How LTS Brewing Company Co-Owner, Brandon Schulz, Fulfilled His Vision To Use Beer to Bring People Together
Collider is passionate about sharing the stories of Rochester entrepreneurs and small business owners! We had the recent pleasure of sitting down with Brandon Schulz, who shared with us his journey from being a home brewer to becoming the co-owner of LTS Brewing Company.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
Though the brewery wouldn’t open for another eight years, when Brandon Schulz, now co-owner of LTS Brewing Company, started home brewing as a hobbyist, he found himself drawn to the community aspects of brewing and bringing people together to enjoy good beer.
“I really enjoy brewing beer, but the real draw for me has always been getting to share it with friends. I think that some people open breweries because they’re really passionate about brewing beer and it fulfills some need that they have. For me, it’s more about people and community. I love working with the team we have here at LTS and chatting with the people who come in to support us and drink our beer.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen
From a young age, Brandon, though without real dreams of starting his own business, felt that he was surrounded by an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether that came in the form of his father running a credit union, taking initiative to mow lawns during high school, or building trailers during summer months while growing up. Though LTS was his first formal business venture, he doesn’t view it as a big mental leap.
Brandon was raised in the small town of New Salem, North Dakota and did not become a Rochester resident until after college, upon receiving a job offer from IBM in 2001. While working there, he went on to pursue his master’s in computer science from the University of Minnesota. After attaining his degree, he moved on to work for Western Digital where Brandon met Jeff Werning, who would later become his business partner and co-owner of LTS.
“We both enjoyed beer and the idea of opening a brewery. I was home brewing at the time and had tried starting a brewery with some friends, but it didn’t get very far. When Jeff and I started talking about it, we decided to take the idea further and put together a business plan.”
Though they were still working full time at Western Digital, the two of them slowly started building a strategy for opening the brewery. Living and working in Rochester made it a natural choice for location. They also felt that smaller, outlying towns didn’t seem ready to support a brewery. Rochester seemed more likely to provide a larger community and customer base to work with, as its own small craft beer scene was just getting started. They moved forward and bought the property for LTS in 2013, though it wouldn’t open for business until 2015.
“We didn’t have any investors other than ourselves. We wanted to bootstrap the funding and put in a lot of the work without having to take on investors or a ton of personal debt. Jeff and I are both handyman type people and did everything we could legally do ourselves. On top of that we continued working full time through the build out process. So it was a lot slower than if we had paid someone to do it all for us, but we really put the work in and made it our own.”
Like any business opening, theirs was not without its hiccups between navigating Minnesota’s somewhat stuck-in-prohibition-era liquor laws and grappling with restrictive city ordinances, zoning, and permitting issues. Eventually, plans were approved, equipment was installed, the finishing touches were placed on the space, and LTS Brewing Company started slinging beers to the Rochester public in the summer of 2015.
LTS brews a wide variety of beers and they currently have twelve different styles on tap with something for everyone from a light, crisp German Kolsch, zippy IPAs, a decadent Stout, and a fruity, floral sour along with some hard seltzers and “beer cocktails” like their “Karmargarita.”
Photo by Corrie Strommen
When asked about his favorite styles to drink and brew, Brandon stated, “Everyone’s palates change, mine included. When we first started, I was a really big fan of Belgian style beers, and as a result we’ve had a lot of them on tap over the years. For a long time they sold really well, but the market is starting to change and we have to adjust with it.”
That said, Brandon’s favorite beer that he’s brewed for LTS was a barrel aged Flanders Red Ale, which has pronounced sourness with hints of currant and cherry, and a light “funkiness” brought about by a variety of yeast used in the brewing process.
Brandon and Jeff made a lucky purchase for the brewery in November of 2019, a crowler machine, which is used to put beer into 750 milliliter (a little over twenty-five ounce) cans. Little did they know that there was a pandemic brewing and how much they would lean on that piece of machinery in the year to come. While the pandemic was hard on Brandon and his staff, he’s proud to say that, “We stayed open and we managed to keep all of our full time staff employed the whole time. Even when the taproom was shut down we were able to get by selling off-sale. The Rochester community was great and our customers were very supportive. We did everything we could to keep both our customers and our employees safe.”
With summer quickly approaching, Brandon is looking forward to a busy season full of events, activities, and great beer at LTS.
Though he’s kept busy with brewing and ownership responsibilities as well as continued work as a tech consultant, Brandon loves spending time outdoors with his wife and two children. They camp often through the summer and spend their time hiking, having bonfires, and grilling. Connecting with the community is also important to him and he enjoys distributing beer and visiting local restaurants. Some of his favorite spots include The Workshop, Wildwood Bar & Grill, Five West, Taphouse, and Thai Pop.
Photo by Corrie Strommen
To those considering opening a business, Brandon advises, “Write down what your values are and what you’re trying to achieve as a business. Your values drive your decisions and can help you set meaningful goals. Ground yourself and avoid distractions as much as you can, because it’s going to be hard work.”
He concluded, “There will be challenges. But if you have a good team and stick to your guiding principles, you can push through almost anything. LTS stands for “Life’s Too Short” and it is. So if you have a vision or a dream, set yourself up and go make it happen.”
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Brandon’s story! If you find value in this content, please consider donating to help Collider continue amplifying the voices of Rochester entrepreneurs. You can also learn more about LTS Brewing Company by clicking the link below!
Article by Corrie Strommen, Director of Community at Collider.
