The brewmaster behind the Beaver Island beers

Chris Laumb fondly recalls venturing across the street from his childhood home to Riverside Park.

Along with fishing at the Beaver Islands of the Mississippi River, Laumb went dumpster diving to add to his beer can collection.

"Beer cans were magic to me," said Laumb, 48. "A lot of them were like pieces of art. I was just fascinated thinking 'Where are these places?' and 'What's the story behind them?' "

Now, the veteran brewer is looking to write his own story as the head brewmaster of the Beaver Island Brewing Co.

St. Cloud's newest brewery debuted in January at the St. Cloud Craft Beer Tour, hit the market earlier this month and now opens its 216 Sixth Ave. S taproom to the public Saturday.

The opening will include a 4 p.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony and an appearance from St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis.

"I have the best job in the world," Laumb said. "We can't make enough beer right now — which is a good problem to have."

The high demand, however, has tested the brewmaster's patience.

"Chris doesn't want to put the beer out until it's perfect," said Beaver Island co-founder Nick Barth. "Our process may take, in some cases, twice as long to do. It's not because we are inefficient. It would be really easy to push out something of lesser quality, but Chris would never let that happen."

Many brewmasters share Laumb's perfectionist traits.

It's common in an industry where seconds and a few degrees can alter the taste of a beer.

"A lot of brewmasters are neat freaks with OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder), and Chris is no exception," Barth said. "But you need that great attention to detail."

Laumb has even requested Beaver Island get a foot bath to keep the brewery's floor spotless.

"When it comes time for cleaning, we just get out of his way," said assistant brewmaster Matt Studer. "And he's constantly cleaning."

Laumb, a St. Cloud Tech High School graduate, started home brewing with simple extract kits with no intention of pursuing a career in the industry.

"My first two batches were miserable failures," Laumb said. "But you learn and you get better."

Laumb's professional career started after the company he was working for was bought out.

Upset with the changes being introduced, he showed up at O'Hara's Brewpub and Restaurant and applied for an assistant brewmaster job. He eventually worked his way up to head brewmaster of the restaurant that was located at 3320 Third St. N.

"When I came in, I was very green," Laumb said. "You try to learn as much as you can. It's a learning process. You kind of just figure it out as you go."

O'Hara's eventually became McCann's Food & Brew, where Laumb continued as brewmaster until it closed in 2012.

"I think (O'Hara's and McCann's) were a little early on for the market here in Central Minnesota for craft beer," Laumb said. "I was throwing out these strong Belgian beers that just weren't found in the rest of the town. But now you go downtown St. Cloud and look at taps and it's craft dominated. It's a great time for the industry."

Laumb went on to work for the Third Street Brewhouse of Cold Spring, which is one of Minnesota's top beer producers.

"I went in there feeling pretty confident but that ended pretty quickly," said Laumb, who still often wears a Cold Spring Brewing Co. jacket. "It was just a different scale that I wasn't used to. I never really had that technical background. A lot of it was very new to me.

"The experience (at Third Street) was incredibly beneficial. It made me much more well-rounded as a brewer."

When Barth and Studer started planning Beaver Island, they reached out to Laumb, whom they were familiar with from O'Hara's and the local music industry.

"(Studer) and I agreed that we could make good beer in a garage but we weren't master brewers," Barth said. "We reached out to him and then the stars truly aligned. Not only is he a great person, but he's a phenomenal brewmaster."

Laumb designed Beaver Island's beers and brewing system. The brewery uses stainless steel tanks made by St. Cloud-based DCI Inc.

And he's proud to be part of the next chapter in St. Cloud's brewing history.

"I'm living the dream," Laumb said. "It's been a long, long ride to get to this point. I can't wait to open the doors to the public and show them what goes on."

Follow Jake Laxen on Twitter @jacoblaxen.

If you go ...

What: Beaver Island Brewing Co. taproom opening ribbon-cutting ceremony

Where: 216 Sixth Ave. S

When: 4 p.m.