
April 21, 2023
DE PERE – Fueled by a desire to live life to the fullest, two local De Pere men are turning their passions into reality.
The duo – Josh Smits and Steve Beckett – are combining their love of beer and cycling, with the help of the nearby Fox River Trail.
This summer, Cycling Brews Taproom will open at 1109 Honey Court in De Pere – a stone’s throw away from the trail.
“We’re hoping for a June opening,” Smits said. “We thought with the Fox River Trail right there, it was the perfect location for a taproom. We’ll be positioned exactly halfway on the trail between the Gnarly Cedar Brewery in Greenleaf to the south and Copper State Brewing Co. to the north in downtown Green Bay. Each of those breweries are eight miles away in opposite directions from us.”
Part of the inspiration behind starting the taproom, the duo said, stems from health scares they both had in the past few years.
“Five years ago, I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer and went through all the treatment – chemo and radiation,” Smits said. “I decided life was too short – I’ll be 50 in June. My last scan was about a month ago, and it was clear. I don’t have another one for a year now.”
For Beckett, it’s a similar story.
“I’m also a lymphoma survivor,” the 49-year-old said. “I went through chemo as well but have been good ever since. I’m a two-time cancer survivor – I had colon cancer when I was 35.”
How things got started
Talks between Beckett and Smits in regards to starting a business began over – you guessed it – a beer.
“We were at a brewery in Eau Claire watching them pour beer, and we said, ‘Why couldn’t we do this? Why couldn’t we be happy?’” Beckett said. “It snowballed from there, and we kept having more talks.”
After Beckett – who worked for Bellin at the time – left his job in January 2022, the duo said talks “really ramped up.”
“I’ve been unemployed for more than a year,” Beckett laughed. “We started looking for locations last May, but those fell through. So, this could have begun for us last summer, but it didn’t work out.”
From there, Smits said they put together a business plan.
“Steve gave me the push I needed to take the next steps,” he said. “We began researching, talked to the bank and brought everything to the City of De Pere and Allouez. They thought it was a good idea, and here we are. From De Pere’s perspective, they don’t have a taproom in the city.”
Beckett said he couldn’t do this adventure without Smits.
“We’ve been friends for more than 30 years,” he said. “It’s the right time for both of us – we had to get over the first step. Most of the anxiety we had was early in the process.”
Fortunately, Smits said, neither was anxious at the same time.
“I have plenty of friends who like to drink beer, but I don’t think I could go into business with them,” he said. “We haven’t gotten sick of each other yet.”
Cycling and beer
Because there will be limited food options in the taproom, Smits said patrons are allowed to bring in food.
“We’re going to have 36 local craft beers on tap,” he said. “We named the place Cycling Brews because the beers will constantly be ‘cycling’ through. We’d also like to bring in a beer not from the area once in a while.”
Beckett said the local breweries do not look at the soon-to-be taproom as competition – it’s actually the opposite.
“We’ve talked to a few already, and they see us as helping them spread the word about their beers,” he said. “We’re all about highlighting the 11 breweries around us. Because we won’t be serving much food, we also plan to bring in food trucks.”
The pair said there will be parking at the facility – which was an old church.
“Park at the taproom, go for a ride or a walk on the trail, come back, fill up your water bottle, ride some more and eventually stop in for a beer,” Smits said. “We’ll have a bike rack outside, and hopefully, have one inside eventually, too. If you’re on the trail in the winter, it would be perfect to come inside and warm up and have a beer.”
Smits said for now, until they see how things progress, it’ll be he and Beckett – along with their wives – running the show.
“We have tons of support and many offers to help once we open,” he said.
Hours will be 3-9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
The taproom will be closed Monday.
“That may fluctuate with the weather and what local sports might be going on,” Beckett said.
Smits said the taproom was awarded a full liquor license by the City of De Pere, so that opens up options in the future.
//tbnapp.cdn.bubble.io/f1682090038794x426717954755162940/richtext_content.webpCycling Brews Taproom owners, from left, Josh and Brenda Smits, and Janelle and Steve Beckett, said they hope to be up and running in June. Submitted Photo
“We want to get a handle on what we have first,” he said. “It’s too early to decide on anything else – we’re not ready for that quite yet.”
A unique niche
Beckett said one of the hardest things in their endeavor was finding a location close enough to the Fox River Trail to tap into the potential clientele it provides.
“Because we won’t be brewing our own beer, we needed a space that was unique for what we wanted to accomplish,” he said. “Other breweries make their own beer or maybe have a full restaurant – we aren’t doing that. Our niche is cycling through 36 brews and having the Fox River Trail nearby.”
The pair said they’ll also have some TVs with local and national sports playing and eventually host live music.
“We have space to bring in music,” Smits said. “I think it’s another little niche we’ll offer.”
Construction update
Beckett said the building of the future taproom, close to Black Honey Hashery and Turriff Plumbing on De Pere’s east side, has seen several different forms over the years.
“Years ago, it was the Manhattan Lanes,” he said. “Caleb Hayes, of Caleb Hayes Real Estate Group, bought the bowling alley – I believe in 2018 – and invested in a renovation. Besides a church, a chiropractor’s office and CrossFit have been there.”
Construction-wise, Smits said work is progressing.
“It was mostly taking walls down and making it more spacious,” he said. “Also, some plumbing and electrical work has taken place. Construction normally has hiccups along the way, so we’re hoping that June opening happens.”
To learn more about the taproom, visit cyclingbrews.com.