Lake Time Brewery honored for success, expansion

A local business man is being honored for his  contributions to Clear Lake’s entrepreneurial ecosytem and recent expansion.

The NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center and North Iowa Area SBDC recently presented Bob Rolling, of Lake Time Brewery, with its Entrepreneur of the Month honor.  Rolling and his wife, Suzy, founded the brewery in 2012. Bob’s interest in craft beer started in 1999 as a homebrewer and really picked up when he was a stay-at-home dad for a year.  With some extra time on his hands and a lot of motivation while watching the kids, he began to perfect his home brewing recipes. As his skill increased, he realized that Clear Lake was the natural place for a microbrewery and taproom – and if he didn’t do it, someone else would.

In 2012, Bob enrolled in the Launch & Grow Your Business course at the NIACC Pappajohn Center.  “For me,” Bob said, “it was about getting all your ideas and funneling them down into one piece of paper, a business plan. I actually still go back and look at it.” In June 2013, Bob opened Lake Time Brewery as a small batch operation with a modestly sized taproom in downtown Clear Lake. Within five years, the Lake Time taproom was a hit with both locals and tourists alike, and was distributing to 23 counties across northern Iowa and eight counties in the Des Moines/Ames area.

  With Lake Time Brewery established as a favorite destination for locals and tourists alike, Bob believed it was time to take the logical next step. His vision was to expand his distribution to include cans as well as kegs, growing from a single barrel operation to a 15-barrel operation with 30 barrel fermenters and a five barrel pilot sys-

[wlm_nonmember]To read more of this article, please login or sign up for our E-Edition[/wlm_nonmember][wlm_ismember]

ford Lumber and Home, in Clear Lake, got things started by donating the lumber so students could build tables to work upon.

A welded fuselage, tail surfaces and wings have been built by students.   The wings and tail surfaces are fabric covered, rib stitched and then painted in Clear Lake school colors.   

Asbe explained that practice wing ribs were built first, assembled on steel rib jigs, laser cut and donated by Metal Fabricators, of Clear Lake. Ribs are built from spruce and have 42 parts per rib.  There are 13 ribs per wing, all individually cut by hand by students.  The fuselage is chrome moly steel, the same tubing used on NASCAR rollover frames, and was built on a flat table.  Tail surfaces are aluminum tube and formed aluminum parts. The 45 horsepower engine is from Hummel Engines.

Asbe said he remembers being inspired to learn more about flight after he discovered a story about the Oshkosh Air Show on the cover of National Geographic while visiting his grandparents’ home.  He read the article and knew that he and his wife, Julie, had to go.  They attended in 1980 and have been going ever since.  The trip to the convention at Oshkosh started him thinking about what his perfect airplane would be.

In 2006 the Federal Aviation Administration granted its approval for Asbe’s RV-6 and since that time he has logged over 550 hours in his aircraft.

The ultra light under construction is actually owned by the Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 94, and Asbe volunteers his time to oversee the work.  Other Chapter members have also shared their expertise, as well.  Typically, Asbe said he has spent about two hours per school day working with industrial arts students on various aspects of the ultra light.

“In the beginning, we probably had too many kids trying to work on it.  Ten or 12 at one time was too many, but we had a lot of things going on,” explained Asbe.  “Over the years we have found that two to four students at a time works really well.  We switch the students every few weeks.  I think working on things like the trusses really gives a demonstration about how engineering works.  That has helped to feed an interest in engineering that some students have had.”

The juniors and seniors involved participate through an independent study program.

“With the experience of building my own aircraft I was able to inspire students and make them understand that the only obstacle to doing anything in your life is you,” Asbe told Sport Aviation, a publication circulated among Experimental Aircraft Association members.

[/wlm_ismember]