By Viva Lauinger
During the last E-Among Us event on August 12, a group of young professionals got to cool themselves down (and quench their thirst) with a variety of beer samples provided by Ted Hoffman, owner of Buffalo Commons Brewery in Mandan.
Hoffman has been a home brewer since the mid-‘90s and recently took his “hobby” to a larger scale. Before opening Buffalo Commons Brewery, Hoffman spent time learning the ropes of brewing on a big scale during an internship at a brewery in Kansas, and after securing financing (Buffalo Commons is fully funded by Hoffman; no investors are backing the brewery), the first batch of beer was poured in January of 2013.
When asked how he came up with the name for the brewery, Hoffman shared about the “Buffalo Commons” proposal in the late ‘80s by Rutgers’ Professor Frank Popper, and his wife, Deborah, to convert much of America’s prairie outback into public domain for its original residents – the buffalo. Buffalo Commons’ public release party was held in March 2013 at Peacock Alley, who remains one of their biggest supporters and along with other area restaurants, has several of their beers on tap.
