New Brewery in Waite Park Readies for Opening

(KNSI) – A new brewery and event space is readying to open in Waite Park, and though an official opening date hasn’t been set, the co-owners say they have lots of ideas planned.

Siblings Scott Schlecht, Jason Schlecht and Jennifer Schlecht Petersen started their beer brewing journey as a hobby, collaborating with friend — and now head brewer for Back Shed Brewing — Chris Simonsen to make beer in the back shed at the Schlecht’s family-owned Crafts Direct in Waite Park. About two years ago, Jason said they started looking at the building next door, the craft store’s former outlet, and thinking about how to use the space.

“Scott and I did a lot of traveling for work for Crafts Direct and we traveled around the country, and at the end of a long day, we would tend to look for a brewery,” Jason said. “Looking at this space, we talked about a lot of different ideas and what we could turn this space into, and because of our love of craft beer and finding the best craft beer, we thought maybe we could bring it here to Waite Park.”

There probably won’t be a grand opening ceremony when Back Shed Brewing does officially open to the public, says Scott: “It will be a quiet open, like opening the doors.” In the meantime, the brothers say there’s more work to be done.

“The patio’s not done, the landscaping’s not done,” Jason said. “The sound system is not complete.”

But what is complete is a long bar topped with tin from the Schlecht family’s farm; the bar wraps around a shed adorned with tap handles. There’s a corner outfitted with Back Shed Brewing merchandise, and the room filled with tables and chairs to fit parties from pairs to dozens. There’s an event space in the back that can be closed off using two large doors.

Scott says they want to build up their beer supply to be able to offer 16 different types to drink, plus small batch seasonal flavors.

“Anywhere from your plain yellow beer like Blonde, James Blonde that we got now, the Cranky Man, which is a version of that, just fruited,” Scott said. “Other fruited flavors, IPAs. We got a porter, we’ll make stouts.”

In the future, Scott says Back Shed Brewing will host food trucks and live music, hold trivia nights on Wednesdays and even invite craft vendors to sell their goods in the space.