Stoney Acres Farm to add microbrewery, expand Pizza on the Farm for 2018

Marshfield News-Herald

Tony Schultz holds up a tray of brussel sprouts Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, in his storage room at Stoney Acres Farm in Athens, Wis.

TOWN OF BERN - Tony Schultz calls winter his offseason. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t busy.

Schultz, who owns Stoney Acres Farm, has plans to start a microbrewery on the site called Stoney Acres Brewery. The farm will also expand its popular pizza nights — which offer pizzas made with all-local ingredients, cooked in an outdoor stone oven — to every Friday and Saturday for the 2018 season, which starts April 20. The farm's locally brewed beer will be sold on site during pizza nights.

“I take notes each week on what works and what might not going forward,” Schultz said. This past summer “we had some beers on tap here and it was a popular addition. Now, we will have our own beer.”

The beer will be brewed in his remodeled shed next to where visitors to pizza nights sit if it rains. Stoney Acres Brewery's beer will be made by brewmaster Josh Wright, who Schultz says is as talented a beer creator as he knows. Wright, from Wausau, is well known in the brewing community, but Schultz said it's time for his friend to showcase his brewing talents.

"I told Josh, it is time to bring you out of the basement," Schultz joked. "We will be diverse enough to have ales, lagers, dark beers. ... I wouldn't be able to do this by myself."

Tony Schultz feeds his 4-year-old daughter Maple some mizuna vegetables Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, in his greenhouse at Stoney Acres Farm in Athens, Wis.

On a chilly November afternoon, Schultz gazed out over his fields near the handful of hoop houses on the north end of his home and pointed to the land – 10 acres – where he will grow the barley. Schultz wore snowpants, a Stoney Acres beanie, and carried his daughter Maple, 4.

"In winter I reintroduce myself to my children," Schultz said. "I don't have the deadlines, harvest times for most vegetables. I still do daily chores, but I get to spend much more time with my children."

Schulz said it will take a year to grow hops, so for the 2018 season he will be buying the hops for his beers. Stoney Acres Brewery will serve various beers but Schultz projects to make 90 kegs of beer in the next year and 200 the following year.

People can pair those beers with Schultz's array of pizzas. In 2017 Stoney Acres had eight ticketed Saturday night events in addition to regular Friday night events. Now, in 2018, pizza nights will take place both nights every weekend. Schultz said having additional nights helped with busy weekends like Fourth of July to spread out the rush.

The Friday night pizza in good weather typically draws a few hundred people. The pizzas are made with local ingredients, either grown at Stoney Acres or, in the case of the cheese, purchased from local producers. The pizzas are cooked outside in a wood-fired oven at Stoney Acres Farm, 7002 Rangeline Rd. in Athens.

In addition to pizza nights and starting a brewery, Schultz also started the growing winter farmers market now held at the Wausau Area Boys & Girls Club in Wausau.

"People want authenticity. The (farm-to-table) movement continues to grow," Schultz said. "The organic food movement and need for fresh food will not go away."

For more information go to stoneyacresfarm.net or check out the Stoney Acres Farm Facebook page.