Moonlyte Brewing Company How did the founders love of breweries begin?

You know those friends who stick around forever, the ones you get up to all sorts of wild and unforgettable shenanigans with? Well, that's us.

Take Jeff, for instance, a Bud Light aficionado, and Helen, who swears by her Miller Genuine Draft.

Once upon a time, we embarked on a grand adventure to St. Paul with two of our pals for a Minnesota Wild game.

Brian, our resident dark beer enthusiast, convinced us to hit up Great Waters Brewery after the game.

I remember it vividly because it was winter, and we bravely left the cozy warmth of our hotel tunnel to face the icy wrath of the night. It was one of those "nice" windy, below-zero evenings... you know what I mean!

Thankfully, the brewery was open.

We all sat down and ordered a flight to sample their offerings. I can't recall what the rest of us drank, but Brian insisted we all try this dark, heavy, strong, thick, coffee-like beer served in a tiny snifter glass.

We tasted it, gave him the "are you out of your mind?" look, and pulled the classic bitter beer face.

But Brian? Oh, he loved it, despite our protests.

That was just the beginning. Next up, a road trip to Kansas City, Missouri. Jeff had lived there for about a decade during college, and Brian had also called it home. We kicked off our day with Snowshoe Graw, laughed at gas stations named Pump & Munch and Come & Go, and that was just the start of our chuckle-filled weekend.

We couldn't resist hitting Boulevard Brewing for their Wheat Beer.

Our third escapade in our newfound brewery adventure was the Beer Train. Yes, you read that right—Beer Train. Late summer, early fall, right in our lovely Duluth, MN.

We did the beer train and had a blast sampling all sorts of craft beers on the ride up the North Shore, with a pit stop for pizza on the train before it ventured back to the station. Once back, we might have enjoyed a few more at our hotel in Superior. The next morning, we decided to make the most of our weekend and hit the road to Hayward, WI, stopping at the local Angry Minnow Brewery. We've got a funny story about that one too. LOL

From there, we headed to Chetek, WI, and tried out Northwoods Brewery. We were having such a good time, we continued our trip into the cities and spent the night before heading home on Sunday. While in the cities, we hit HOPs Brewing and Granite City, for sure.

We might have hit more, but it's a bit hazy now.

This couple started as work friends and became so much more. Family camping trips, road trips, and they even flew to Honolulu because they weren't going to let us get married after nine years without witnessing it. LOL

Brian and Reen Eichholz are those people—and Brian was crazy enough to trust us with this venture and is along for the ride. Cheers to more Memories

So people have said to Jeff and me, "You shouldn't go into business with family and friends; it's a great way to wreck a friendship."

But we both feel, who better to bring in than the people who know you best, the ones who'd always pick up the phone and be there for you?

And that's how the love of breweries began for the founders of Moonlyte Brewing Co, Jeff and Helen Kukowski.

When we open, we hope that somewhere in your visit to Moonlyte - there is a story, a memory or a friendship made.

Just know when you walk through our doors,

we will gladly say "Welcome Home"