Even though Half Fast Brewing hasn’t officially opened its doors, it’s already made an impact on the Spring Valley community.

Located at S105 McKay Ave. with a projected official opening date of early December, Kevon Staatz and Nathan Pelz are working hard to prepare the taproom for potential customers. They post their progress on their Facebook page, which has customers waiting in anticipation for the doors to open.

During Spring Valley Dam Days in September, Half Fast Brewing held a tasting event with great success.

“We didn’t even make it an hour and it (their inventory) was gone,” Pelz said. “We went through almost five gallons (of their dill pickle beer) in an hour.”

Staatz, who lives in Sand Creek, said the community reaction has been overwhelming.

“Just from the response that we’ve had, we’ve gotten two more fermenters just because we had the feeling we wouldn’t be able to keep up,” he said “We upgraded a few things because the demand has been so insane.”
“And the village has been incredible to work with,” Pelz added.

Funds raised during their Dam Days appearance were donated to various community organizations, such as the Spring Valley Community Cancer Fund and Spring Valley Public Library.

Pelz, who is originally from Paynesville, Minn., is engaged to a Spring Valley woman. While Staatz is the brewer, he is the manager. He served for 11 years in the Minnesota Army National Guard; from 2005-07, he was stationed in Iraq. While his comrades live hours away, when they get together, it’s like nothing has changed.

Not only does the brewery plan to donate to veterans’ organizations, but they plan to support area community groups as well.

“We try to keep it local,” Pelz said. “There are a lot of national organizations that do a lot of good, but there are a lot of local organizations that drill down into serving local needs.”

Staatz said they plan to eventually brew a beer whose profits will all go toward a veteran organization.

“EMS, fire department, library, we want to donate to the surrounding communities because that is where it should go,” Staatz said. “I am on the fire department in Sand Creek, so that is super important. Coming from the tiny town that I do, it’s very hard to get people. The gear I wear is 20 years old. Even a small donation of $5,000 goes a long way for a small town. Donating anything means a lot to people.”

Staatz started brewing as a hobby in 2018. When he first started, he’d only been brewing for about six months when he decided to enter a brewing competition in Cornell. He was surprised when he won second place against people who had been brewing for years. The win inspired the name, “Half Fast.” Make sure you say it quickly and you’ll get the idea.

Staatz enjoys brewing unique flavors, such as dandelion and dill pickle.

“Pickle, dandelion, red, just to try it for the heck of it. If you like our weird stuff, we can’t mess up our normal stuff,” he joked.

He had a pretty good following, he said, and he eventually met Pelz through Pelz’s fiancée. They started going to breweries together and threw out the idea one day of starting their own.

“It was pretty much a quick decision and we started looking for a building,” Pelz said. “I really liked his beer. We went to a lot of breweries and really liked their food, but not their beer. ‘Dude, I said, you could have a really good brewery.’”

The pair will also sell gluten-free beer from Old Abe’s Brewing in Jim Falls, owned by the former announcer for the Milwaukee Brewers.

“Everything will be brewed here,” Staatz said. “I will brew test batches at home until we can sell it here. We’re hoping to keep up with the response from everybody.”

They also plan to source ingredients, such as meats and cheeses for their beer Bloody Marys, from local vendors, as well as work with local restaurants to provide food to their customers.

“We are here to enhance the village, not be competition,” Pelz said.

As they look forward to opening, they’re finishing up renovating the inside of the building.

“Everything we’ve been doing, we try to keep the old,” Staatz said. “We’ve used a lot of pallet boards, upcycling. We like to reuse stuff, take the old and repurpose it. It makes a good story.”

Staatz made their tap handles out of wood someone was going to burn; he also crafted all their flight boards. Make sure to look for the American flag mural when you visit as well.

The pair is hoping to make the taphouse a fun atmosphere for hanging out, complete with an Atari game system, pinball machine, bags boards, board games and a TV. The building will seat two dozen people with plans for a patio in the future.

“We know we’re going to outgrow it quick,” Staatz said. “We would rather start small like this and get our butts kicked. We’d rather make more money out of a little place and be able to donate. Even if we outgrow this space, we’ll keep it a taphouse.”

Pelz said while they’re working, people stop in to visit.

“The town has been so good,” he said. “We thought people would be happy to have something different, but it has been insane. We have been having people wanting to carry our beer. The big thing is getting this open and seeing what we can do. We could be way off, but I think in a year we’ll need to expand.”

While they just received their state licensing last week, they’re shooting for an early December opening. If all goes well, they may open the weekend after Thanksgiving.

Follow “Half Fast Brewing Company” on Facebook for updates.