Pigeon River Brewing Co. ranks 11th nationally
By Erik Buchinger
Pigeon River Brewing Co. in Marion was named Wisconsin’s fastest-growing brewery by the Brewers Association, which represents small and independent craft brewers.
The list of top 50 U.S. craft breweries of 2018 was released last month, and Pigeon River Brewing Co. placed 11th nationally.
“It feels great, especially being a small-town packaging brewery and brew pub,” owner Nate Knaack said. “It was kind of shocking to hear the news, but it feels great.”
Representing 27 states across the country, the small and independent breweries experienced a median growth of 163 percent, with the median size being 1,350 barrels of in-house production in 2018.
Knaack said Pigeon River Brewing Co. produces approximately 1,300 barrels a year with a growth of roughly 160 percent from last year.
Knaack started home brewing as a hobby in high school and college. He made his first batch in February 2005.
In college, he joined the brew club. He then worked at Caroline Implement for 15 years before starting the brewery.
“My college path was unrelated, and my work career was unrelated,” Knaack said. “It came down to a complete passion for what we’re doing here.”
In 2012, Pigeon River Brewing Co. was up and running in Marion where Knaack was born and raised.
“Two years after we started being in business, we signed a lease to our current building with a full expansion,” Knaack said. “We got distribution, bottling, kegging and that brings us to today.”
Knaack said the timing of the company’s launch was a big factor in Pigeon River Brewing Co.’s success.
“When we got into it in 2012, there were roughly 86 to 90 breweries in the state,” Knaack said. “Right now there are about 200, so we hit the market at a different time than it is now. We got in at the right time for distribution and growth before things became way oversaturated. Fostering that growth as it was a newer thing in the state and people were interested in it, we were able to convert some of the regular beer drinkers to some of our product, created that community following and stuck with us.”
Knaack said another factor in the company’s growth is keeping everything simple.
“From the product we offer, whether it be food to our beer, one main staple of success is our products and services are not way over the top,” Knaack said. “Our beers are everyday drinking beers. There’s nothing weird about them, and you don’t have to be scared to try them. Same with our food, which we try to do as much as possible from scratch.”
Knaack said the company has grown to 19 employees with five full-time workers.
“Our staff is a very good crew, most of which have been here since we opened in 2012,” Knaack said. “They know the story of who we are and what we do. That’s a key driving factor of our success.”
Knaack said he has enjoyed the new career he made for himself.
“There’s a lot of interesting avenues with it,” Knaack said. “I grew up in sales, and there’s a big sales aspect to it, but it’s also about working with people from different backgrounds. You never know who you’re going to meet. Then it’s about offering the community a service of a small brewery. Bring people into the area and see what we have to offer here. We want to get people around to have a good time and be friends. That was our main driving force.”
Pigeon River Brewing offers traditional brew pub foods such as burgers, fish fries and pizzas. Knaack said the most popular beer made at Pigeon River Brewing Co. is the Big Drop Citrus Shandy.
“In the future, we’re going to keep running the business with the values we hold true to us,” Knaack said. “If that means growing more, we’re going to make a logical approach for growing. As long as it’s still fun for me and our staff, we’re going to see where it takes us as long as we have support from people in our community.”