Over the past decade, a fair number of Greater Madison area downtowns have experienced revitalizations thanks to the members of those communities committing their patronage to local small businesses. Of course, those small business owners have worked hard to provide fantastic food, high-end products, and reputable service. A common thread woven through the successes in every downtown is the presence of a microbrewery. Okay, that might be a stretch, but Sunshine Brewing Company in downtown Lake Mills has certainly played their part.
Lane Smith, owner and head brewer of Sunshine Brewing, is an export from the San Diego area who could fill the role of the adrenaline junkie Bodhi from Point Break, with the surfboards and mountain bikes to prove it on display at the brewery. He wouldn’t describe himself as the best or most knowledgeable brewer, but as someone seeking connection with people and family.
“I’ve owned my own businesses since the ’90s, so I’ve always been business to business. And I’ve always traveled to do it. With having a bunch of kids, I wanted to try a local business that would help teach my kids how to run a business and how to make their own money so they don’t have to work for corporate America. And I wanted to build that community. I think we’re really accomplishing that.”
Since opening in 2018, Lane’s children have been involved with a lot of different aspects of running a business, from maintenance and cleaning to management and finances. At 19, Grace, Lane’s oldest daughter, is the general manager. “She runs the show. She just started her own marketing business. Literally, she knows how to do everything in the business. Everybody respects her. It’s turning into this big family.”
The brewery has also given Lane an education in brewing as well as recognizing and addressing needs in his community. On the beer front, Lane had been a homebrewer for quite some time, focusing on Belgian beers. In fact, when Sunshine first opened, they only used Belgian yeast strains in every style they served. Lane had a vision of selling 20-ounce bombers in grocery stores, but once the market shifted toward cans and six packs, he chose to focus more on the tap room.
Two things eventually came to light: one, with a family focus and atmosphere at Sunshine, there’d need to be food offerings, and two, not everybody liked Belgian beers as much as he did.
Putting together a menu was easy since Lane is big into what he calls SoCal Mexican food. “My goal with our food was to not be heavy with the sauces and cheeses.” Since COVID, the offerings narrowed down to some of the best tacos, burritos, and sheet-pan nachos around. All the meat in their food is “sourced local right out of Heritage Country Farms down the road. It’s not organic, but it’s all Wisconsin-grown chicken, pork, and beef.”
Testament to the food quality is the number of repeat non-beer-drinking customers coming in just for the tacos and nachos. Lane is proud of the food he serves, but twist his arm and the carnitas tacos edge out the rest, though the sheet-pan nachos, every chip as crispy and covered in toppings as the next, are right up there. In the near future, families will be able to enjoy their food with some Sunshine sparking hop water, sparkling lemon-lime, and even sodas.
Back to beer, Lane knew he’d have to evolve, but he also knew he’d need an expert to do it. “I brought on a new partner two years ago, Caleb. He’s a national award-winning homebrewer. For me, I was a business person who brewed beer. I never had a vision of doing the brewing continually. I knew I brewed good enough beer to make people happy, but if we were going to reach where we wanted to get, we were going to need to bring in someone who really knows the science and everything. With Caleb, I got that, and we really ramped up our beer quality over the past couple of years.”
Sunshine now offers true-to-style Stouts, Pilsners, IPAs, and even a seasonal Festbier. In accordance with Lane’s feel healthy motto, there’s also been a handful of low-ABV Session beers coming out of the tank. Recently, the brewery teamed up with Trek Bicycle Corporation to create a 4 percent Blonde Ale and a 4.5 percent Session IPA, Bunny Hop and Patch Kit respectively. And it isn’t just those two beers that showcase Lane’s love for mountain biking; many beers are named after trails in Wisconsin.
Lane and Sunshine have also found a lot of ways to be directly involved in the community. For starters, he coaches the high school mountain bike team, which consists of 90 students all around the area. It’s been a great way for Lane to interact with people who share his passion for the sport in his community, and the team has found a lot of success.
But to serve people who need help, Lane saw he could do more. “In 2020, I had some friends, Melissa Walker and her sister Rachel Davies, that wanted to do a food pantry for Christmas dinners and stuff. They needed some space, so I was like, ‘I have a walk-in cooler. You can drive into the back.’ That year, I think we served 30 or so dinners. We kept doing it and ultimately created Sunrise Reach, in 2021. Today, we’ve served around 100,000 pounds of food with a value of about $340,000 saved by local families. … One thing about community is friendship and having fun, but another is about helping others. We just did a clothing drive and provided 160 kids with back-to-school clothing.”
Brewing great beer and making some of Lake Mills’ favorite tacos seems to be everything Lane could’ve wished for with Sunshine Brewing, and it’s proven valuable for his community that he didn’t stop there. The next time you swing by with your friends, your family, or your grandma, know that you’re supporting a business that supports its neighbors. Thanks to a focus on healthy living, you’ll also feel good doing it.
Kyle Jacobson is a writer who thinks the holidays are better spent at home than in traffic.
Photographs by Eric Tadsen.
Sunshine Brewing Company
121 S. Main Street
Lake Mills, WI 53551