WALKER, MI — Six weeks after opening Lost Art Brewhouse, childhood friends Brad Lawrence and Mike Smith have learned a valuable lesson about launching a new business during the coronavirus pandemic: flexibility is a must.
“No two weeks have looked the same,” said Lawrence, 37, who worked in the insurance industry as an auto claims adjustor before starting the Walker-based brewery. “The hurdles that we anticipated seeing are not the ones we’ve seen. It’s entirely different ones.”
Like figuring out a way for customers to drink on-site.
Because of the pandemic, Lawrence and Smith, whose brewery focuses on small batches using high-quality, local ingredients, have delayed opening their 49-person tap room.
They’re now hoping to accommodate on-site drinking by building an outdoor patio within three weeks. So, when Lawrence and Smith — Lost Art’s only employees — aren’t busy brewing, packaging and selling beer, they’re applying for permits, shopping for picnic tables and searching for plastic cups.
“The flexibility of having to jump from, ‘I’m brewing a beer on Monday to I’m running around town shopping for picnic tables on a Tuesday to I’m canning beers on a Wednesday --- no two days look the same and you just have to be OK with that,” Lawrence said.
Lost Art Brewhouse, 3393 Remembrance Road NW, is the culmination of a lifelong friendship and a shared love craft beer.
Smith and Lawrence have been close since they were kindergarten classmates at St. Adalbert’s Catholic Elementary on Grand Rapids’ West Side.
They went their separate ways after graduating from West Catholic High School, but always stayed in touch. Over the years, they developed a passion for craft beer, and would bring each other cans of their favorite IPAs, stouts and lagers during the holidays and other special occasions. Discussions about the flavors, aroma and characteristics of each beer would go on at length.
The two have long talked about starting their own brewery.
Two-and-half years ago, they decided to make it a reality.
Even though the Grand Rapids area had become a haven for craft breweries, with more and more popping up each year, the two figured they had the experience --- Lawrence has been homebrewing for more than a decade --- and creativity to stand out.
How are they doing that?
Bringing beer to the forefront, Lawrence says.
That means beer, not food, takes center stage at Lost Art Brewhouse. In fact, the brewery doesn’t sell any food and does not have a kitchen.
“We didn’t want to do the kind of standard West Michigan brewery of ‘have a pizza place, have a burger joint that happens to make beer in the back,’” Lawrence said. “We were very passionate about just making great beer.”
The beer is brewed in small batches, often using local ingredients. The MI IPA, for example, is made from hops grown in Coopersville by Pure Mitten Hops. Lawrence and Smith say they pride themselves on making high-quality, flavorful beers with traditional ingredients.
“Just because you don’t put graham crackers and fresh boysenberries into your stout doesn’t mean it can’t be a world class stout,” Lawrence said. “There are other ways to coax flavor and create experiences though the process.”
Freshness is another selling point.
“If you’re coming to buy a beer from us on a Thursday, it was probably put into a can on Tuesday or Wednesday, which is as fresh as you’re going to get beer,” Lawrence said, adding that “freshness does matter” even when it comes to canned beer.
“Would you rather buy a frozen hamburger from the store or would you rather go to the butcher and get one ground up for you right then?” he asks.
“Freshness does matter, and in a world where you’re competing against other people with great products, you have to find ways to make yours even better, and I think freshness is a way of certainly doing that.”
Even though Lost Art Brewhouse opened during a period of historic economic upheaval, Lawrence says sales have been strong. Lawrence and Smith originally hoped to launch the business in March, but the pandemic delayed the opening until July.
“We’ve had week over week growth,” Lawrence said. “We’ve had lots of days where we sell out of beers we just released from how excited people are about it. It’s been overwhelmingly positive.”
Still, that doesn’t mean business is easy.
Lawrence says he and Smith are working “60, 70, 80 hours a week,” and that because of economic uncertainty, bringing on another employee is, for now, not in the cards.
“Right now, I’m not getting paid,” he said. “I don’t have to get paid. I have to keep my business alive. I didn’t work for 2 1/2 years to have it go out of business in the first 2 1/2 months. We do whatever it takes right now.”
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