×

A trip to Timbukbru

Friends from Hagie join together to open brewery in Clarion

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Teresa Lancaster, left, and her husband, Willie Lancaster, pose at Timbukbru in Clarion recently. The two have been married 10 years. The Lancasters along with four others own Timbukbru.

CLARION — A group of friends who worked together at Hagie Manufacturing decided one day that they wanted to experiment with a new kind of business — a brewery.

“The six of us love craft beer and one of us brewed at home, so we just figured, ‘what the heck,'” Willie Lancaster said. “Let’s see if we can brew our own beer and sell it and enjoy it.”

Willie Lancaster’s wife, Teresa Lancaster, put it simply.

“We wanted to do something cool,” she said. “We are all friends and we socialize together and we had gotten together and talked about things we could do to live a life that’s interesting and do something to push ourselves.”

The friends had their vision, now they just needed a name.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Teresa Lancaster, part owner of Timbukbru, pours a glass of homemade brew in Clarion recently.

“We brainstormed for hours,” Willie Lancaster said.

Eventually, Alan Hagie, one of the six owners of the business, submitted Timbukbru as a possibility.

“As soon as that name came to the table everybody was like, ‘yes.'” Willie Lancaster recalled.

He said there’s two things customers often remark when they visit the brewery for the first time.

“The first is what’s the lightest thing you got and the second is that’s the coolest name ever,” Willie Lancaster said.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Willie Lancaster, general manager of Timbukbru, pours a glass of Millstream Brewing Co. root beer, in Clarion recently.

Willie Lancaster, a former contractor, left his job at Hagie in February and began reconstructing an abandoned building at 215 Sixth St. SW, just down the road from Hagie.

“I went over at looked at the property and thought, I can tear down all the walls and start a fresh clean slate and that’s what I did,” Willie Lancaster said. “Ripped up all the carpet, tore out all the walls.”

Six months later, that building became home to Timbukbru and was unveiled to the public.

“We opened on July 13, 2018,” Teresa Lancaster said. “It was on Friday the 13th and people thought we were crazy. We figured if everything goes to hell we would blame the date.”

There was some uncertainty in the beginning, but so far business has gone well, Willie Lancaster said.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
Willie Lancaster, general manager of Timbukbru, looks over the brewery’s fermenter tanks in Clarion recently.

Adam Schuchmann, a part owner, started brewing beer almost five years ago from the basement of his house.

“He did it for four-and-a-half years in his basement and then going to a system like this,” Willie Lancaster said. “It was scary. We didn’t know how it would turn out and then it turned out really well.”

Willie Lancaster said he was surprised by just how much time it takes to make the beer.

“The time it takes to brew the beer,” he said. “The fermenting and all of that. I help do the first five brews from start to finish and it’s a lot of time. For a seven barrel system, from start to finish, takes 12 to 14 hours to brew a batch.”

The fermenting tanks, where the beer is brewed, are visible through a plexiglass window for those seated at the bar.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson
A few of the beers offered at Timbukbru are displayed here.

Eight beers are on tap. The homemade brews include three wheat beers: raspberry, blueberry and mango, and two India pale ales, OGIPA and Midwest Coast.

Then there is the milk stout.

“That’s really smooth,” Willie Lancaster said.

Kolsch, a German beer, and Oktoberfest, a seasonal beer, are also on tap.

“We have guest taps that change all the time,” Willie Lancaster said. “We have two to four guest taps at anytime. The others are all brewed here.”

Millstream Brewing Co. root beer is also available for people who prefer a non-alcoholic beverage.

As patrons look around the building, they will notice paintings paying homage to the 80s.

“The majority of us grew up in the 80s,” Willie Lancaster said. “We threw out the idea of what we wanted up there and that was it. Most of things up came out in the 80s, but we added a few more things to it.”

Included on the north wall is paintings of a retro thick brick cell phone, the Atari joystick, the leg lamp from the movie “A Christmas Story,” a Rubik’s Cube, and an image of Bill Murray from the movie “Stripes.”

An emblem of the 4-H clover is also part of the wall.

“The 4-H clover originated here in Clarion,” Willie Lancaster said.

The southwest corner of the brewery looks similar to a man cave one might find at their own house. It is accessed through a bookshelf hidden door.

“We do a lot of our thinking back here,” Willie Lancaster said.

The brewery provides a place where residents can go to unwind.

Derrick Linn stopped by on a recent week day to sample some of the flavors.

He had just finished work at Hagie.

“I work in the custom solution shop,” he said.

Eric Koerner, the assistant manager, asked Linn what he was having.

“I am going to try the mango,” Linn said.

“During fantasy football you liked the blackberry we had,” Willie Lancaster said.

In terms of which one Linn liked better, he said, “It’s good. I still like the blackberry.”

Linn had one confession while at the bar.

“Now I’m going to have to tell my girlfriend I was here since this might be in the newspaper,” he said.

Earlier in the afternoon, Sherri O’Brien and Staci Schnittjer, came inside to buy some gift cards.

O’Brien works at First State Bank, while Schnittjer works at Town and Country Insurance.

The two are fans of one of Clarion’s newest businesses.

“It’s a great addition to Clarion,” O’Brien said. “It’s a really fun place. Great atmosphere.”

As far as her favorite brew, she said, “It’s a toss-up between the blackberry and the raspberry.”

Willie Lancaster said the fruit beers have become very popular.

“Looking at our sales, those have been the best,” he said. “Everyone likes the taste of our fruit wheat beers.”

In recent times, Willie Lancaster said there’s been a focus on providing different forms of entertainment.

“We have entertainment about every other weekend,” he said. “Trivia is every Tuesday night.”

Polka night was a few weeks ago.

Koerner had fun with that.

“It took me 45 minutes to get into my outfit,” he said.

Willie Lancaster said he’s dedicated most of his time to the business.

“I spend a lot of time here, just because I’m the only one without a full-time job,” he said. “I got out of the rental business about a month ago. Sold all of my apartments.”

He added, “I have all the time in the world.”

Teresa Lancaster said the group’s attitude towards the brewery is a reflection of the type of people they are.

“It’s about living an interesting life,” she said. “We want to look back and say remember when.”

About the owners

The owners of Timbukbru are: Alan Hagie, Adam Schuchmann, Clint Middleton, Dave Flurer, Willie Lancaster, and his wife, Teresa Lancaster.

Alan Hagie is president and chief executive officer of Hagie Manufacturing. He provides much of the ideas and direction for Timbukbru, Willie Lancaster said.

Adam Schuchmann works as a helpdesk technician at Hagie. Schuchmann began brewing beer from his basement almost five years ago. He continues to serve as the brewer for Timbukbru.

Clint Middleton and Teresa Lancaster have served as marketing experts for the business, Willie Lancaster said.

“They are both very artistic,” he said.

Teresa Lancaster also serves on Clarion’s City Council.

Dave Flurer works as maintenance manager at Hagie. Flurer completed a majority of the electrical work at the brewery.

Willie Lancaster serves as the general manager of Timbukbru.

All six owners met while they worked at Hagie. Willie Lancaster served as facility maintenance manager. Teresa Lancaster was a talent development coach.

Willie and Teresa Lancaster recently celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today