Rural brewery marks anniversary

FAIRBURY – One customer describes Emancipation Brewing Company as a place where everyone knows your name once you walk in the door.

Perhaps this is why the local brewery has been so successful in its first year of operation.

“I guess what we didn’t expect was the amount of return customers and people really getting excited about craft beer,” co-owner Lincoln Slagel said during the one year anniversary celebration.

The entire first year also exceeded the expectations of fellow owner Don Slagel, Lincoln’s father. He hopes the strong support continues and is excited for future highlights, including an outdoor patio area with bags tournaments and other activities.

“Obviously, once the weather clears up, we can continue with that,” Don said.

Emancipation celebrated the one year anniversary last weekend with a bring-your-own vinyl night, free popcorn, brewery tours and food from Lost in Time. This allowed customers to chat with the owners and ask questions about the business.

“A lot of people are coming out to try some of the new beers and celebrate the one year anniversary,” Lincoln said on Saturday afternoon.

The Emancipation taproom is located inside a remodeled dairy barn which has been in the family for generations. According to the business website, they offer different draft beers made on site along with non-alcoholic sodas and hard cider. If you are looking for something to go with your drink, they do have local cheeses, meat sticks and snack mix available.

“We are trying to connect with agricultural history,” Lincoln said in a previous interview. “We’ve always been a family of farmers and we were growing some of our own hops and looking into growing barley and wheat.”

The taproom is open Thursdays from 4-9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday noon-10 p.m. and Sunday from noon-5 p.m. More information can be found at www.emancipationbrewingco.com or by looking for Emancipation Brewing Company on Facebook.