We figured there would be some interesting answers to our three questions for the current edition of the Look Back/Look Ahead Series. We did not figure that the first two questions about a brewery’s biggest challenge and biggest accomplishment would produce the same answer.

Leave it to Turtle Mountain Brewing owner Nico Ortiz to pull off that one.

“The biggest challenge and the biggest accomplishment was the same thing (and) that was the brewery project,” he said.

As announced way back in 2022, Turtle Mountain was going to move the brewery from the original location off Southern Blvd to the space adjacent to the North Taproom. Actually making that move, however, proved to be more of a challenge than anyone could have guessed.

“It took a lot longer and cost a lot more than we thought,” Ortiz explained. “Money that wasn’t really in the budget. I ended up borrowing a bunch of money from my 401k, which obviously I’m not comfortable with. But, when you own your own business, that’s what you signed up for, you do what you have to do to get the job done.”

The need for moving the brewery was two-fold. The second location opening was putting a serious strain on production, and there was simply no more space in which to fit additional fermenters at the original TMBC. The second reason came when the staff realized something was wrong with one particular piece of equipment.

“We started this project in November of 2022, when our hot liquor tank at the old restaurant developed those pinhole leaks,” Ortiz said. “I had (Conlan Steelworks’ Chris) Conlan out and he said there’s nothing we can do about this, you have to replace the tank. The tank was in the back of the platform and there was no way to get it out easily. The brewery walls and everything were built around the brewing system.

“We were either going to have to cut a hole in the back of the building and get it out that way, or we were going to have to disassemble everything and move all the fermenters. At that point, if we have to disassemble everything and bust out a wall to get this tank out of the building, we might as well just move the brewery.”

Money, though, was going to be an issue. While government funds from COVID business relief programs had been used to build out the North Taproom, those would not be available again for the brewery.

“I did not have such a budget for the brewery move,” Ortiz said. “The brewery move was kind of boot-strapped, cobbled together with anything I could find, including my 401k. We had to do it and do in as budget-minded way as we could. That meant it took longer and was not as smooth as it could be.

“In a nutshell, we got the permit in May of 2024, puttered through the rest of 2024, and then in 2025 was when we really started getting going on it. We got the (certificate of occupancy) in mid-July and the brewery was down from roughly Thanksgiving of 2024 (to then). It was down roughly 10 months.”

There were other challenges, too, ones that sound all too familiar to other brewery owners who also operate full kitchens.

“Obviously (there were also) the enormous challenges of labor costs and costs of a restaurant,” Ortiz said. “It’s a huge double-edged sword being a brewpub, a restaurant/brewery. It’s nice that people still come in for reasons other than the beer, so we have a much more diverse source of revenue unlike those breweries that operate as taprooms, but the downside is it’s ridiculously expensive to operate restaurants these days. Food costs, labor costs, insurance, you name it, everything is going up.

“There’s only so much you can pass on to the customer before they decide to eat at home. It’s that national trend. We’re fortunate that we’re now 26 1/2 years in and have a good and loyal customer base who has seemed to be relatively OK with us doing a little bit of raising prices and things like that. But, as you know, at some point we’re going to hit that (limit).”

Ortiz was not about to solely dwell on the tough parts of the business, so as he said before, that brewery move led to the biggest accomplishment for Turtle Mountain this year.

“Obviously the biggest success of 2025 was getting that brewery up and done,” he said. “Being a taproom for 10 months was great as far as me being able to try all the great local beers in one place, right here. But, obviously, you don’t want to do that for too long. That was probably the biggest success was getting that freaking brewery up and running. It doesn’t have all the ridiculous bells and whistles, but it has a $30,000 water treatment system, a brand-new boiler, a brand-new glycol chiller. It has brite tanks, it has a lot of bells and whistles that we did not have before, which should impact the beer which is obviously in a super-competitive market nowadays. You’ve got to have the best beer that you can.”

We saw the brewery in action up close in late October when they were making Thunderbolt Tripel, which is now available at both TMBC locations. It is definitely firing on all cylinders when it comes to making delicious beers, though there are still parts of the brewing process that can be expanded upon and improved. Those add up to one of the main goals for 2026, along with another that will see Turtle beers tapped at locations besides the two taprooms.

“We’re putting for our wholesalers license,” Ortiz said. “We let it lapse during COVID, because there was no need to distribute beer. We’re going to put that back in for our limited beer wholesaler license. We have some significant excess capacity available to us in the brewery now. We’re going to do some limited accounts. We’re not going to be crossing the river. We don’t have the ability nor the staff for a full-scale wholesale program. I don’t want the headache of strong-arming people to pay their bills.

“The (other) goal for 2026 is the brewery is not 100-percent operational yet. We have 14 serving tanks connected to the long-draw system here at the North restaurant, but we only have a handful of them pumping beer. We have to get all 14 of those online. They’re still kind of dialing in the mill and the other stuff. 2026 is not going to be a very exciting year for Turtle. The last two years have been exciting enough. We’re just trying to stabilize our restaurant operations.”

Yeah, a relatively normal year seems like something Turtle Mountain is overdue to have. We wish them all the luck in the world in exchange for more great beer and food. A big thanks to Nico for the interview, and lunch, of course.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister