Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff Knoblock. Them and their team share their story with us below:
Trail Point Brewing Company was founded in 2015. It began with a team of 3 owners who all were and are passionate about brewing, craft beer, and the craft beer industry. Owners Gary Evans, son Greg Evans, and friend Jeff Knoblock met through (2010?) a local Homebrewing Club, The Muskegon Ottawa Brewers, aka (MOB), and became accustom to each other and their beers at Monthly MOB meetings. There they were surrounded by many great talents that shared information, techniques, and the same passion. Some of the other brewers in the club eventually went off to form their own breweries as well. These Breweries are now known as Pigeon Hill Brewing Company, Unruly Brewing Company, Fetch Brewing Company, The Grand Armory, Harbor Light Brewery, and Burzurk Brewing. As the monthly meeting progressed so did the passions and the drive to continue to make better and world-class beer. The industry and hobby was evolving so rapidly, becoming more more advanced through science, discovery, and passion that one could no help to become in love with what they were doing. Lucky for all of us, Steve and Barb Sicilliano, owners of Sicilliano’s Market at the time began supplying a vast variety of Homebrewing supplies in the early 2000s and became a big part of the what the West Michigan beer scene is today. Dan and Tiffany Sipka recently purchased the specialty store in 2022 and are continuing the legacy.
Gary’s first brew was in the 1980s after he had discovered a dark import beer. At that time homebrewing was in its infancy. President Jimmy Carter had only recently legalized homebrewing in 1978. Even in the 80’s it was a new concept where only 50 breweries existed in the United States. Raw Materials like grain, yeast, and hops were hard to get. Most homebrewed beers then were developed with liquid malt extract, pacific northwest hops, and whatever yeast you could find. Gary and wife Lucy continued to grow their families, and careers until the early 2000s when Gary retired from the Fluid Hydraulic industry and jumped into professional bass fishing. After a couple years of fishing and by that time his 4 sons (Greg included) loved hanging out watching Sunday football all began to brew together in Gary’s garage.
Greg (wife Erin) and IT guru and Grand Valley Graduate was working for Plante Moran, accounting firm as IT support and loved Sunday brews with his dad and brothers.
Jeff first began is passion for brewing industry in 2008. A Michigan State Grad in Turfgrass Management and growing up in an agricultural community in Michigan’s Thumb. Beer was always a staple in social get-togethers and being surrounded by Ag made his passion for plant and soil science move toward the growing golf industry at the time. After graduation and chasing his career in CO, DE, and MD. Jeff and his wife Liz moved back to their home state of Michigan and began growing hops in his yard and educating himself as much as he could with growing hops and homebrewing. At the time, he was looking at the possibility of starting a Michigan Hop Farm but was also considering discovering partners to open a brewery. After a few years in the passion while putting together business plans and continuing to explore the possibilities of a brewing partnership. In 2013/14 Gary, Jeff, and Greg got together for a brew day in Gary’s garage and agreed to open a brewery.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The opening of a brewery was not always smooth. Yes, in 2015 it was an industry seeing exponential growth. At the time there were roughly just over 4000 breweries in the United States. Now the number has increased to over 9500 in 2022. We had to become entrepreneurs overnight and could not look back. We had to continue to evolve (set ourselves apart) our craft around the market demand, educated consumers, and industry competition. The demand for brewing equipment was getting tougher and lead times for additional tanks, equipment could take 6-8 months. Staff size would increase and management is never always easy. We always continue to improve, stay passionate, do whatever it takes, stay service oriented and most of all keep it rewarding. All of these values take a team to accomplish as well as, support from your spouses and family.
2020/21 were the most challenging times of all. We had to close and were not able to share our beers with anyone. We could not even distribute our products to the local bars and restaurants that have been supporting us because they were in the same position. We all had to pivot in a hurry and there was no timeline for how long this would last. We had to switch from a full-service brewery to filling glass growlers for curbside pick-up. We eventually purchase a bar side can filler to fill the demand for curbside service. In 2021 we eventually purchased a commercial canning line to the improve quality of our products that left our brewery. We are definitely where we are today from all of the community and team support during those challenging times.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I think I touched on this a little earlier. My experience with managing high-level Golf Clubs has some similarities to the brewing industry. We are providing a high-quality product for our patrons and guest, soil science and brewing water chemistry, and very similar and some of our business is truly dependent on the weather. The operations of a brewery include many hats with planning, brewing operations, marketing, finance, accounting. Building a customer base takes time and you have to surround yourself with people with a similar passion.
Currently, Gary and I are involved with the innovation, ideas, management, and leadership at the brewery. He directs most of brewing operations and accounting. I direct the outside sales, innovation, and marketing. Greg had stepped away from the operations of the brewery in 2021 but was an integral part of our success with planning, marketing, IT, and finances.
We try to specialize in creating our own experience. We are surrounded by many awesome and talented breweries and we all separate ourselves with our own personal passionate personalities. We continue education, community support, and continuous strive to make world-class beers. We are proud of what we have accomplished and could not have done it with everyone involved on this journey. We would like to think we are good at what we do but there is always room for better.
Any big plans?
Our plans for the future are to continue to grow and improve. We have all seen many challenges in the industry. Craft Beer will continue to grow but at a slower pace than what we started with. The consumer has more options now than ever. We have never stopped investing back into our brewery and will continue to grow and evaluate ever opportunity that presents itself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.trailpointbrewing.com
- Instagram: trailpointbrewing
- Facebook: Trail Point Brewing Company
