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]

tem.

Lake Time Brewery’s motto for the expansion is: “Our mission is to make great craft beer and make it available to our customers when they want it, not just when our taproom is open.” Bob worked with the NIACC Pappajohn Center and North Iowa Area SBDC to achieve this goal. The Lake Time Brewing canning line began operation in May 2018. Lake Time beer is no longer just a local or regional favorite, but now found statewide.

   Tim Putnam, director of the NIACC Pappajohn Center, said, “It has been really exciting to see what Bob and Suzy have done with Lake Time Brewing since attending the Launch and Grow Your Business classes at NIACC.  Lake Time Brewery has seen steady growth from year to year. Over the last two years the Rollings have really taken their vison to the next level with the addition of a production faculty and now the canning line. The Rollings have also utilized all the resources around them to position the Lake Time brand to be a well-respected craft beer in Iowa and soon to come, the Midwest.”

  “The past five years has been a lot of fun,” said Bob. “We have learned a lot about business and relationships.  It has been a pleasure getting to know the community and being able to give back when we can.  We have come a long way and can’t wait to see what the next five years holds in store for us.”

[/wlm_ismember]