Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Jorgensen.
Hi Chris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
On a summer night back in 2018 we sat in the back yard with our great friends, drinking wine and bourbon, eating some steaks when we came up with the idea of Norse Brewing Company – as they say, nothing great ever happens with a glass of milk and a salad. taht was the start of what we see today. Our credo: “We are a Modern Viking Community of All Peoples. A brotherhood and sisterhood of people who are all different both on the outside and the inside, but when we come together we are one and the same joining our differences in strength and celebration to each do our small part to make the Great Feast truly great and together drink from the horn of plenty.” This is written on a Rune Stone in front our our building and is how we greet our guests each and every day!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Well, we opened our doors 4 months before covid, that threw a wrench in our plans. But we came out of it strong, it actually gave us time to catch up after a whirlwind start. During the shut-down we had time to brew and fill our tanks getting ready for what was to come. Other than that we have been impacted like the rest of our industry through a tough economy but enjoy a steady stream of guest both re-occurring and new coming to enjoy our beer, food and family.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We are a brewpub with 2 locations in Wake Forest and Zebulon. Based on my heritage of being born and raised in Denmark we brought the Norse mythology into our locations focusing on how the Vikings celebrated life by bringing friends and family from all walks of life together to share our differences and enjoy the great feast. We brew our own beer, have many styles across the spectrum but our best sellers are Fo{u}r Friends our IPA, the name we came up with is four friends starting the brewery together making an IPA for our friends; our pilsner Pillage People is the closest I have been to a true Danish pilsner outside of Denmark and our stout Phat Thor which is a crowd favorite. We are also a licensed winery where we make both cider and seltzer which is popular especially on a nice hot North Carolina summer day. Our food is unique and different from most other you will find in the triangle area. We call it Southern Scandinavian Fusion, we have some recipes that my grandmother used to make as I grew up in Denmark such as Frikadeller which is a flavorful danish meatball which we serve with goat cheese gravy and lingonberry jelly. Our best selling Viking burger is a blend of wagyu beef, elk, boar and bison creating one of the most interesting flavored burgers you have ever had. In our Wake Forest location we have a great Sunday brunch and in our Zebulon location we have Thursday night prime rib. Both locations have trivia and events such as pint and paint and murder mystery night.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
We have done several podcasts on starting a business, especially for younger entrepreneurs and I always say the same thing – do it! We started late in life and it has been one of the greatest experiences we have had. My wife Jenni and I did not set out to do this to become millionaires (not easy to do in the restaurant business), rather we started this to create good sustainable jobs for people we love and care about. We also made the decision up front to own our real estate ensuring that we could recoup the cash investment we made into the operating entities from the value growth in the buildings – and during covid we were able to manage our rent/debt which is a large part of how we were able to come out of it strong financially. As to the questions “anything you wish you know when you started?” – our opening beer was called Running With Scissors, that is basically how we felt having never been in the hospitality industry, but we surrounded ourselves with great partners who grew up in the brew and restaurant business.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://norsebrewingco.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/norsebrewing/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/norsebrewingcompany/
- Twitter: https://x.com/norsebrewingco/
