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Tellurian Brewing working to expand while celebrating five years in business

Tellurian Brewing working to expand while celebrating five years in business
Lanie and Cort Sanvig are celebrating five years of producing craft beer at Tellurian Brewing. Press photos by Travis Fischer
By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

Big changes are in the works at Tellurian Brewing as the downtown Charles City brewery celebrates its fifth year in operation.

“We’ve done a lot in five years,” said Cort Sanvig.

When Cort received a craft brewing kit as a random Christmas gift from his wife, Lanie, they had no way of knowing that it would change the course of their lives. Since then, the Sanvigs have turned an unexpected hobby into a flourishing business, growing into a one-barrel brewing system, then three, then a seven-barrel system to brew more than a dozen specialty flavors of beer.

Now, in the midst of their fifth anniversary, the Sanvigs are working on their biggest expansion yet, going up to a 15-barrel system that will be housed in a new building off-site from their current location.

“When we looked into it, it was cheaper to build up there than it was to expand here,” said Cort about the new site on North Gilbert Street.

Construction started over the summer on a new building to house the larger brewing system, which will be purely dedicated to the production and distribution of their beverages. Dramatically increasing their production capacity will allow Tellurian to expand beverage options, giving them more freedom to experiment with new flavors of beer and other adult drinks, the owners said.

But while the new brewing facility will also allow for a wider distribution of their product to area stores and bars, Tellurian’s regular customers will still have a seat at their location at the corner of Court and Main.

“First and foremost, the tap room is always going to stay here,” said Lanie.

The reasoning for constructing a new off-site location for the brewing operation was two-fold. Not only will the new facility allow for a larger capacity brewing system, but the Sanvigs have plans to utilize the freed-up space at the tap room for a kitchen.

The Sanvigs haven’t yet decided exactly what will be on the menu once the kitchen is complete, but they are looking at everything from simple bar staples to vegetarian options using locally sourced produce.

“We go back and forth every week,” said Cort.

Adding a kitchen will mean some changes to Tellurian’s current practices.

Outside food would no longer be permitted and visits from food trucks would be reduced, but not eliminated entirely.

“We have some really good local food trucks we want to keep supporting,” said Lanie.

While these changes are in the works, they won’t be implemented anytime soon. The new brewing facility isn’t expected to be operating until late spring and the kitchen installation will follow later in the year.

In the meantime, the Sanvigs are celebrating their five-year anniversary this week with a daily reveal of new beers and live music.

“We didn’t go too crazy,” said Lanie. “We just made a bunch of beer.”

With five years under their belt, the Sanvigs said they are looking forward to what comes next for their brewing business.

“It’s been pretty cool to watch the whole thing transpire,” said Cort. “We’re excited for the next five years.”

“We like our hometown and want to invest in it,” said Lanie. “We plan to stick around.”

Tellurian Brewing working to expand while celebrating five years in business
Tellurian Brewery is in the process of expanding into a dedicated brewing facility that will dramatically increase the business’s capacity.

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