Cruisin' for a Boozin' Black Hills Wine & Brew Masters

Cruisin’ for a boozin’ Black Hills Wine & Beer Masters

By Kayla Gahagan

Just before it was to be filtered and bottled, Adam Martinez handed fellow Firehouse Winery staff members samples of a new roseʹ last week.

“We’ve been tasting it since the grapes first arrived, since mid-September,” said Michelle Pawelski, general manager at the Firehouse. “It’s fun when we get to walk through this process.”

The fifth anniversary celebration of the Firehouse Winery this month is just one stepping stone in a colorful wine and beer trail throughout the Black Hills. The art of perfecting the perfect brew or finest glass of wine starts in places like Belle Joli Vineyards in Belle Fourche and Naked Winery and Sick N Twisted Brewery Co. in Hill City.

“Both wine and beer industries have grown during the last decade and it’s nothing but good for the region,” said Kara Sweet, wine club manager at the Firehouse Winery.

“The Black Hills have become known as having a big metropolis culture and the feel of a small city,” she said. “We have great wine, beer and restaurants and people have come to expect that. All the industries can work together. You can go see Mt. Rushmore during the day, hit a brewery at night and have a glass of wine at dinner.”

Jesse Scheitler, co-owner of Lost Cabin Beer Company in Rapid City, joined the scene three years ago, opening in the same building as Black Hills Bicycles and Peak Sports on Omaha Street.

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“We’re making beer as fast as people can drink it,” Scheitler said, and that means 18 taps rotating at a time.

Scheitler and business partner Tom Silbernagel kicked off the business after their longtime home-brewing hobby grew too large.

“It got to the point where we had 14 beers on tap in the garage and realized we needed to dial back or dive in,” he said, laughing. “So, we convinced our wives to let us jump off the financial cliff.”

It was worth the risk, he said. Their families help out, and their customers have become part of their tightknit community.

“We’re just trying to have fun and make beer,” he said. With their location next to outdoor businesses, Lost Cabin caters to the outdoor crowd, he said. Their Father-in-Lager and Lord Grizzly Scotch Ale are favorites among customers. They started canning a couple of years ago, and just last month started offering 16 oz. cans along with their 32 oz. growlers.

“We’re going to keep experimenting and having fun,” Scheitler said.

He expects the same from his competitors – who are actually more like comrades.

“No matter where you are in the Black Hills, you can find a brewery,” he said. “Everyone has a different flavor and a different brand. We collaborate, we work together and share beers and ideas.”

Casey Nordine, tap room hospitality manager at Miner Brewing Company, agreed. The company is an arm of Prairie Berry Winery near Hill City and opened almost five years ago.

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“Each brewery in the Hills is unique and it’s not one stepping on another,” he said. “We’re all doing something our own way and that’s what makes it fun.”

Miner Brewing is set apart, by their female brewmaster Sandy Vojta, who started Prairie Berry two decades ago. In her native Czechoslovakia, female brewmasters are common.

Here, “it’s very counter-cultural,” Nordine said, and Vojta goes out of her way to support other females interested in brewing beer or making wine. The company recently hosted a tasting panel for the Pink Boots organization, which supports females in the brewing industry.

They, too, have seen growth.

“When we started, we were in one small room with five or six on tap,”

Nordine said. “Now we have 17 beers on tap and we have an expanded space and concerts on the lawn. Every year is different than the last and that’s a good thing.”

Back in Rapid City at the Firehouse, Pawelski and Sweet think back to the time that the Firehouse Brewing Company helped pioneer the first laws governing the industry as it was the first of its kind in South Dakota. Adding wine was the perfect fit, they say.

Co-owner and Old Folsom Vineyard Grape grower Mike Gould had a deep love of wine and the vineyard to supply the grapes. “It was a wonderful counterpart to the brewery,” Pawelski said.

The winery focuses on the traditional grape wines, and less of the sweet, fruit-based wines. Bestsellers include a riesling-based Mythical Beast, a cabernet sauvignon and a white, sauvignon blanc.

Wine club members enjoy an annual kick-off to the harvest season with a party at the Old Folsom vineyard.

Pawelski said it’s an honor to be part of such a great landscape of wineries and breweries in the hills. “We’re excited about being part of the beer and wine culture here,” she said. “It’s grown immensely since 1991 and to be on the forefront of that is exciting.”

#DRINK LOCAL

Local Breweries

Rapid City Dakota Point Brewing Firehouse Brewing Company Hay Camp Brewing Company Lost Cabin Beer Company Zymurcracy Beer Company

Hill City Miner Brewing Company Sick-N-Twisted Brewery

Spearfish Crow Peak Brewing Company Sawyer Brewing Company Spearfish Brewing Company

Lead Dakota Shivers Brewing

Sturgis The Knuckle Brewing Company

Custer Mt. Rushmore Brewing Company

Hot Springs Highway 79 Brewing Company

Local Wineries

Hill City Naked Winery Stone Faces Winery Prairie Berry Winery Firehouse Smokejumper Station

Rapid City Firehouse Wine Cellars

Sturgis Belle Joli Winery

Deadwood Schade Winery