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Nicole Wright/Staff Correspondent Kam and Corey Thompson are stoked to be the new owners of Hoppy Trout Brewing Co. on Main Street in downtown Andrews. They have already made positive changes.
Andrews – With their gleaming eyes and genial smiles, Kam and Corey Thompson are like proverbial foxes in the henhouse. As the new owners of Hoppy Trout Brewing Co., their excitement is impossible to contain – even though the building is limited to capacity because of its square footage.
In telling how they came upon one of downtown’s legacy breweries and revitalization points, the couple grins at each other in a dreamily simpatico manner.
Originally from Davenport, Iowa, and Decatur Ill., respectively, Kam and Corey exude that Midwestern sensibility which is inflected in their open manner of describing themselves as invested in the town.
“We found the place about a year or more ago and came up several times, bringing our daughters to trivia night on a Wednesday, then twice we tried to meet with Tommy [Rodeck] and ask about purchasing the business.”
“Last Christmas sealed the deal for us, when we came up for the Christmas parade and saw the town of Andrews and the strong community here. That small town, welcoming feeling of family and deep roots and strong ties. Finally, that third time was the charm.”
“Plus, when we first saw this area ringed with mountains, we were like, yeah, this is the place,” Kam said with dramatic emphasis, placing her hand over her heart, as Corey tilted his head wistfully with a nod out the door of Hoppy’s back patio toward the Snowbird Mountain range.
A hoppy history
The beginnings of Hoppy Trout, however humble – from a garage to 911 Main St. in Andrews – must be told to understand the impact of an establishment’s changing hands.
“We began as a venture with my now ex-wife. I had started home-brewing in the carport of our house almost every weekend with my good friend and former Murphy High School band director Jake Wentzek [for whom one of the signature beers is named],” original owner Tommy Rodeck said. “We weren’t the first by a stretch. Andrews Brewing Co. was opened by Eric and Judy Carlson a few years prior. I enjoyed hanging out there and discussing the brewing process with him, and would bring him some of my home brews. I even got to help him with one of their brews named Third Cut. And I remember the day Eric said, ‘Tommy, you should open a brewery.’
“At the time, I think they understood that another brewery would bring real beer connoisseurs as tourists to the area. And with the addition of Snowbird Mountains Brewing, we had more brewers per capita in Andrews than even Asheville at the time.”
“Brews started getting good and my father had a vacant storefront downtown. We decided to just go for it and renovate it with his help. Thus, Hoppy Trout was born. Understanding tourism was the driving force for the area, and with the interest in craft beers growing in 2015-16, we decided the time was right.”
When explaining the rationale behind selling one of the more successful businesses in Andrews, Rodeck said after his divorce in 2019 and finding a girlfriend in the Swannanoa area, it made sense to transition toward Asheville.
“As an avid hiker and mountain biker, and lover of beer, it just made sense to move closer to her since there’s not much opportunity for her to move here because of her work,” he said. “So it was just naturally time to move on.”
When asked about the new owners, Rodeck said of the Thompsons, “I don’t think a better couple could take over Hoppy Trout. I wish them the best, and this community is lucky to have such great people in their midst.”
‘It’s your place now’
The Thompsons initially reached out to Rodeck in summer 2022 after finding the brewery for sale.
“We came for one visit and didn’t get to meet Tommy. We came for a second visit after buying a house in Clayton, Ga., and still he had to be out of town. That third visit, though, we met him and sparked an interest in buying the business,” Kam said.
“Then he [Corey] looked and kept going back to it, and seeing how it was for sale, he reached out to Tommy again and we sold our house in Clayton, just in case, you know, something came up. And everything just pretty much fell into place.”
That place is quickly becoming their own. In only 90 days, the Thompsons have made some remarkable changes.
With the seemingly seamless transition between Rodeck and the Thompsons taking over, they both are quick to acknowledge Rodeck’s and his parents’ blessing.
“We said we might tweak some things, but we know this is your baby, and even when we said we wanted to put football on the big screen for the weekends, he said, ‘It’s your place, you know. It’s yours now,’ ” Kam said.
There are also new floors on the back patio to keep the area family and dog friendly.
“Just some updates, putting our own spin on things around here. The big screen for both trivia and sports on the weekends. The new flooring and tables. Moving the merchandise like T-shirts so it’s better seen,” Kam said. “Just little things.”
Those little things can add up to a lot.
“The numbers that were pre-COVID were really good but, of course, they went down. But we know those can come back. First, we’re looking at keeping consistent hours. We’re not looking at changing hours until maybe the spring,” Kam said.
“We’re thinking of adding things, like maybe a dessert pizza. We’ve given our main chef full rein in the kitchen, and she’s coming up with a new ricotta pizza and chili. We’ve added a new brisket barbecue pizza and brisket nachos, selling out on the first two days of offering it, but we’re tweaking things to put our own spin on it.”
That spin includes the recent move into offering live music on the back patio. They recently had the duo Rusted Melody to a packed patio crowd and hope to offer more entertainment in the future.
Their next foray into new offerings includes a day dedicated for donations to the Valley River Humane Society in Marble with a Pints for Paws theme.
“We want to help in the community, see what we can offer and what ways we can show our commitment to the area’s various needs and causes,” Kam said. “We just want to change up some things. See what everyone wants, what they want us to offer.”
Vox populi
In that vein, the Thompsons say they’re more than willing to listen to customer feedback and keep their fingers on the pulse of what patrons want.
“We’ll have our hiccups and things will happen because you can’t please everybody, but we’ve already met a lot of endearing friends and with Tommy building such a strong community with trivia on Wednesdays, we’ve been welcomed, and we’ve already given so many hugs and received so many more in return,” Kam said.
“When we came through this Valley, and saw the ring of mountains and the 360-degree views, we knew this was better than any place we’d already found – we’re all about it.”
“We want people to know we’re here to help not only other businesses in downtown Andrews, but the town itself: from the chamber to anyone. We’re here to stay and this is our retirement. We love the area and are bound here now,” Corey said with a sly wink toward Kam.
To that end, they’ve ramped up social media postings to include sharing local business posts from The Blue Stage, Sage, Snowbird Brewing and The Tattered Tartan Pub. And they got to experience both their first Food Truck Friday and Oktoberfest in Andrews which was a success with their brew of the same name.
“It’s been exciting so far because there’s so much going on in downtown Andrews now,” Kam said. “We’ve been embraced by some good folks around here, and we want to promote all businesses in the area. We’ve told the chamber [of commerce] and everyone, we’re here and willing to help.”
Teamwork = dream work
These two embody that adage as they rattle off lists of to-do’s and get-er-done’s.
“There’s jumping into help and just learning from the ground up again,” Corey said. “One of our managers had a family member pass away, and we may not have planned to do all these things, but our other manager stepped up in a big way and we said we’ll do whatever it takes to make their lives easier.”
It’s also about a big nod to and acknowledging that “so many of the staff here are long-timers, and they deserve our best to help make their lives easier,” Kam added. She relates it to her years in the restaurant industry, serving in every role from server to payroll supervisor, which gives her that ability to recognize when people have given their all in a day.
“If we can get them out of here early because they’ve been busting it, we will,” she said. “Clean, mop, sweep – we’re ready to take that over from them when they’ve put in a full day.”
That Midwestern work ethic is shared by the duo, with her many years in both the service industry and Corey’s years in corporate supervisory roles. In their off time they flipped houses, which had them both working 16-18-hour days.
“This was really started as my and my son’s interest in craft brewing after he got a job in Texas, and as my winding-down hobby after working so much,” Corey said. “So, this was our experiment in home brewing to find a father-son bonding experience.”
“I endorse any time they can bond over something,” Kam added with a sly smile, knowing she’d also get to enjoy the team’s tasty creations.
Corey said after those years at CAT in Decatur, he knew that while he could supervise people, the high-stress corporate environment wasn’t for him anymore.
“At one time, I had 62 people I supervised,” he said. “It was wonderful moving up so many times in the company, but that level of stress takes its toll. I wanted to do something different and, since we’d been going to different microbreweries after my son’s interest, I knew we were leaving the Midwest for something, just not what.”
Micro-touches
It’s fitting that the Thompsons are interested in “micro” touches for the microbrewery.
“We’re just looking at updating a few minor things, like maybe a kick of hops or offering a really popular brew more than once a year,” Kam said.
When asked about one of the more popular brews, the yearly sweet potato-yam ale Yamma Ray that has a cult following worthy of its own T-shirt, they both nodded.
“We’ve been warned. We won’t change anything for fear there may be riots,” Kam said for its well-known following of “brew-pies,” who travel hundreds of miles and across several state lines for growlers.
“We’re considering offering it more than once a year because of its popularity. But also because we don’t want riots,” Kam said as they both laughed.
Along those lines, they’re taking a carefully crafted slow approach to the brew business, considering that all the recipes came with the purchase.
“So, it’s a daily process. Food. Beer. Best we can be. With the amazing staff, high-fiving and fist-bumping, and then providing an amazing product and experience for loyal customers and new visitors,” Kam said.
“We’re here now. This is our retirement. After waiting on all the kids to get established in their lives and our youngest daughter in college, we felt it was time for a move. We didn’t know where or what, but we’ve found it, and we’re her for the long term.
“Finding this area on our way to Florida is the best things that’s happened to us, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds here for both us and Andrews.”
Details: hoppytroutbrewing.com.