Exploring Life & Business with Cara and Brad Steele of Broken Hatchet Brewing

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cara and Brad Steele.

Hi Cara and Brad, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Broken Hatchet Brewing began with Brad Steele’s dream to follow his passion for brewing, take a risk, and be in business with his wife, Cara. The story behind the name Broken Hatchet comes from Carrie Nation. Carrie was a catalyst for prohibition. During the Temperance Movement, in the very early 1900s, Carrie Nation wreaked havoc in saloons by destroying bottles of alcohol with her hatchet. Well, Carrie Nation happens to be buried in the Belton Cemetery. Brad and Cara have created a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere in their brewery, including an indoor corn hole court and a cozy living room area.

Much of the names of their craft beers are tied into Belton history, for example, the “Dewey Decimal West Coast IPA” named for the prior Cass County Library, which used to be housed in the building they now own as Broken Hatchet Brewing and “Dicky Goober’s Double IPA”, the nickname for Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in Belton, MO. Broken Hatchet Brewing does not serve food, but boasts its partnership with local family restaurants that conveniently deliver directly to their brewery. Producing great craft beer and connecting to the community is of utmost importance to Brad and Cara. They look forward to meeting you soon!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
The build-out of the brewery had its peaks and falls, as to be expected. Due to building during COVID-19, the delivery of many supplies was delayed or unobtainable. COVID also caused a giant increase in the cost of lumber, brewing ingredients, and many other necessary supplies. The biggest challenge was balancing a tight budget, yet still building a brewery we could be proud to show off. Luckily, we have many friends who are also brewery owners who warned us of some of these pitfalls, which gave us hope when unexpected expenses and time soakers popped up.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We pride ourselves on our commitment to producing quality craft beer, making our customers feel welcome and comfortable, and working with the Belton community. We have only been open for 14 weeks, but have had a few large private events. We have large space and look forward to many more events to be held at our brewery.

How do you define success?
We define success as reaching or surpassing our goal and sustaining that achievement. With that said, we have not reached success, YET. We will continue to analyze, research, and determine what we need to fulfill our passion, because, after all, isn’t that the reason people go into business, to begin with.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.bhb-belton.com
• Instagram: brokenhatchetbrewing
• Facebook: brokenhatchetbrewing