When Wes and Andrea Pernsteiner decided to start a Marquette craft brewery, they went on the hunt for a brewmaster and met Nick VanCourt in the summer of 2010. About a year later VanCourt was hired by the Pernsteiners as their head brewer for the soon-to-be
Ore Dock Brewing Company. Both he and his wife chose to invest in the business along with a few others who felt they wanted to be a part of this company.
VanCourt's background in brewing and his training made him the perfect person for the job.
A self-proclaimed "beer geek," VanCourt attributes the gene to his grandfather, a child of Austrian immigrants.
His grandfather allowed him to sample European lagers including Beck's, Heineken and Steigl--in small amounts, he assures--as a child.
His true interest in beer as an adult began when he tried Bell's for the very first time. The Two Hearted Ale was what got to him, stronger than the European lagers he had grown accustomed to. From then on he expanded his beer horizon and delved into the rest of the Bell's beers and beers from other craft breweries that he had never tried before.
"Bell's is among a handful of the initial, cutting edge craft breweries that continue to get better and better," VanCourt says.
A 2004 graduate of Northern Michigan University, he majored in media production and new technology. Since becoming a brewmaster isn't a degree most schools offer, he went on a search to get educated in the ways of beer.
In 2006, after he had left Marquette, VanCourt began homebrewing when he lived in Madison. He started on his path towards professional brewing by interning at the Great Dane Pub in Madison, where he spent time watching and learning about the process.
Deciding to expand his knowledge more, he signed up for the 12-week World Brewing Academy, which is a joint venture between the brewing school Seibel Institute, the oldest of its kind in North America, and the Doemen's Academy in Munich, Germany.
He spent the first part of the full-time program in Seibel for seven weeks learning in the classroom. The following three weeks were spent at Doemen's Academy where the students participated in first-hand learning at this high-tech brewery.
VanCourt and his classmates learned all about brewing from cellaring, to packaging, to lab work, and concluded with a final exam.
From there, the class went on a brewing study tour of Europe visiting various places in Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and The Netherlands.
"The Brewing Study tour was amazing," VanCourt says. "We visited several of the world's best breweries--Orval, La Trappe, Cantillion, and Uerige to name a few. We also visited malt producers, hop producers, equipment manufacturers and glassware producers. Basically, we were given 'hard-hat and in-depth' tours of each place we visited and were allowed to ask questions."
Following the course, students received a diploma. Completing this course was important to VanCourt.
"All of the homebrewing, book reading, beer tasting and interning in the world, just would not have made me feel prepared to be a good brewer on a professional level, let alone a brewmaster," he says. "The technology and production focus in a brewery is not something you practice as a homebrewer. There are a lot of technical aspects that you just don't need to know or have opportunity to learn at home."
With his International Diploma in Brewing Technology in hand, VanCourt worked as an assistant brewer in Wisconsin where he said he learned even more.
In the fall of 2011, VanCourt moved back to the U.P. when the Ore Dock Brewery was in its early stages. The brewery opened Memorial Day weekend and now he has multiple duties including coming up with new beers, ordering ingredients, developing their process and brewing the beers. Since the Ore Dock is a smaller business, he also takes on other responsibilities like giving tours and unloading supplies.
Being a craft brewery, Ore Dock allows VanCourt to have more independence when creating beers. Usually one of two things happen when starting to create a new beer at Ore Dock. Either they decide to try to hone in on a specific type of beer or they try to focus on creating a specific type of essence or aroma, such as with seasonal brews.
Among the most popular beers he brews are IPA, Dream Weaver, Saison and Bum's Beach Wheat. Although he doesn't have a favorite type of beer, one of these does stand out: Saison, which is the French word for "season." This brew was one he created a few years ago.
"Saison is a very broad style category and we have a classic interpretation that we try to keep on tap as much as possible," he said.
He also puts a spin on Saison, creating seasonal versions of it, which he feels are important to create.
"Beer is seasonal because people's taste is seasonal…As an example, yesterday I brewed a Scotch Ale. This type of rich, malty beer is great as winter is creeping in, but I wouldn't dream of brewing it in the middle of summer," VanCourt says.
The Ore Dock has the capacity to tap 10 beers ( http://ore-dock.com/beers/beers.html) at a time, although the popularity of their brewery and the brewing times has made this a bit more difficult. Their grand opening ran them dry. Now, they have about four to six beers on tap at a time.
Patrons can either enjoy the beer at the brewery or fill up a growler to take home. The Ore Dock plans to expand this to bottles and or cans in the future. They also plan on using pelletized hops from a hop farm in Rock later this year to create a local IPA.
Since opening, the Ore Dock has tripled their patron capacity by opening the upstairs of the brewery to the public. Throughout it all, the Ore Dock is proud to be part of the Marquette community.
"Our mission is to create a company where quality craft beer and community are valued, highlighted and combined," VanCourt says "We like to believe that Ore Dock Brewing Company is where craft beer and community meet."
At age 31, does he feel like he is living out his dream? Well, there's a two-part answer for that.
"My dream has been to start a brewery and craft a product as good as I possibly could. I have done the former, but there is always a way or several ways to improve the product, so I don't know if that part of the dream is actually, truly achievable," VanCourt says.
He also takes into account his personal life when talking about dreams. Returning to the U.P. was part of his family's plans, although they thought that would occur during retirement.
"I can say that it is hard to beat what I do and who I do it with, even at the end of a long and difficult day of work," VanCourt says.
Julia Woehrer is a freelance writer, photographer and social media coordinator. She attended the School of Art and Design at Northern Michigan University where she concentrated in photography and minored in journalism. She volunteers at a local no-kill cat shelter and enjoys spending time with her cats, Bella and Macy.