With over 130 breweries and counting, Michigan has become a destination for beer enthusiasts. Having witnessed that passion firsthand working together at Ann Arbor’s Blue Tractor Brewing Company, Kyle Dewitt and Tim Schmidt decided to join Michigan’s ever-growing landscape of breweries in the city of Tecumseh, Michigan.
“[Tim and I] really just sat down, had a couple of beers and talked about what we wanted to do,” Dewitt said. “We had similar ideas of what we wanted to do and both had unique skill sets that really balanced each others out.”
It has been nearly four years since Dewitt and Schmidt first conceptualized Tecumseh Brewing Company. While Schmidt is a native of Tecumseh, Dewitt had actually originated from California. After visiting Tecumseh, however, Dewitt said the southeastern Michigan seemed like a natural fit.
“I hadn’t necessarily envisioned being here, but I knew I wanted to stop brewing for other people,” Dewitt said. “Like everyone else, I’ve always wanted to do my own thing. When we came to Tecumseh, I thought it was great. It’s been pretty easy to get comfortable here, especially after getting to know everyone.”
With the nearest breweries nearly 45 minutes away in Ann Arbor and Milan, Tecumseh Brewing Company has the unique opportunity to bring its city some local suds. According to Dewitt, the excitement for the brewery has grown substantially over the 4 years of planning.
“If we had a nickel for every time someone asked when we’d be opening, we’d be opening a second brewery by now.” Dewitt said. “There have been rumors of this brewery opening in the city for over three years now so people definitely seem excited.”
Between Tecumseh Brewing Company’s interior and proposed beer garden and patio, the establishment will hold approximately 150 people. Guests will have the opportunity to choose from 16 taps dedicated to the brewery’s signature brews. According to Dewitt, the goals is to have all 16 taps up-and-running by the brewery’s target opening date of March 17th, just in time for St. Patrick’s Day.
“With 16 taps, they’ll always be a few hoppy options and a few malty options,” Dewitt said. “We think the IPAs will be popular and other standard beers, but we will probably let our sales, customers and mug club members dictate what’s on tap. As it is now, we are just filling the taps with as many different beers as possible. We don’t want to have too much structure so that way it never gets dull.”
In addition to Tecumseh Brewing Company’s signature beers, they will also have a full kitchen. With the help of former Head Chef at Ann Arbor’s Melange, Chris Wanke and former Sous Chef at Melange Mike Clayton Tecumseh Brewing Company believes the food will be equally as unique as the beers.
“We’ll have a lot more items on the menus than we thought we’d be able to do,” Dewitt said. “Just like the beer, the menu will change out pretty often. We don’t want anything too set in stone. We are really not that structured here.”
With an anticipated opening about a month away, Dewitt and Schmidt are excited about the prospects for the future.
“We don’t want to shoot anything down for the future,” Dewitt said. “We want to do everything right. We want to keep it simple and focus on serving the town and we’ll see what happens. You have to grow with the size of your tank. We are happy where we are and are excited to see how we’ll grow.”
