When life hands us lemons, we’ve been taught to make lemonade. But in the case of Danny McMahon, the head brewer of Door County Brewing Company, he made beer. In 2012, he was on the brink of realizing his dream of starting a brewery with his friends, who wanted to open a restaurant with an on-site brewery. They were close to opening—only two months—and discovered that the Tied House Law wouldn’t allow for a restaurant to host a brewery on-site. His friends had to step out, and the plans to open a brewery were no more.
Or so they thought.
Danny and his father, who had been working on the business and technical aspects of the restaurant and brewery, got together. They decided that since they’d put a couple of years into the venture and were so close to opening day, they’d keep pushing forward.