How a Small-Town Brewery Became a Regional Destination

LANESBORO — “Sylvan” a word defined as “Pleasantly Rural or Pastoral” is a fitting name for a brewery in the scenic town of Lanesboro, Minn., population 724.  

Most days, Sylvan Brewing is pleasantly rural, a public house for the locals and tourists alike. That is, until over 1000 gravel racing bikers converge on the town and swamp the tap room and patio — or when hundreds of people celebrating Oktoberfest take over “pastoral’ Sylvan Brewing.

Maybe it’s the beer.

Andy and Karen Heimdahl, the owners of Sylvan Brewing have employed the “three-legged stool” concept in their day-to-day operations: quality beer, customer service and cleanliness — believing the business cannot succeed if one of the legs is broken. 

Andy and Karen Heimdahl, owners of Sylvan Brewing in Lanesboro, Minn., stand behind the brewery bar holding glasses of craft beer. (Photo by Steve Harris)

The brewery has become a destination in Southeast Minnesota and a testament to their hard work and imagination. The Heimdahl’s stated goal five years ago was, and still is, “Make something valuable for the community.”

Andy transitioned from a career as a computer programmer to home brewer and to brewery owner in a short period of time. He supplemented his brewing knowledge with a short course at Dakota Tech in Rosemount, Minn., prior to moving forward with their plans to start a brewery in Lanesboro.  

He is well known for his commitment to a quality beer. Some say he can be his own worst enemy when brewing, as he often asks himself, “Is this really what I intended to create?” Is it a ‘good batch of beer?” He is always searching for a way to improve.

Guests sit at long tables inside Sylvan Brewing during a live music night. (Photo provided by Sylvan Brewing)

Karen, a former nurse at Mayo, leaves the brewing to Andy — but she’s not shy about sharing her opinion on the product coming out of the fermenters, into the kegs and out of the taps.

Her focus has been to put the Sylvan team together over the last five years. She not only hires and trains people to serve the beer but also developed the business by bringing in live music, food trucks and artist appearances. Sylvan has also created meeting space that draws the community in.  

Residing in nearby Pilot Mound, it didn’t take long for the Heimdahls to scope out Lanesboro and get a feel for the community. They found Lanesboro to be friendly and a great location to host their brewery.  

Comfy, crafty and crazy

The Heimdahl’s did their homework, finding support and advice from Karst Brewing, nine miles away in Fountain. The Sylvan project was overwhelming at times as they converted the former Lanesboro Grain Company building, including grain towers, into a brewhouse with a walk-in cooler and tap room. For much of the construction they called on local carpenters, artists and professionals. 

Andy calls the brewing part of the business a 3.5 BBL system, meaning each batch contains 3.5 US beer barrels. Once the formula for the beer is created, one or more of the six fermenters can be put to work.

Each of Sylvan’s fermenters can create 108.5 gallons of beer or a little over 6 kegs of finished beer. The main ingredients for the beer consist of water, barley, yeast and hops. The hops primarily originate from Germany and the Pacific Northwest. The ingredients are fine-tuned to brew a beer for most everyone’s taste. 

From start to finish, the beer is ready to drink in 2 ½ weeks.

Stainless steel fermentation tanks line the production room at Sylvan Brewing. (Photo provided by Sylvan Brewing)

The best guess from the owners is that their customer base is one-half tourists and one-half locals. Winter, not surprisingly, can take a toll on their business when tourism wanes.

In its busiest times can Sylvan run out of beer? Well, not of all styles and flavors, but during events such as Octoberfest, the Filthy Fifty bike race, Flannel Fest, and Squatch Fest, keeping up with demand can be a challenge. 

Among their many successes in the brewhouse are three of Sylvan’s beers: Oxbow, Willow and Amaretto Sour, being rated in the top three in their respective styles in Minnesota last year by UnTappd, a beer drinkers rating app. Their signature beer and most popular is “Lanesbrew.” 

Andy Heimdahl stands inside a walk-in cooler surrounded by stacked beer kegs and coiled hoses used for storing and serving freshly brewed beer. (Photo by Tom Brudvig)

The beer is obviously the biggest draw, but Sylvan also offers pizza, pretzels, nuts, soda and non-alcoholic products in an environment Andy and Karen Heimdahl describe as “Comfy, Crafty and a little bit Crazy”.

Comfy describes the warm and cozy tap room with games, cards and books, while the crazy part is the unique beers that Andy brews. The large expansion on the south side of the tap room in 2023 has helped Sylvan weather the slower winter months since the brewery now has space for parties, meetings and special events. 

Ollie Lepper, Sylvan’s events coordinator, calls the brewery a “third space.” It’s not your home or your workplace, but a third location to gather and connect within the community.  

Many patrons believe that the Heimdahls have created something valuable for the community, which they set out to do as their plans to create Sylvan Brewing came to life.

What have they learned since opening Sylvan? Burnout is possible; every day cannot be a party; good employees are a necessity.

And, they say, success would not be possible without being welcomed and supported in the larger community. 

For more, visit the Sylvan Brewing website here or the Sylvan Brewing Facebook page.