Listen to the full interview on the Rapid City Business Journal Podcast
RAPID CITY, SD — After building a loyal following in northern Illinois, Hairy Cow Brewing is preparing to open its second location in Box Elder, bringing with it a blend of craft beer, food, coffee and community-centered hospitality.
Founded in Byron, Illinois, Hairy Cow Brewing is the result of what retired-police-officer-turned-owner Todd McLester describes as a moment of inspiration. “I was bored one afternoon and just thought, ‘Man, I should build a brewery,’” McLester said with a laugh.
That idea led McLester to reach out to Jon Lambert, a friend and experienced home brewer. “You texted me January second, 2016, and said, ‘Hey, I’m thinking about building a brewery. Would you want to brew for a living?’” Lambert recalled. “If you can build it, yeah, I’d like to do that.”
And with that, the humble roots of Hairy Cow Brewing soon took shape.
From Home Brewing to a Full-Scale Operation
Lambert began brewing professionally with Hairy Cow in 2016, transitioning from five-gallon batches in his garage to an eight-and-a-half-barrel system at the Byron, Illinois brewery. While the change was intimidating, Lambert said consistency and process were key.
“You’re going from sharing free beer with friends to trying to make beer consistent for hundreds, if not thousands, of people,” Lambert said. While he joked that free beer always tastes a little better, he emphasized the importance of hard work and consistency. For him, quality beer at a larger scale is simple: “As long as you have a good process, you can pretty much repeat that on any system.”
McLester said the brewery was designed around experiences he and Lambert personally valued. “We knew we were going to do beer and we had to have something to eat, so let’s do pizza,” he said. “Then we thought, not everyone likes beer, so let’s have wine and cocktails. And then we said, ‘We like coffee.’”
At present, the Byron, Illinois location now includes a brick-oven pizza kitchen, full bar, and even coffee sourced from Pure Bean Coffee in Rapid City.
Growth and Customer Loyalty
Hairy Cow Brewing opened its Byron location in December 2018. In its first year, the brewery welcomed approximately 50,000 customers, a number McLester initially found surprising. “I thought it was a lot,” he said.
However, within a few years, annual visits exceeded 100,000. “On Friday and Saturday nights, we have people lined up down the hall waiting,” McLester said. “They’ll wait an hour or more for a table.”
Jon Lambert credits the brewery’s success to a well-balanced partnership between he and McLester. “Todd [McLester] takes care of the taproom. My area is back in the brewery,” he said. “As long as I keep the beer solid, Todd knows he doesn’t have to worry about that side of things.”
The Byron location employs between 55 and 60 staff members, depending on the season.
Why Box Elder?
McLester said his decision to expand west was driven by years of visits to South Dakota and a growing appreciation for the region’s momentum. In comparison to other parts of the country, “South Dakota is such a stark contrast,” he said. “You see houses going up everywhere, businesses opening everywhere.”
Lambert, who has permanently relocated to the area to brew for Hairy Cow, said the transition has been a positive one. “People here are so nice,” he said. “I’ve never been in a place where people are so genuinely kind.”
After conversations with city leaders and tours of Box Elder, McLester said it was the community in particular that stood out to him and part of why he chose Hairy Cow’s newest location. “I love the fact that Box Elder has so many community activities,” he said. “We want to be a part of that.”
Preparing for Opening Day
You can find the newest Hairy Cow Brewing location at 415 N. Ellsworth Road in Box Elder, opening today – February 6th, with doors opening around noon. The new brewery is roughly twice the size of the Byron location and features an expanded brewing system designed to address early operational challenges. Overall, McLester and Lambert seem to be taking the lessons learned from opening their first brewery in stride and turning them into an even greater success as they prepare to open their Box Elder brewery. The result? More production, fewer headaches.
“One bottleneck we had was fermenters,” Lambert said. “Cold storage was another. We corrected a lot of things we did wrong in Byron.”
Hairy Cow will open with six beers on tap, including five core favorites from Illinois and a new hazy IPA named in honor of Ellsworth Air Force Base. “Hazy Raider is named after the B-21 Raider,” Lambert said. “That one’s special to Ellsworth.”
Other offerings will soon include Turtle Tree Cream Ale, Prairie Grass Kölsch, American Hair IPA, Kylo Chocolate Porter and Dawson Amber Ale.
Staying Connected
Hairy Cow Brewing will maintain separate web pages for its Byron and Box Elder locations along with active Facebook and Instagram accounts. “That’s really all the advertising we do,” McLester said. “And word of mouth, which is the best advertising.”
As opening day approaches, McLester said the focus remains on hospitality. “It’s all about customer experience,” he said. “We try to provide an excellent product, excellent service and an excellent experience.”
