ABOUT US
Finding Inspiration in Every Beer
Our taproom in Hudson is just two blocks from the pier. Here in this beautiful river town, our brewers craft delicious stouts, refreshing IPAs, crisp lagers, and other mouth-watering brews. We are easily accessible by foot, bike, boat, or car (we have private parking!), and we look forward to having you join us for a sip in the taproom or on our patio weather permitting. With sixteen taps available, games such as pinball skeeball, duck claw, and a dog friendly environment – we hope to have a little something for everyone!
Hop & Barrel is partially built on great ingredients and brewing technique. The rest of the credit goes to our incredible team.
OUR STORY
Hop & Barrel Brewing is the brainchild of two brothers-from-another mother - Justin Terbeest and Brian Priefer. Justin and Brian owe their quirky friendship to craft beer. Around 2014 the two met at American Sky Brewing in Hudson, WI. Brian was working as a brewer at the time, and Justin was an aspiring homebrewer who frequented the brewery to hang out with Brian and other homebrewers. The two would often banter about recipes and styles while sharing Friday beers, with little thoughts of what laid ahead. Eventually American Sky was purchased by Lucid, and Brian was moved with the brewhouse to Minnetonka. In the years ahead Brian helped open Inbound Brewing, in Minneapolis, and later was hired as a consultant to open Antigua Cerveza, a brewery in Guatemala. Justin, in the meantime began contest brewing and found some success in large Wisconsin contests and even made it to the final round of the National Homebrew Contest in Boston and Minneapolis. It was around this time that Justin started working on the idea of bringing a brewery back to Hudson. He knew Brian would be needed to do this the right way. The two started meeting again right after Brian returned from Guatemala in the fall of 2016. Brian, of course, initially thought Justin was crazy for wanting to start a brewery, but was happy to help talk through plans. However, after Hop & Barrel’s site in Hudson became available, and the two met a few more times, Brian quickly realized he wanted to be part of the brewery. Justin knew he had the start of a real team when Brian started saying “we” during a phone call. Soon after a whirlwind year kicked in. Travels to Lincoln, Nebraska to customize brewing equipment, remodeling the building for brewing needs, sourcing steam power plants, finding a full team to run the brewery and taproom, writing recipes, and all the other craziness that goes with opening a distribution brewery, or any business, in essentially a single year. After all of this work, and more than a few late night, and afternoon, beers; Hop & Barrel opened on December 8, 2017.
Meet The Team
Our Goal
Here at our brewery, we try to keep our focus simple: We are a place where you can bring your close friends, poker group, or kids and feel comfortable. When you drink with us, you’ll know you are getting our best beer, 100% of the time—no excuses. We will always push our limits. Our passion is to brew something even better than we did the day before.