In 2022, in a small town along Route 66 northwest of Bloomington-Normal in Illinois, three men who brewed their own beer at home turned a passion and a hobby into a profession and opened Analytical Brewing.
Nate Poehlman and partners Andy Arndt and Brian Graves, all of Hudson, opened Analytical Brewing a little over a year ago in nearby Lexington.
“Nate had been a home brewer for many, many years before Andy and I got into it,” Graves said. “Much later, Andy and I started doing some home brewing around the start of COVID. Nate joined in and then it kind of went down a path.”
With the encouragement of their spouses, the three men started researching what it would take to open brewery.
“I think it’s three guys brewing beer that turned it into a place,” Poehlman said. “Where we started out was people enjoying the home beers and carried that friends and family theme into the brewery.”
More:How a corner bar in Lexington helped fuel Central Illinois’ love affair with craft beer
Lexington’s on the map
Finding the right location was an important step. Bloomington-Normal seemed to be a perfect place, but there were already some craft breweries there. Then there was Lexington, about 15 miles away. The men were already familiar with the village because of Kemp’s Upper Tap.
“We loved coming over here,” Graves said. “We were coming over here a long time before starting on the brewery because of Kemp’s. It was just kind of a regular spot to come on a Friday night — go to Kemp’s, get a burger, have a beer.
“Lexington was kind of on the map for me because of that.”
The men reached out to officials in Bloomington-Normal and Lexington. Lexington Mayor Spencer Johansen was working on an effort to revitalize Lexington’s Main Street with Kemp’s as an anchor. A brewery, of course, would fit nicely into those plans.
“To me this is a perfect success story,” Johansen said. “You have three guys brewing beer out of their garage and have this vision of opening up their own brewery. They went to Bloomington-Normal and basically kind of got the cold shoulder because there are so many breweries in Bloomington already.
“So they came to Lexington, and I showed them property. A year after we closed on the property, they were open and running.”
Even Johansen, a self-proclaimed Miller Lite or PBR guy, is coming around to craft beer with his town’s new additions.
“I told the brewery guys when we first met,” Johansen said, “‘Guys, I gotta be honest with you. I’m not a big craft beer drinker,’ and they kind of laughed and looked at each other. They said ‘there’s always that guy who’s not the craft beer drinker.
“They came up with a brew and they called it ‘That Guy.’ Last year at their Christmas party, they brought it out, and it was really good. I liked it. It was not quite Miller Lite, but it was close.”
30 varieties, 10 taps, endless potential
The City of Lexington had purchased a number of buildings from a trucking business. Johansen’s plan was to bring small businesses to town to fill those spaces up. One of those buildings worked perfectly for the guys at Analytical.
Analytical is located just east of the Shake Shack, a popular seasonal refreshment stand. There is plenty of room outside of the building for people to relax or an occasional live music show.
“We wanted to create a tap room that was a comfortable environment,” Graves said. “It’s intentional that we don’t have TVs. It’s about coming out and hanging out and enjoying the space, having a beer and connecting with friends and family.
Analytical has a lot to offer its guests. So far, there have been 30 varieties. There are American IPAs, pale ales, clear beers and pilsners. Summer brought a strawberry blonde ale. A peach ale and Octoberfest are on the way.
There are 10 taps on the tap room wall with eight different varieties. Really, other than Kemp’s and a few other places in the area, the only place to get Analytical Brewing products is the tap room.
“Our focus right now has been to increase our distribution locally,” Graves said. “We’ve done some more focused distribution on our ales.”
The names can be rather catchy. Analyze This! and Son of a Wit are two of the catchier monikers, as well as the brewery itself.
“As a general rule, we do a variety of beers true to style,” Graves said. “We have a variety of craft beer drinkers, and we try to focus to keep them true to style. We think we have something that appeals to a wide spectrum of craft beer drinkers versus being a craft brewery that specializes on a certain type of beer.”
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