SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — By definition, the term ‘severance’ means ending a connection. To Scott Heckel, it also means a new beginning. And Scott’s new beginning started when he received a Mr. Beer kit from his wife for their first Christmas together.
“The beer we made on that was not very good but opened my eyes to the possibility of being able to actually brew at home. And from there, it kind of just spurred into a little bit of an obsession,” Severance Brewing co-owner Scott Heckel said.
It was an obsession that went from five-gallon batches on their stove at home to Scott quitting his corporate banking job to open his own brewery.
“In 2017, my wife had suggested, ‘hey, why don’t we pursue starting a brewery,’ something that we had talked about quite a bit in the past. A few years later it kind of became a reality,” Scott said.
Two years later, Severance Brewing opened its doors with over ten kinds of beer ready on their first day.
“The name Severance is a nod to Scott leaving corporate and essentially creating his own severance package,” his wife and co-owner Melissa Heckel said. “We figured it’s a name that a lot of people can relate to with that concept of severing ties at some point in their life with something that’s not serving them and pursuing something for the sake of happiness.”
The brewery’s wall of severed ties shows the number of other customers who have stepped out of their comfort zones to pursue something new. For one first-time customer, Linden Hardee, perhaps the chance of him stumbling upon Severance Brewing was meant to be. Hardee and his family were travelling through Sioux Falls for their first time.
“I’m starting law school in August, and I’ve been working for the last three years, and I actually just quit my job this past Thursday. So, maybe it was pretty fitting that we stumbled upon here,” Hardee said.
Most of the afternoon and evening drinks are the result of early mornings for the Heckels. They brew their own beer to create their own unique flavors from pale ales to cookie monster stouts.
“We put a lot of research and thought into our taproom by visiting dozens of breweries around the region. I feel like you can you can really feel that when you walk in, that there’s just a lot of intentionality and purpose into the design and the layouts and the interactivity within the taproom,” Melissa said.
Moving forward in their business is just as important as giving back. In their five years of business, Severance Brewing has given over $30,000 to various nonprofits.
“Each month we have a nonprofit organization that we will work with to raise funds to help support their mission. And each month, it’s a different organization that we get to support,” Melissa said. “So, not only do we get to provide beer and opportunities for people to come together and have great conversations, but then we also get to take that a step further and use this as a platform to give back to the community.”
Scott hopes they can increase their craft beer production in the next five years.
“I think we want to try to maximize everything we can in our space downtown. We’ve got a lot of room for growth here just in terms of capacity and what we can actually brew on site,” Scott said.
Through hard work, the Heckels are proving that raising the bar in your own life can go a long way; all you need is a glass half full mentality.
Severance Brewing celebrates its 5th anniversary Friday, August 2nd. The Severance Day Anniversary Party is Saturday, August 3rd and starts at noon where they’ll also reveal five new beers.
