Jeremy Welch

Today I visited a true brick and mortar start-up during my lunch break — an odd experience when I’m used to seeing only code and design ideas scratched into a journal. Sumit Vohra, who I met at one of Ryan Allis’s parties several months ago, offered last week to show me the progress he and his partners have made on LoneRider Brewing Company. I happily accepted his offer, and met him today to check it out.

I had no idea that starting a brewery required so much time and capital. Being around web entrepreneurs so often has shown me only one path, where the up front costs to get running are low. Sumit has been working on the brewery for over 6 months, and he and his team are still around a month or so away from opening up.

This is a picture from outside the brewery. The building is very non-descript; just a standard warehouse type building a quarter mile off a main road. There are plans to transform the outside a bit more, but for now, the focus is on getting the equipment up and running, which you can see in the picture below.

Sumit and his team put together all of the equipment themselves, with the help of some other brewers and electricians to make sure everything was properly designed. The place is already very impressive, and there’s still a couple weeks worth of aesthetic work to finish before opening.

I’m already a huge fan of local breweries Red Oak and Big Boss. However, I’m not sure if either of these breweries can match the Lone Rider experience. Lone Rider should be open by the time I come back from California. If you hear that I’m back in town, you now know where to find me.