Zach Koskovich had a thought, what do fish dream about? Learning that fish do in fact dream and that seeing fish in your own dreams is supposed to signify success and luck. He and his wife Penny Koskovich realized they had stumbled upon the perfect name for their future brewery, Fish Dream Brewing.
The Koskovichs coined the name for the brewery in 2020, when Zach Koskovich started creating his own brewing recipes with an all-grain system, but he first began brewing at his home in 2012. In 2022, the Koskovichs reached out to the city of Rockford.
They were seeking a brewery location that was more rural than the larger west metro areas yet had access to a major roadway. The land available in Rockford at the corner of Highway 55 and Main Street situated on the Crow River was exactly what the Koskovichs were looking for.
The city administrator at the time, Dan Madsen, said Rockford loved the idea.
“He said yeah that was exactly what they were looking for, they were looking for a family-friendly bar (or) brewery and that they had this perfect spot on the river on the highway that they were holding just for this purpose,” Penny Koskovich said.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held in June for the site and if everything goes as planned, construction will begin in the fall. Besides offering beer that is made on-site, Fish Dream Brewing will also offer options for non-beer drinkers by partnering with local distilleries to provide craft cocktails.
To appeal to everyone, the brewery will feature pizza and non-alcoholic drinks as well. Fish Dream Brewing will have a stone-fire pizza oven to bake pizzas. The pizza dough will be made from spent grain that’s reused from the brewing process. The brewery will also sell appetizers.
“We’ll do smoked chicken wings and dips and fries and other bar menu appetizers. The cocktails will be pretty seasonal, so we want to keep kind of a rotating craft cocktail list where we are going to partner with some distillery and actually go there and make a cocktail with them,” Penny Koskovich said.
The cocktails will rotate seasonally so customers can try out different cocktails and distilleries. Another unique feature will be Fish Dream Brewing’s morning coffee shop, which will feature lattes, cappuccinos, iced coffee and more.
The brewery building will be roughly 5,000 square feet, with a brewing space and a taproom with seating for 100 people indoors. When the weather allows it, the patio on the river will seat up to 100 people as well.
Fish Dream Brewing plans on having 18 beers on tap, of which eight to 10 will be staples that are always available. The rest of the selection will vary depending on what flavors they try out.
The Koskovich’s have visited every brewery in Minnesota, over 250, and they have learned the ins-and-outs of breweries.
“Bringing beer to people and just the beer community in Minnesota especially, is one of the coolest tight-knit groups of people. Everyone is so friendly and people just connect over beer, so it’s been just a cool experience getting to know everyone. Most of our friends at this point we’ve met through breweries,” Penny Koskovich said.
Cory Nygaard will be the head brewer at Fish Dream Brewing, and as a competitive barbecuer, he will also help out with some smoked items on the menu. Nygaard has been working at a commercial brewery for five years and home-brewed for seven years prior to working there.
He and Zach Koskovich will work together on brew recipes. If everything goes as planned, the brewery is estimated to open in the summer of 2025.
“We will be partnering with the Rockford Lions as well for gambling and any of the local events. We’re really excited to hopefully be a part of Rocktoberfest and the different events that the city puts on as well, at least through the lions,” Penny Koskovich said.
To learn more about Fish Dream Brewing, go to fishdreambrewing.com
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