Aamer Madhani

USA TODAY

MUNSTER, Ind. – Nick Floyd's path to becoming one of America's most respected craft beer makers has been, to quote his brewery's motto, "not normal."

His original brewing operation was pieced together out of a random assortment of equipment that included an old Canfield's cola tank, gigantic wok burners and Swiss cheese fermenters he bought from a Wisconsin scrap yard.

"I had no idea what I was doing," says Floyd, recalling the early days of Three Floyds.

Floyd, 43, has come a long way from his inaugural year in 1996 when he produced 300 barrels of beer out of an old warehouse in nearby Hammond.

Three Floyds, which is known for its flagship American pale ale Alpha King, the colorfully named American pale ale Zombie Dust and a Russian imperial stout ominously called Dark Lord, is on pace to make more than 40,000 barrels in 2014. That's up from roughly 30,000 barrels last year.

Floyd, 43, laid the groundwork for an even bigger 2015 with the purchase this year of a $4 million bottling line that is set to be installed early next year. He also recently bought the building next to his current Munster brewery to build a distillery for gin, whiskey and other spirits.

Three Floyds is one of 10 finalists in USA TODAY's Entrepreneur of the Year contest. Profiles of other contenders will run next week, and a winner will be selected in December.

The brewery, about 30 miles outside Chicago, has grown 30% to 40% annually for the last five years, and Floyd is looking to surpass 50,000 barrels in 2015. (Floyd founded the company with his father and brother, hence the name Three Floyds.)

The scruffy and tattooed Floyd chuckles at the idea at of being honored for his acumen as an executive. He describes himself as learning the business side of the beer industry "through attrition."

"At first, I was terrible, but I'm getting better," he says. "I've learned you have to work with others and give them power and give them decision-making."

The growth for Three Floyds, which has steered clear of conventional advertising but has managed to win a loyal following, is impressive even for the booming craft beer industry. In the first half of 2014, the industry grew by 18%, according to the Brewers Association, an industry trade group.

Floyd's brewery and pub, which is located in an industrial park off the beaten path, has become a pilgrimage for beer geeks.

Over the last decade, beer aficionados have annually ranked Three Floyds on ratebeer.com as one of the top brewers in world (In 2014, it came in No. 3). Fans praise Floyd for maintaining his ethos – whether it's making an IPA with an off-the-charts bitterness or a stout with the viscosity of motor oil – even as its popularity has grown.

Chris Boggess, Three Floyds' head brewer, jokes that the stress of keeping up the company's standards leaves him with "new eczema spots" every day.

"Perception is reality," Boggess says. "Perception is that we're awesome, and that's great. But why? Hopefully, it's because the beer is good. That's all I care about."

Three Floyds has no marketing department but has carefully chiseled an aesthetic through quirky and apocalyptic artwork on its beer labels – a reflection of Floyd's interest in heavy metal and the fantasy genre – that has helped bolster the brand.

Even on weekdays, disciples of Three Floyds, which currently is only distributed in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin, line up ahead of the brew pub's 11:30 a.m. opening for a chance to buy Three Floyds' beer on draft or hard-to-find bottles to take home.

Tickets to the annual Dark Lord Day, the one day a year the devotee can buy Three Floyds' Russian imperial stout and also enjoy heavy metal music, sells out its roughly 8,000 tickets in a matter of minutes.

Three Floyds has "absolutely become a touchstone of Chicago craft beer, Midwest craft beer, national craft beer, and I would argue international craft beer," says Josh Noel, who writes about the beer industry for the Chicago Tribune.

Floyd says he'd like to get bigger. But he says that there is a ceiling to how much he can grow without losing what makes his beer special.

He's determined "to keep it fun, keep a good crew, keep the quality as high as possible, and make sure everyone enjoys what they're doing." Says Floyd, who has about 100 employees: "It also becomes, 'Do you want to watch over 400, 500 people you don't know?' You start losing that connection."