Grain, Water, and Yeast: Megan McKay

Megan McKay is founder and owner of Peace Tree Brewing Company in Knoxville, Iowa. Megan was born and raised in Knoxville. She left home after high school, drawn to greener pastures on the West Coast. After four years in the Bay Area, where she worked as a nanny and part-time auto mechanic, Megan felt Iowa calling her back, and in 2009 she left the family insurance business to start a brewery in her hometown. Megan believed Knoxville could become the kind of place that might have held her as a young person, even the kind of place that could grow and thrive, drawing new residents and entrepreneurs. We talked about the brewery’s experiments with wild yeasts harvested at a local farm, how a business comes of age and remains resilient over time, the story of the Peace Tree her company is named for, and her work as a community leader in Knoxville.

Follow Peace Tree Brewing on their website, on Facebook, and on Twitter.