Restored From An Old Train Station, Brewery Nonic Chugs Along

MENOMONIE, Wis. (WCCO) -- There was a time when train depots were the traveling hubs of America.

Passengers and cargo were shuffled through on the hour, as they went from one train to another.

That was especially true at the Menomonie-Omaha Depot until trains stopped coming 50 years ago.

But some entrepreneurs are now laying their own tracks inside the historic building.

"If you are going to dive into this, do it in an awesome space," said Ryan Verdon.

As a man who appreciates beer, Verdon has done enough research on the topic to know what his favorite kind is.

"I've always felt that English beer tends to be underrepresented," said Verdon.

Kind of like the train depot in Menomonie. At one time it was the epicenter of travel in this Wisconsin town, but for more than 50 years, it's served as a feed mill and then just a building for storage.

"Honestly, it was in considerably better shape than we could have imagined," said Verdon. "It had sat basically abandoned and unused for years and years and years."

While others saw a crumbling has-been, Verdon saw an opportunity. The depot is on both the state and national registry for historic places. With that in mind, he bought it and began the long process of converting it from a hub where trains used to chug along, to a place where you can do your own chugging.

Brewery Nonic was born. It's named after an English pint glass.

"Kind of a hardened edge on the top of it, so as they get stacked up and bumped and stuff, it doesn't nick," said Verdon.

He kept much of the depot the same. Old-timers who used the depot may recognize the original hardwood floors or the century-old doors. But for 14 months of remodeling and restoring, it was a labor of love.

"I've done everything from painting walls to plastering ceilings, fixing up the table tops and staining -- lots of staining," said Levi Gilbert.

Gilbert isn't just a train depot remodeler, he's also a brewer. His job is to make sure the new brews arrive on time.

"And on the spot, you'll need to come up with a name for a beer that's coming on in an hour or so. You start spit-balling and come up with weird stuff like Inky-Boi and Zesty-Boi," said Gilbert. "I really like Happy, Little Trees. That's Bob Ross the famous painter."

They've gone off the tracks with their names. New beers keep coming out, as old pictures pop up. And through it all, Verdon and Gilbert plan on staying the course.

"You don't see buildings like this anymore. As soon as you see it, it's like so unique and different than anything else. It's spectacular," said Gilbert.

Brewery Nonic also kept the original windows and bricks from the depot.