Tom said. “Everyone’s always happy in here. The customers created that place and it evolved around what we were trying to do.”

He added that the support from the community has been overwhelming.

“I’m blown away by the people who come in and the reviews and the notes that people have left us. It’s awesome,” Tom said.

“Most of the other bars in town, people go there to drink. People come here to socialize and end up buying some beer, too,” Bob added.

The average tab is $24 which equates to three beers which tells them most people go there to hang out like it’s a “big living room for everyone.”

“Between all of us, we know just about everybody in town,” Bob said “there’s local support because people know us.”

Al said that the customers are great and supportive and that they have many regulars, which is nice to see.

“It’s a little bit like “Cheers,” and to be honest it kind of has the same vibe with the same cast of crazy characters,” Bob said with a laugh, referencing the 1980s sitcom.

All in all, business is good and the new owners are happy with the pace they’ve been going at.

“It’s gone better than we expected,” Bob said. “But the three (couples) of us still can’t quit our day jobs.”

He pointed out that several breweries in the state recently announced they’re closing, including the Mankato Brewery and Chanhassen Brewery.

“There used to be 276 breweries in Minnesota and I don’t know if we’re about 200 right now,” Bob said.

He said that by operating as they are, open three nights a week with the six of them working rotating shifts, they’re able to keep it open. If anything, down the road they may extend Saturday hours and open closer to noon, rather than at 4 p.m. but they plan to stick with a 9 p.m. closing.

Their biggest limitation right now is being able to make beer fast enough and having the space to store it.

“The reason we’re doing the anniversary party now rather than in December is because we were out of beer,” Bob said.

It’s maybe not the worst problem to have. Moving forward, there are not many plans to change.

Bob said he wished they had some more space and that they’ve talked about changing the seating to allow for more room, but at least in the warm months they can utilize outdoor space in the back and Al said they hope to spruce that up a little more this coming summer.

In the future they hope to get involved in some more community events, too. They participated in Project 1590’s From the Ground Up Event last year and would like to do the Beer and Bacon Fest at the Martin County Fair, too, along with some other events.

Right now they’re looking forward to celebrating how far they’ve come at the one year anniversary party, which begins at 4 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 24. They will have some beer specials and a wheel of fortune that they’ll use to give away some merchandise and other stuff.

“I thought my favorite part of the brewery would be making the beer, but to be honest I think it’s more fun dealing with the public. It’s been a lot of fun,” Bob said.