Smokin’ Brews from Seven Points

When Jim Elliott retired to the greater Cedar Creek Lake area, he became all too aware of the lack of craft breweries in his new surroundings. While homebrewing was a temporary fix, Jim’s family and friends continued to encourage him to pursue what his business-oriented mind had already determined was a great opportunity – opening his own brewery.

After the hour long drive from Dallas to Cedar Creek Brewery, I was excited to check out the scene. As I grabbed my tasting glass and tickets, I spotted Jim already in conversation with several of the guests, and brewer Damon Lewis still hard at work, running from freezer to mash tun. It was just a normal day at a hardworking new brewery, and the fact that Jim and Damon were letting us eavesdrop and observe their routines made the experience even more personal.

Jim’s love for brewing began like many other area brewers – he was introduced to the process by friends who were determined to make great beer despite the use of some unconventional hardware, such as substituting a turkey fryer pot for a boil kettle. Out-of-the-box thinking has helped Jim in setting up his own brewery with some unusual, retrofitted equipment. Jim found his boiler when a 15-story apartment building in Wisconsin put it online during a renovation sale, and his tanks came from a Wisconsin dairy farm.

“The same tanks that once pasteurized milk now ferment beer,” Jim explained. “So they’re much happier.”

But even before sourcing equipment and giving former milk tanks a better existence, Jim’s biggest undertaking was finding a like-minded brewer to complement his background in business and marketing. When he met Damon at a North Texas Homebrewers Association meeting back in 2010, the two immediately clicked and got to work dreaming up recipes to differentiate their brews from those already available in the Texas brewing landscape.

Despite a rocky beginning and a few location changes, Cedar Creek Brewery officially opened for business in August. The brewery offers three year-round brews with unique profiles – Scruffy’s Smoked Alt, Lawn Ranger Cream Ale, and Elliott’s Phoned Home American Pale Ale – all of which can be sampled during one of their Saturday tours from noon to 3.

“Our philosophy was to do something different,” Jim explained. “There are some cream ales but the style is underappreciated. Many breweries have an IPA, and we have the Pale Ale, which is lighter in hops. I don’t know of too many smoked beers in this market. Our Scruffy’s is a good one for Texas barbeque.”

The brewery does have a few more signature styles in the works, which more than likely won’t be released until the beginning of next year. As with everything he does, Jim looks to the community for feedback and support in creating new concoctions. Our tour that day was the first group to take part in an interactive contest to vote for our favorite version of a Dubbel brewed with two different strains of Belgian yeast. Voting on something as important as the brewery’s next release helped me feel connected to a brewery I’ve never been to. Sensing my continued need to feel involved, Damon even offered to let me shovel out the grain mash, a job he intended to tackle at the tour’s end. I decided to cut off my contributions at the drinking level. 

What makes Cedar Creek even more admirable is its commitment to support local businesses and to implement environmentally friendly brewing practices. From website design to the brewery’s tree-backed logo and glassware coasters, Jim hired local talent to help create the brewery’s public image. And as much as possible, Jim tries to source local ingredients for his brews – he’s even reached out to a nearby winery in hopes of one day growing his own hops on part of their land. The brewery also hopes to begin canning, not bottling, brews in the early months of 2013.

“Being around a lake, you can’t take glass anywhere – you can’t take it to a park, you can’t take it out on your boat,” Jim said. “Cans are environmentally friendly. You can recycle cans very easily, and they’re lightweight, which reduces the fuel costs for shipping.”

In addition to doubling their brewing capacity and enclosing their outdoor patio space to hold the canning line, Jim has big plans for the brewery’s six-acre lot and hopes to host community functions on-site in the near future. After my visit, it’s clear why this brewery is already a source of community pride. Before I even heard the back story to the brewery’s beginnings, the relaxed atmosphere made the brewery feel like an extension of home, with enough warmth to make everyone feel welcome and enough great craft beer to keep the good times rolling.