Grain Bin!

We found this on craigslist and drove to Hastings, MN with some tools, a trailer, some snacks and a prayer...

It took about 8 hours to take this puppy down and we literally worked until the cows came home! Luckily we had the foresight to bring a sharpie so we could label each piece to aid in the reassembly. When we rebuilt it we also decided against the rusted out bolts and used new ones instead.
This will be the shelter to our wood fired oven for many years to come...

It's for the Children...

 Roman is our baby boy. He is the son of Butterbean and the late Houie (who was illegally shot by a bow hunter in 2009). He was born in the bitter cold and the tips of his ears and tail froze off. He’s our little Shrek!

 Roman playing peek-a-boo with me behind Dustin's leg. 

We "fixed" our newest baby boy Webster and it led to part of one of his horns falling off, we thought he was dying at first but then read that it's somewhat normal for that to happen. This is our makeshift bandage...

"Mama of all", Butterbean, and baby Webster going for a stroll.

The Family- Butterbean, Roman and the twins: Webster and Penny.

 Penny getting up close and personal (and resembling a cow some have said).

Enter the Kiln...

This is a video showing the interior of the kiln before we got our paws on it:

During...

Getting Closer...

And finally...

If you build it...

LEFT: the old sawmill building where we house our kids...sheep kids that is. The front lean-to had collapsed under the snow and needed to be rebuilt. RIGHT: We added a front porch where we will have live music...and still provide a shelter. We also are planning to get more animals!

ABOVE: Exterior of what used to be the drying kiln for the sawmill wood. The previous owner lived in it for 28 years, without running water or sewer. The upkeep, well...wasn't kept up, to say the least. These pictures are after we had already cleaned up a considerable amount. We had also torn down one of the carports on the end of the building, for fear it was going to collapse before we were ready to progress with our plans. The roof was questionable and the little entrance way was falling apart too.  BELOW: Exterior of the kiln now. We designed this over several months (and countless sheets of graph paper!) and were able to use up a lot of the wood and metal that had been left behind. 

 BELOW: Front of the kiln..we built the covered porch and added our cherished Frick Sawmill Sign.

Country Mouse, City Mouse...

  This is us...

We're Dustin and Emily, co-founders of the developing Sawmill Logger Brewing Company, located in Clear Lake, WI. We would love for you to come and see what we have brewing! To get a better understanding of who we are and what we have to offer we need to rewind for a minute...

My name is Dustin Booth. I was born and raised in Clear Lake. For the last 17 years I've owned a hardwood flooring company with my mother and brother. In 2006 I was bitten by the acting bug and hightailed it out to Hollywood, while still doing everything I could to hold onto my home (which is a barn directly across the pond from where I grew up and where my mom still lives)! In three short years I was involved in multiple projects, including starring in a feature film, Clear Lake, WI (www.clearlakewimovie.com). Fun Fact- I'm also the guy on the Breathe Right Box! My best buddy/dog Parker became ill in 2009 and he and I returned home to spend his last months at the place he loved most. After he passed I was gearing up to head back out to California, but I thought I'd audition for a feature film that was shooting in MN. I ended up getting called back to audition with the gal who I'd potentially be acting opposite of; the director wanted to see if we had any chemistry. Enter Emily...

Hello! My name is Emily Fradenburgh. I was born in Iowa and grew up in New Prague, MN. I went to college to obtain a B.A. in Psychology. I needed one more credit to graduate and decided to take an acting class- I was hooked! I ended up double majoring, earning a degree in Theatre Performance as well. I spent a short time in L.A. in 2004 and then moved back to MN to gain more experience and be near my family, with the goal of heading back out to to CA someday. I spent the next handful of years acting and traveling, and trying to figure out where home would be for me (I've lived in 15 places in as many years). In early 2009 I was cast in a movie shooting in KY (www.jenniferstidger.com) and later that year I auditioned for a movie shooting in MN and got the part.  My intention was to finish the movie and then move to Toronto. We started shooting in December and in early Spring I was called in to read with a guy named Dustin...he was cast on the spot! And the rest is history- in the making!

We spent three weeks shooting the movie together (the working title is Statue of David) and in that time became fast friends.  Dustin didn’t move back to L.A. and Emily didn’t move to Toronto…instead we jumped on a motorcycle for two weeks and started planning a future together. We haven’t given up on our dreams, rather, we are making new ones…that are coming true! Our ultimate goals are to create, be around people, be at home and celebrate life! It added up to one conclusion- we must start a destination nanobrewery! We immediately began cleaning up the old sawmill property at the end of our driveway that Dustin had purchased in 2005. Over the last two years we've worked around the clock rebuilding, designing, brewing, dreaming and developing.

We have to thank President Theodore Roosevelt for inspiring us to get back to basics and start from scratch. His quote, "Do What You Can, With What You Have, Where You Are" is what we are living by, each and every day.  We are also banking on the main theme from the movie Field of Dreams- "If You Build It, They Will Come". We have made a TON of progress already and aren't about to slow down!