DUNCAN, OK (RNN Texoma) - A unique beer-drinking experience will soon be making its way to Southwest Oklahoma as a brewery prepares to open its doors next spring.
Breweries are popping up left and right across the state but come April 2019, southwest Oklahoma will welcome its only one in the form of Kochendorfer Brewing.
"We wanted to bring an atmosphere that we’ve had a chance to experience across the country and Europe and bring that back to Oklahoma and to the community here,” said Co-owner Christopher Kochendorfer.
That atmosphere will sit in Duncan, just South of the Lawton - Duncan Y.
"Our production facility and our tap room will be here in Duncan and on that we have six acres of land that people can come out and enjoy the patio, walk the trails, just enjoy that outdoor getaway environment,” Kochendorfer said.
They also have plans to have brewery tours, learn to brew classes, a playground for kids to enjoy while parents are drinking and, one day, a dog park. But, for all of that to be necessary you need to have some great beer. Enter Co-owner and brew master Lenny Cripps, who has been brewing his own beer for 28 years.
“I started brewing in 1990 when we got back from our first tour in Germany. My wife was in the Army, I learned what good beer was all about there. We came back home, and it just wasn’t available where we were at, so I had to make my own,” Cripps said.
They’ve had plenty of time to tinker with recipes over 28 years and Cripps said he has several beers they’ve finally perfected. To start, they’ll serve six original beers.
"We’ll have a cream ale, a pre-prohibition American style beer, that’s going to be our lightest offering. We’ll have an Irish Red which is a little more on the malty side, not quite hoppy and bitter. We’ll have an IPA, which is your bigger beer with a lot of hops to really get your attention. A German wheat beer, a hefeweizen, that’s a great summer beer,” Cripps said.
They’ll also offer an Irish stout, a porter and several seasonal beers. The owners say they’re excited to bring southwest Oklahoma something that is completely different than anything else already here.
"Honestly, since we first put it out there that we were going to do this, we’ve had nothing but positive feedback. I think a lot of people said it’s about time we had this in our community,” Kochendorfer said.
"Everyone is excited about it. To be able to do that for the community and in building all this, we’re trying to use as much local help and materials and everything we can, we want to keep it as local as possible,” Cripps said.
The brewery will officially begin construction Friday. They’re having a ground-breaking ceremony at 3:30 p.m. The address is 1155 McCurdy Road in Duncan.
Story provided by KSWO-TV Channel 7 News
By: Will Hutchinson
Link to story: https://www.kswo.com/2018/10/11/swoks-only-brewery-set-open-duncan/?fbclid=IwAR1XrHXgsjxOX4m5hkCVTo0LBFVKaWOI2O9GtBddrFV5obGqbVsvRVwI2iM