USA, SD: Dakota Point Brewing Company extremely well-received in Rapid City

The building located at 405 Canal Street, Rapid City is usually referred to by locals as the Landstrom Building. But it was originally built in 1928 as a power plant for Black Hills Energy.

Now, the building is host to a number of new businesses, the newest the Dakota Point Brewing Company. It is named for a Sheridan Lake location called Dakota Point, and Neal Schlottman, a founder and managing partner of the brewery, hopes to recreate Dakota Point’s atmosphere, but in Rapid City, Newscenter1.tv reported on June 15.

"There's a lot of history at Dakota Point,” Schlottman said. “It’s a great gathering place for friends to enjoy a cold beer around a fire and have an enjoyable time and have some fun."

Craft brewing has been enjoying a renaissance in the United States with breweries pushing the boundaries of what is possible with beer. But, this brewery is endeavoring to achieve new heights of excellence in its brews, which feature English, Irish, Scottish, and American style traditional ales.

"We're not going to try to recreate the wheel, which is what a lot of craft brewers are trying to do coming up with some really funky things,” Schlottman said. “We're just going to make a really great wheel."

And since Dakota Point Brewing opened its doors on June 1, they've been off to a great start.

"We've been extremely well-received, lot of positive reviews online, and of course the feedback we're getting directly from our customers has been fantastic," Schlottman said.

But what Schlottman and the other founders hope to preserve and showcase with their new enterprise is their Rapid City identity.

"We're locally owned. We want to basically stay local. We want to provide craft beer that is outstanding to the Rapid City customers, obviously, and we hope we get a tourist crowd in the summer as well."

Dakota Point Brewing hopes to begin bottling and distributing their craft beers off-premises in the near future.