When he was transitioning from a decade in the United States Air Force to civilian life, Keith Griesel’s wife encouraged him to find a hobby.

In fact, he said, she more or less insisted on it.

That insistence plus an extra nudge eventually led all the way to the Expedinture Brewery in Okarche.

Keith Griesel, the chief operating officer and brewmaster, was the guest speaker Thursday at Kingfisher Lions Club.

A 1996 Okarche High School graduate, Griesel earned a history degree from Oklahoma State before a 10-year career in the military.

It was in college that Griesel and friends didn’t just grow a fondness for beer, as many college students do, but an appreciation for it, including the production of it.

“We got some home brewing kits and gave that a try,” he said. “We tried everything we could get our hands on.”

Eventually, he said, everyone graduated and moved on with their lives.

After his time in the Air Force, Griesel said his wife purchased him tickets for a one-day, two-person brew class in Moore.

She insisted it wasn’t for him and her…but he and a friend as she encouraged him to pick back up his passion for the craft.

That led to one original recipe by the end of 2013. Three years later, it was up to four recipes.

The friends’ Irish red beer won the first contest they ever entered. They were invited to showcases and other events in which they could allow other beer aficionados to sample their creations.

Eventually they at tained licenses, which led to Okarche Lions Club members requesting they provide the drinks for that group’s annual Oktoberfest celebration.

“Then in early 2018 we decided to buy a lot in Okarche,” said Griesel of the group’s next step, which was to build a brewery.

The lot is catty-corner to Eischen’s to the southeast.

“We had a hard time getting the permitting and the construction started,” he said, noting it wasn’t local authorities’ faults in that regard.

The building was completed in November of last year, but federal permitting didn’t come through until January.

It opened Feb. 15, but was shut down just a month later due to COVID-19.

“We had a month,” Griesel said.

Eventually the brewery, which serves over a dozen of its selections on site, was able to open back up.

“We follow all the safety guidelines,” he said.

Griesel is one of a handful of people with ownership stake in the brewery, but the only one who is a full-time employee, he said.

The brewery employed more than a dozen people overall.

“We try to hire local people,” he said. “We want to take care of the community that supports us.”

Griesel said Expedinture isn’t a craft brewery that’s going to formulate a lot of exotic blends.

“Our brewing is geared toward traditional German-style brewing,” said Griesel, who has a German heritage and even traveled there to learn more about the craft.

“We make basic beer and use mostly German grains and German hops.”

Now that production has started back, he said Expedinture is brewing “about every other day” to keep up with demand.

It currently serves about 15 of its recipes at the brewery

Other members of the ownership team include Heath Robinson, Michael Vogt, Thomas Vogt and Cody White.