If you’re an aficionado and supporter of locally produced craft beer and live in the metro area, you’re very likely already familiar with the brews produced by (405) Brewing Co. in Norman.
Jonathan Stapleton, co-founder of the brewery along with Trae Carson, describes (405) Brewing’s style and philosophy “Liquid Art.”
“We release new beers every few weeks that may never be produced again,” Jonathan explains. “We do also brew seasonals that return every year, or every other year, and also brew a small list of beer available year-round. Our range is wide, from low abv naturally fermented beer, to malty or hoppy session-able styles, to sour beers aged up to four years in oak barrels and 14% imperial stouts aged in previously dumped spirit barrels.”
Trae is excited about the future of the brewery. “2020 has provided us with an exciting opportunity to introduce core beers,” he says. “We will now have RBF, Trae PA, and Nite Lite available year ’round. Some of our other beers, such as Brown, FDR, and the new Red, will have extended availability during the year.”
They also incorporate, when desirable and/or feasible, local ingredients in their beers, including Oklahoma-grown grapes, dandelions, mint and mulberries, and Oklahoma-made honey.
Trae said they are “moved and excited” by the prospect of collecting local yeast and cultures from their various fruit and “wild projects.”
“One of our friends, Rick, recently began cultivating a sourdough culture from dates,” Trae says. “We are amped to see what yeast we can extract from his collection.”
The Journey to (405) Brewing
Anyone who has ever tried to make beer at home knows there’s an art as well as a craft in producing fine beers. For these would-be beer producers, the journey to learning began with a road trip in a 1995 Suburban loaned to the group by Trae’s mother.
“In the fall of 2007, four friends took a nine-day bachelor road trip before Trae’s wedding to his betrothed, Jana. While on this trip, which started in Norman and continued north to St. Louis, Chicago, Milwaukee, Chippewa Falls, and then back south with a stop in Kansas City, we visited as many breweries and purchased as much local beer as possible,” Jonathan recalls.
“Along the way, we spoke with and learned (in a general sense) what made a brewery work,” Jonathan says. “I can say that personally before this trip, I had no idea how unique and different each beer style—and beer within that style—could taste.”
A couple months following the wedding, Trae purchased a home brew system online, and Jonathan and Ben (another member of the bachelor road trip) took a brewing class at a local home brew shop. The first batch of home brew was produced by the foursome.
It didn’t take them long, Jonathan says, tongue in cheek, before it became apparent that they didn’t have all the necessary equipment and that they needed more practice.
“The first beer did ferment and was certainly beer, but it wasn't easy to drink, as we had left the hops in too long and boiled for too long while running to the hardware store for parts,” Jonathan recalls. “It was ultra-hoppy and very strong in alcohol; we don't know how strong because we also didn't take the proper measurements to calculate!”
Over the next seven years, the friends continued to expand their knowledge base, producing up to 20 to 30 gallons a month in new beers.
Due to family and career changes, the foursome at some point became a twosome.
“Eventually the operation was down to just Trae and I,” Jonathan says. “We would start our brewing days on the weekends before 6 a.m., then cook breakfast and finish up around noon—every month learning and adjusting our techniques and adding so many gallons to our inventory that we needed to find an outlet to get rid of some beer. (I know it's a shame we couldn't drink it all but it's more fun to share anyway!)
“We organized a tasting event about every six months that started with just our families and a few friends but grew into quite a bit more of a ‘feedback party’ by the last few times before brewing our first commercial beer,” he added. “By the time we brewed our first commercial batch of beer we had already started to fine-tune some of the techniques and recipes that have definitely become some of (405) Brewing's signature traits.”
The two found that each possessed skills that complemented one another, and their fledgling business began to grow.
“Coming from a diverse professional background, including many years in the banking industry, Trae is lead on recipe development, brewing and, of course, the financial organizing of income and expenses. You could say he likes to get his hands dirty and also looks good in a suit! I, on the other hand, come from a background in journalism, video editing and TV commercial production. I handle outbound sales and distribution now, as well as community interaction and involvement for (405) Brewing Co.,” Jonathan shares.
(405) Brewing Today
(405) Brewing Co. grew from just an idea in 2011 to a brewery establishment in 2013. It began as an operating brewery in January 2015.
“We run a 7 BBL brew system with a 10 BBL kettle, three 10 BBL and two 14 BBL fermenters, a 10 BBL and 16 BBL brite tank, and dozens of oak barrels for aging and sour fermentation,” Trae elaborates, explaining that BBL [barrel = 31 gallons] is the measurement used in most U.S. breweries and for U.S. tax calculations.
“We brew to bring the community a flavor profile of beers that is often left unexplored,” he says, explaining that they accomplish this through new techniques, yeast and adjunct additions.
“We began as an artisan brewery with the intentions of brewing a beer and possibly never brewing it again,” Trae summarizes. “This philosophy was instilled as a way to continually display the changing tapestry of yeast through enhanced and nuanced flavor profiles.”
When Jonathan and Trae started brewing beer commercially in 2015, Oklahoma laws did not allow for any on-site sales of beer made at brewery facilities, and taprooms were not allowed. For two years, (405) Brewing operated as a production facility only, sending beer out through the state’s tiered system for distribution. After some law changes and updates in late 2016, Oklahoma breweries were at last allowed to sell directly to end consumers.
“We opened the taproom at (405) Brewing Co. in February 2017, starting with operating hours just one day a week in the beginning. We had expanded to four days a week prior to the stay-at-home orders when the coronavirus pandemic hit,” Jonathan says.
(405) Brewing distributes its beer to stores in the Norman, Moore, Oklahoma City, Edmond, Stillwater and Tulsa markets consistently, as well as on occasion to Lawton, Enid and Muskogee. A member of the Craft Brewers Association of Oklahoma, (405) Brewing also supports and donates to beer festivals annually.
Jonathan and Trae praise the Oklahoma brewing community for its supportive attitude.
“While we all want to sell our beer and make sales goals, we also look out for each other and recommend new stores, markets or share contacts,” they say. In the same spirit, they encourage area beer enthusiasts to check out not only (405) Brewing’s product, but their competitors’ as well.
Asked about their short-term goals, Jonathan says it’s to “stay socially distanced until we are beyond a doubt past all of the COVID-19 issue. We really miss having everyone come visit us at the taproom, but in the end, it will be so much more worth it to be safe—also the weather will just be better in the fall!”
At the time of the shut-down, he added, breweries in Oklahoma were allowed to make curbside sales (depending on how the building entrance was setup). In response, Jonathan and Trae converted the brewery’s front patio into what Jonathan describes as “a pretty sweet drive-thru.”
At the time of the writing of this story, the brewery made its beers available for reservation online at 405brewing.com for pickup during specified brewery pickup hours.
Long term, Jonathan and Trae are hoping to increase production, expand reach and increase availability to local consumers.
“From the start, we set out to be a slow-growth business,” says Jonathan. “No big loans, no huge overhead, no outside ownership demanding financial results. Creativity is part of what we do, so feeling good about what we get to make now and in the future is important to us.”
He adds, “Customer support from locals and in-town travelers has been amazing! Local restaurants and liquor stores have been very enthusiastic to support and carry other locally made products.”
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(405) Brewing Co.
1716 Topeka St., Norman
801.4053
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