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LITTLETON - Up in the heart of the White Mountains region, just in front of the covered bridge, overlooking the Ammonoosuc River, flanked by a café & bakery, only a couple steps off of Main Street, sits the oldest commercial space in the north country. Erected in the 1790s, the building was an active gristmill for over 100 years. Now, its founding brothers are proud to call this ideal space the home of Schilling Beer Company.

Schilling Beer Co. opened its doors to the public in September 2013 to great success, offering us a wide variety of craft brewed, small batch beer inspired by traditional Central European recipes alongside a great menu of local fare such as rotating flatbreads, soups, and salads. And if its beautiful location and outstanding artisinal food and drink are enough to draw you in for a try, then it's values, history, and atmosphere will certainly convert you into a regular visitor.

The business is run by three brothers, Jeff, Matt, and Stu Cozzens, as well as by their honorary brother, John Lenzini-the brew master. Jeff and John have been best friends for over 30 years and when Jeff first tasted John's own beer over 20 years ago at Purdue University, they started dreaming of opening their own tap and brewery. They are all from Michigan and have left their respective careers to come together and finally realize their dream.

The burning question: why come all the way to Littleton, NH from Michigan to start your brewery?

Sitting on the outside patio guiding me through a beer sampling flight, Jeff responded simply by waving his arm, gesturing towards the surrounding mountains, river, forests, and blossoming main street community: "The quality of life. and the quality of nature."

"I want to tell the people in Littleton to dream big; there are all the possibilities in the world here and we should be proud of it" says Jeff, an active member of the town's chamber of commerce.

They could have certainly found an easier location; the four spent countless hours renovating the space for its new function, while preserving much of the traditional architecture, including the still-operational mill apparatus and grindstone. The result is a perfect blend of the past and present with industrial-era furniture, colonial era interiors, and state-of-the-art brewing technology to ensure the superior quality of each batch.

The encircled malt-trident of the Schilling logo represents the ideals that structure their every decision: family, community, and excellence, all encircled by integrity.

Their dedication to community is certainly impressive: the Schilling Beer Co. keeps their prices well below the range of tourist trap, they recently sponsored a 'blues on the river' festival, they regularly hire local bluegrass, folk, and blues musicians, and they even commissioned the Ansel Adams Chair Photographer, Frank Lee Ruggles, to cover the walls with photographs of local landscapes. All of their employees are trained according to the Cicerone standards, in order to educate the greater community about the values of their beer. The sign of their success in the community: a healthy 50/50 tourist to regular ratio among their clientele.

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