Family-owned and operated since the early 90’s, Lumberyard Brewing is one of the founding breweries in Flagstaff and all of Arizona. Its history begins with the opening of Beaver Street Brewery 1994, the first brewpub in Flagstaff. Lumberyard opened its much larger brewpub along the railroad in Downtown Flagstaff in 2010, which allowed for more production and statewide distribution of its beer. Founders Winnie and Evan Hanseth started both breweries and have handed down the reigns to their daughters Kelly and Korie, making it a second-generation operation.
We chatted with Kelly Hanseth about keeping it consistent all these years later.
What is the beer or brewing philosophy at Lumberyard and how has it developed over time?
Our brewing philosophy has always been to brew good quality beer to style. We like to follow the guidelines for each style so that we can brew them in the traditional sense. We have taken this approach over the years as different beer styles have changed. Our main core that was first canned and distributed at Lumberyard was our Railhead Red, which is a traditional ESB style beer. This beer has always remained popular, but was overtaken by our Flagstaff IPA which is a true American IPA (or a west coast IPA as they are more commonly referred to). Our Flagstaff IPA has always been a true style of the IPA.
Lumberyard has won several medals at World Beer Cup and GABF over the years. Why is it important for the brewery to win these?
We love to win medals. As with our brewing philosophy, we try to brew to style good quality beer, when we win medals at GABF or World Beer Cup, it validates the fact that we do a great job in developing those recipes and executing them at a high level. They are a great morale boost for the brew team and our staff as it is great to know that you are one of the few breweries that have reached that level. Our brew team (between Lumberyard and Beaver Street Brewery) are one of the most awarded breweries in Arizona.
What have you learned from awards competition and does the feedback help you implement new processes in brewing?
Competitions are hard as the breweries around us are getting better and there are a lot of great breweries to compete against. It is great to see when your friends win as well. The feedback goes back to the brew team and it can help them analyze if there are any improvements they need to make to the recipe.
Flagstaff is firmly in the fall season and winter is coming. Does that impact your own events at Lumberyard and what are some of the events coming up at your locations?
Fall is such a busy season up in Flagstaff. We recently have just hosted our largest annual event – Okto’Beer’Fest in September where we raised $17,000 for High Country Humane. As we reach the end of October events start to slow down and winter arrives. We are hosting a “Freaky Fall Flavors” Beer Dinner on October 27th! We host at Brews & Cues and our chef from Beaver Street Brewery is preparing the food, which we pair with our Lumberyard Brewing beer! It is going to be a great collaborative event where we get to showcase what we do best.
