Top It Off

There’s No Shortage of Flavor Variety at 10-56 Brewing

Writer / Matt Keating
Photographer / Tony Straw

Erica Hemphill, co-owner of 10-56 Brewing in Knox, says she and her husband Mike were inspired to open the business through their passion for home brewing.

“After we fell in love with home brewing, we decided running a brewery would make sense for us as we neared the time for Mike to retire from the Indiana State Police,” Hemphill says. “I was deep into growing my newborn photography company, Love You Baby Photography, serving many local hospitals, and decided it was time to bring on more local photographers so I could focus on building 10-56 Brewing.”

It was a perfect time to put their plan into action.

“Brewing fit into our vision of owning businesses, as we wanted to create businesses that others could benefit from,” Hemphill says. “We gained the licenses to brew for distribution in 2014, and started distributing to restaurants and participating in all the brew fests our schedules would allow. We couldn’t have a taproom while Mike was still a state trooper, so we continued on the distribution and brew-fest plan until he retired in 2017.”

10-56 Brewing

The Hemphills found and purchased their current building in May of 2018, got busy renovating, and opened to the public in July of 2018.

“We are proud of our friendly and quirky brewery,” Hemphill says. “We have an amazing following of locals as well, and there are so many people who travel to us. We are also a Harvest Host, and you’ll likely see campers overnight at our place as they get off the road for a bite and a beer, then hit the road again the next morning.”

The 10-56 Brewing building was originally a lumberyard.

“We’ve spilled into the many different areas of it, with a family-friendly room, the main taproom, brew room, a new kitchen, and a huge outdoor area for a more family-friendly area and games,” Hemphill says. “We’re dog friendly, so there are usually dogs running around including our goldendoodle Benson, who is the employee of the month every month.”

10-56 Brewing10-56 Brewing offers 10 taps of draft beer.

“Eight of them are our beers,” Hemphill says. “We have one guest-tap beer and one guest-tap cider, as well as a variety of guest beers in cans and bottles. We offer live music every weekend and we have some of the best local artists you’ll ever find.”

The brewery was given number-one bar honors in Starke County in 2020 and 2021, according to a reader survey by the Starke County Leader. The business also won for number-one pizza, as well as number one and two in the bartender category for 2021.

“We have fun here every day,” Hemphill says. “Our staff of 16 people are deeply bonded, and we don’t struggle to staff our brewery or to keep our employees. As 2022 approaches, we’re working on a new brewing space, built out in our current warehouse, to allow us to expand our brew system and our taproom. A new outdoor seating area will be added as well.”

Brew lovers will find something they enjoy at 10-56 Brewing.

“We make 45 different recipes from pilsners to deep chocolate stouts,” Hemphill says. “We strive to maintain a style and color scale along our tap wall. We always have a cider guest tap, and one other guest tap we rotate to support local breweries. Our new taproom cooler has a wide variety of hard-to-find cans and bottles. We’re one of only a few places in northern Indiana carrying Hoosier products. All of our products except wine are available for dine-in or carry-out.”

Customers won’t go hungry either.

“We have appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers, pizza and desserts,” Hemphill says. “Our peanut butter and jelly tots and buffalo tots are very popular, and our pizza has a cult following. Our pizza dough is a family recipe, and made on-site daily. We use fresh ingredients, and pile them high before drowning it all in a pile of the best blends of cheeses. We let that cheese flow over and caramelize along the edges for a special treat you’d never expect.”

Hemphill has her own personal favorites.

“I love our Poppy’s SMOP,’” she says. “Poppy is my dad, and sausage, mushroom, onion and green peppers is his favorite combination.”

Hemphill is excited about introducing online ordering on the company’s new website.

“We’re family friendly and dog friendly,” she adds. “We also host and cater special events.” 

For more information on 10-56 Brewing, located at 2120 South U.S. Highway 35 in Knox, call 574-772-7238.

10-56 Brewing

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