Opening a brewery is a challenging enterprise under the best of circumstances. But opening a brewery in the midst of an international pandemic requires a bit more gumption, a bit more spine and perhaps even a pinch of luck. For Cornelius-based Lost Worlds Brewing, it also required a monumental pivot from a taproom-first model to a production-first approach. Fortunately, their talented new team was up to the task.

“Overnight, we became a production brewery that is going to have a taproom that opens sometime down the road,” explains Lost Worlds owner Dave Hamme. “That wasn’t the original plan.” But with 150 barrels (or roughly 4600+ gallons) of beer waiting patiently in their fermenters and bright tanks, making that pivot was also essential. After some private test runs, the brewery will officially open its doors for carry-out orders this Saturday, April 18th. Their inaugural products will simultaneously make the intrepid leap to grocery store shelves, an almost unheard of maneuver for a new brewery.

David Hamme and David Gonzalez of Lost Worlds Brewing.

This business reboot doesn’t come without some trepidation for the brewery’s owner. “We’ve got to be careful,” Hamme continues. “We’re made this step, but we’re very cognizant of the risks that it entails.” For Hamme, flipping the script on their original timeline is understandably worrisome. “We are straddling the line between production brewery and taproom because this is our brand. We’ve got to protect that.” But the twinkle in his eye also telegraphs his belief that his team is up to the challenge. “We understand that once we start, we’re gonna have to keep feeding that beast.”

Adventurous Roots

The story of Lost Worlds Brewing is a familiar one: after 25 years in the business consulting world, Lost Worlds owners David and Allison Hamme were looking for a change. As seasoned homebrewers, turning their hobby into a business felt like a logical step. “We love the beer industry, and had always thought wouldn’t it be great to own a craft brewery,” David explains. “And so we went around and checked out a bunch of them in the area.”

Expecting tremendous diversity, they were surprised by the amount of homogeneity they discovered, especially with neighborhood breweries. “For the most part, they all looked and felt very similar,” he says. “The beers were not always on point, and there was very little branding. Many of them felt quite cookie cutter. You could walk in and find exactly the same vibe, same chairs, same chalkboard.” They perceived an opportunity to create something special, something different: a brewery whose identity was intimately entwined with the beer it served.

For Hamme, that meant starting with veteran content strategist Sherri Johnson. “Sherri was a consultant with Miller (Brewing) way back in the day. She had a graphic designer (Michelle) that she’s worked with and they’ve created a number of brands together.” Hamme quickly took on the role of visionary, while leveraging the creative expertise of his new team to flush out his ideas. “Just taking the stories that I come up with and letting them run with it, and do what they do best. They came up with fantastic graphics and designs around it.” By the Summer of 2019, the Lost Worlds Brewing concept was born.

Differentiation

When you’re first introduced to Lost Worlds, one thing is immediately apparent: they understand branding. Unlike most suburban breweries, whose public brand statements feel unpolished at best and utterly absent at worst, the Lost Worlds branding permeates every aspect of their business, from taproom to website to packaging. “We wanted to have a lifestyle brand that wove in our interests,” Hamme illustrates. “It’s adventure. It’s travel. It’s archeology. And it’s history.”

Tapping into the turn-of-the-century curiosity that launched Explorers Clubs in major metropolitan areas across the US, Lost Worlds’ allegorical brand puts patrons in a time capsule, transporting them back to the era of exploration. “The harnessing of air and steam started allowing people to travel the globe, making that world a little bit smaller,” continues Hamme. “They’d collect trinkets during their travels around the world and they’d come back and share them in these places.” When the taproom opens, visitors can expect to be surrounded by memorabilia from the Hammes’ own globe trotting expeditions.

Beyond simply dressing up their taproom in historical trappings, the owners also hope to build a travel-centric community around it. “Everyone loves travel stories. They like to sit around and talk about where they traveled, what they experienced, what they’ve done… all of their great adventures,” illuminates Hamme. “We want this to be an adventurer’s outpost. We’re going to have speakers that talk about climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Or hiking the Appalachian Trail. Or teaching folks how to get scuba certified. It’s a respite from everyday life and something a little bit different.”

But the owners also recognized that engaging branding is only window-dressing without a quality product. And even with 25 years of homebrewing under their belts, the Hammes understood that this meant hiring an experienced brewing professional. “You have to have great beer to have a great brewery. And so we wanted to find a very experienced Brewmaster, someone who had the background, the understanding of the industry and obviously the talent to make great beer,” he explains.

Enter David Gonzalez, a beer industry veteran with a resume practically unrivaled in the Charlotte craft beer scene. For Hamme, bringing Gonzalez’s 20+ year brewing background on board was one of his best decisions. “DG gives us a little bit of a trump card,” he clarifies, an all-knowing smile creeping across his face. “I did a lot of my research on him before we even met. And I’ve tasted a number of his beers now. His experience gives me a level of comfort that we can create beers that are going to really fly.”

Sessionable Flagships

Lost Worlds is bucking an industry trend by investing heavily in flagship beers. For Gonzalez, this approach is both traditional and logical. “I see core brands as being key, especially when you’re building brands, which is very big for us,” he begins. This approach strongly informed the brewery’s decision to launch with 6 core beers, which they refer to as their Basecamp beers. “When you’re branding, you don’t want to brand 15 to 20 different beers, right out of the gate, because the message gets lost.”

What’s not lost on the industry veteran, who counts NoDa Brewing, Foothills Brewing and Rock Bottom Brewery among his former employers, is the importance of establishing new flagship brands to cement the brewery’s place in the region. “Flagships are key. They’re important. When you think of iconic beers in North Carolina, you don’t call it Olde Mecklenburg Copper. You just say Copper and people know what it is. Hoppyum (from Foothills) is the same way.” Over time, he hopes regional beer fans will similarly recognize the Lake Norman brewery’s new offerings. “Someday, we want people to say Euchre and think of Lost Worlds Euchre.”

Along with flagship branding, customers can expect to find an abundance of more sessionable offerings at Lost Worlds, beers that clock in at less than 6% ABV. “All of our core beers, with the exception of the Vista IPA at 7.2%, are session strength beers,” explains Gonzalez. The Lost Worlds team believes this aligns well with the adventure-seeking outdoor lifestyle. “We know people are gonna go out on the lake and they’re gonna take crowlers or 4-packs of Euchre. They’re gonna hit the golf courses with these beers. And they’re going to come into the taproom and be able to have a couple of these beers safely, instead of drinking two or three double IPAs and getting completely schnockered.”

Lake Norman or Bust

While the Cornelius-Huntersville area is already served by a number of established breweries (namely Ass Clown, D9, Eleven Lakes and Primal), the Lost Worlds taproom, located off of Exit 28 from I-77, feels a world away. When asked about selecting their brewery’s location, Hamme’s business-minded approach is apparent: “I thought this was an under-served population.” He also feels that the Lake Norman area’s locus of outdoor recreation dovetails nicely into the brewery’s branding. “An active lifestyle and seeking adventure is what we’re all about and our beers, our stories, lend themselves well to that aspect of the community.”

Apart from their unique branding experience, Hamme believes that the brewery taproom brings unique experiences to the Lake Norman community. “We have a 3000-square-foot beer garden just outside of our taproom that’s like nothing else around here,” he illustrates. While the taproom won’t have a kitchen at opening, the space will provide customers with access to food trucks and outdoor games, complimenting the brewery’s active focus. But Hamme isn’t prepared to call Cornelius the only stop for their adventures. “Lake Norman is our first adventure base. But there certainly could be others in the future.”

But What About the Beers?

Of Lost World’s four inceptive offerings, I’ve been lucky enough to sample three, and can gladly report that each is solidly crafted, well-brewed and properly attenuated. The golden ale named Euchre is perfectly suited for afternoons on the lake: highly quaffable, exceptionally clean and brilliantly clear, this low-gravity, lawnmower-style offering tastes like sunshine in a glass. West Coast IPA Vista hits the tongue with malt, but quickly slides into sharp, clean bitterness, with plenty of grapefruit, citrus and resin joining the chorus on the way to a crisp, dry finish.

But for my palate, Trek Porter was the standout, a slightly bolder incarnation of a traditional English Brown porter that packs clean roastiness, chocolate-tinged malt and a creamy mouthfeel into a dark mahogany package. In many ways, this beer perfectly embodies the talents of Dave Gonzalez, a brewer whose predilections have always trended to the traditional, favoring well-balanced flavor profiles and highly drinkable beers over arbitrary experimentation.

Just don’t expect that traditional means predictable. Gonzalez clarifies: “I tend to like traditional seasonals, like having Oktoberfest in the Fall, or potentially a pumpkin beer. That’s what people expect.” But bucking customer expectations and shaking things up on occasion will also be a plank in the Lost Worlds platform. “Will we make a light beer in the middle of Winter? Sure. Maybe we’ll brew some sort of spiced wit, because it’s a little different, but also because it’s something that fits right into our wheelhouse as a sessionable-type beer.”

So how will Lost Worlds and their unique brewery blueprint be received by beer lovers in Lake Norman and throughout North Carolina? Only time will tell. But if entrancing creativity, meticulous planning and agile responsiveness to a changing marketplace are any indication of a brewery’s potential long game, I think it’s safe to say that Lost Worlds will be making waves for the foreseeable future.

20-year brewery veteran David Gonzalez strike a contemplative pose.

Lost Worlds Brewing will officially open their doors to the public from Noon to 5pm on Saturday, April 18th. In addition to selling to-go crowlers of their four launch-ready beers, customers can also purchase freshly canned 4-packs of both Euchre Golden Ale and Vista West Coast IPA, along with shirts, hats and other brewery swag.