Lake Louie Brewing started out as a mid-life crisis for owner Tom Porter. He had spent 20+ years in the Engineering field and was looking to make a change in careers and a change in outlook. Having been homebrewing for a couple of years, Tom wrote a ‘cartoon’ of a business plan that stated a 3 barrel brewery could make a profit (in the first year, no less!). Lake Louie Brewing is located on 18.5 acres of land purchased from Tom’s uncle Louie Carpenter (hence the name ‘Lake Louie’) near the small town of Arena, Wisconsin Armed with said business plan and a cashed in 401k, Tom proceeded to convert a metal storage shed on the property into a nascent brewery.

If you haven’t tried Lake Louie recently maybe it’s time you revisit the beer that used to be a 401K. Out in stores now is Louie’s Reserve Scotch Ale and coming soon is Maple Surple which is Lake Louie’s tasty version of a Maple Brown Ale.