When you ask the founders of Drekker Brewing Company, the Viking-inspired brewery in Fargo, North Dakota, about their origin, they offer an aloof shrug. It could be modesty, or it could be that they don’t want to bore someone with a story that’s been told countless times about friends who loved homebrewing, who had an entrepreneurial streak, and who decided to jump into the craft-beer waters. Maybe it’s the Midwest politeness. More likely it’s because, while they are proud of where they came from, they are focused on the future and the path waiting to be forged.
The brewery opened in 2014, but Cofounders Mark Bjornstad, Darin Montplaisir, Jesse Feigum, and Mason Montplaisir had brewed together for almost 7 years before the first professional tanks were filled. During those years of homebrewing, they developed and wrote the business plan, dialed in recipes, and discussed names and branding.
Opening in downtown Fargo and making a splashy entrance at the time, the brewery offered fairly traditional beers at first, with a few “of the moment” styles mixed in. Think porter, pale ale, and black IPA.