USA, SD: Covert Artisan Ales brings passion for Belgian beer styles to Sioux Falls

The owners of Covert Artisan Ales moved to Sioux Falls to be closer to family but brought with them a passion for beer-making and techniques picked up while traveling abroad, the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reported on April 16.

Covert founders Daniel and Stacey Berry are influenced by Belgian-style beers, using brewing techniques that harness the natural environment and emphasize flavor over quick results. They're also influenced by their time serving in the U.S. Army.

“One of the things that the military has taught us is patience,” Daniel Berry said. “We have time.”

Covert opened its western Sioux Falls brewery to the public on April 13, and will open again Saturday, April 20 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for people who want to try its newest styles. The Berrys run their artisan beer business in a small 2,000-square-foot space in a warehouse at 605 S. Watson Ave.

After starting the brewing process in September, Covert Artisan Ales kegged and sold its beer on local taps at Monk’s House of Ale Repute and JJ’s Wine Spirits and Cigars.

Covert will have its own taps available this weekend, with two styles available in 750-milliliter refillable bottles. This month’s releases include Erzen, Covert’s sour red ale, and Breakfast with the Berrys, a wild ale fermented with blueberries, aged in bourbon barrel with maple syrup.

Covert Artisan Ales will also be serving up pours of Strawberry Erzen, which was fermented with strawberries, Stacey said. People who buy glassware this weekend will be able to get a discount on the couple’s newest release.

“Dan’s always been interested in brewing beer, and he kind of got me interested in it as well,” Stacey said. “Living oversees we were able to learn a little bit about how the Belgians brew their beers.”

The name Covert is based on the couple’s military background and their business model of offering beer in limited releases. Both served on multiple tours in Iraq and then later in Afghanistan for contractors. They eventually settled in Germany.

“So Belgium was really, really close, and you can only drink so many pilsners,” Stacey said. “We fell in love with Belgian beer and the way they make their styles.”

The couple eventually moved back to the United States and then again from Texas to Sioux Falls to be closer to Daniel’s parents in Sibley, Iowa.

As an homage to their service in the military, Covert’s fox-head logo is based on Stacey’s unit, Sly Fox. Designed by Daniel, its colors represent the various levels of confidentiality: Red, orange, blue and green.

Covert specializes in using naturally occurring yeasts during the beer-making process, brewing wild ales and spontaneous-style ales with an open-air vessel called a coolship.

Wild ales use yeasts cultivated from the environment – Covert’s house culture includes yeast cultures from a Falls Park pine cone.

Spontaneous ales ferment only with yeast and bacteria picked up during the exposure in the coolship. They can take between one and three years to make, Daniel said.

“It’s a balance between what people are used to with beers and starting to get into the wine territory,” Daniel said.

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