by Christian Usera

“IT ALL STARTED with an oatmeal stout,” said Jason Tomalia recalling his days as an undergraduate at Gustavus College in Saint Peters, Minnesota.  “I got really interested in craft beers and eventually wanted to get into brewing. In 2008 I asked for a beer making kit for Christmas. Then, there was no turning back. I’ve been experimenting with beer ever since.”

So how did Jason and Tori Tomalia decide to open an improv-centered brewery?

“On our first date we actually discussed opening a theater group. Jason (Tomalia) was working with the “Brave New Workshop” during his undergraduate studies and that’s when we met. We’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but it solidified two years ago,” said Tori Tomalia.

“So what is your theater background?” I ask, as I lean back in my chair at the Tomalia’s east Ann Arbor home.

“Well, I completed my undergraduate degree in theater and secondary education at Macalester College in Saint Paul, MN. My husband and I met while we were undergrads. I then got my MA in Arts Management from Boston University, while Jason got his master’s in Theater from Eastern Michigan University. I also got a separate masters degree (Theater For the Young) from Eastern Michigan University, as well.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of training in theater! So, what changed two years ago for you to go from the planning stage for creating a theater group to actually starting Pointless Brewery in east Ann Arbor?” I asked.

“On May 29 2013 I found out I have stage 4 lung cancer,” said Tori. “The cancer had spread to my bones and other organs. I’m on medication that’s suppressing the cancer, but we never know when it will stop working. So I asked myself what are my priorities in life?” said Tori.

Jason chimed in, “We were working on our life plan, but what is with all this planning in life? It’s like you’re planning and planning for some future event. You can’t be so hinged to plans, because sometimes they can change. If you’re not willing to be flexible then it will be difficult to get where you want to go.”

Then Jason and Tori decided to appeal to Kickstarter to fund their dream of opening a theater based brewery.

“We chose Kickstarter to fund our brewery for a couple of reasons. First, Kickstarter takes a smaller fee from your total revenue. Second, we were sold on the ‘all or nothing’ aspect of Kickstarter. It proves to others that we believe in our dream. Also, when you get close to the funding goal people really rally to support you,” Tori explained.

Promoting the funding campaign was a challenge.

“It was hard work. It was several hours a day. We pitched our campaign to every social media group imaginable. People I never met helped to fund our dream, including readers of ‘Cure’ magazine, (A cancer focused magazine) which I write for. In addition, I reached out to readers of my blog entitled, ‘Lil Lytnin Strikes Lung Cancer,’ said Tori. “We’re going to be using the $50,000 from our Kickstarter campaign to mainly purchase brewing equipment, which can be expensive. In addition, we’ve gotten funding from private investors, mainly family and friends,” she added.

“So did you guys do some research before starting this adventure?” I asked.

“Yeah,” says Jason, we chatted with an organization called ‘Beer Camp’ which is a local brewery that specializes in artisan meat and other packaged goods. We also have friends at ‘Chelsea Ale House’ who helped us out. The great thing about the craft brew community is that it’s about being inspired and enjoying beer as opposed competing with each other.”

So how are the couple planning to differentiate their brewery from the other breweries in the area?

“We’re more of a theater than a pub. We’re going to be brewing our own beer, which will be unique to our establishment. We won’t have any distribution outside our brewery. We’re hoping to take audience suggestions for our beers, just as an improv group would. We’re establishing a model that didn’t exist before. Google ‘improv theater pub’ and you will not find another one. That makes us unique. In addition we want to have a children’s night called ‘lil peeps’ with children’s theater and activities (no beer for the kids obviously!). We’d also like to have a college night, as well. Lastly, we’d like to create web series that could help us to promote ourselves,” Jason said.

“So why did you chose that particular location, as opposed to say downtown Ann Arbor or Ypsilanti?” I query.

“We love eastern Ann Arbor and wanted to bring a pub culture to the area. Downtown Ann Arbor already has breweries and pubs, so it wouldn’t make the same impact. We did look at a lot of places, including in Ypsilanti, before settling on this location. Also, it has to be zoned a certain way and the landlord has to be on board for a brewery. We didn’t do this search with a realtor, but instead we did a lot of online research. The spot we chose was a former restaurant, so the transition will be much easier. Also, the fact that it’s walking distance from our home doesn’t hurt either,” said Tori.

Jason explained the kinds of beer he and his wife intend to brew for their theater-goer customers.

“We’re hoping to brew about two-three barrels per week. That’s roughly 31 gallons per barrel for a total of 62-93 gallons per week. They will all be ales. We’re not going to have any pilsners. We’re going to have multiple fermenters going at the same time to generate six taps to start,” explained Jason.

So, how did they come up with the name “Pointless Brewery?”

Tori explained: “Well, I was having a pretty horrible day and I was really sick from cancer treatment and just feeling exhausted, and run down. I was feeling like I couldn’t take this anymore. I said to Jason, ‘Why am I doing all this? What if I go through all this treatment and it still just ends badly. It just feels Pointless. Everything feels Pointless.’ He said to me ‘Well, ok, so maybe everything is pointless, maybe everything we do in the world is pointless. So let’s do this. Let’s open our pointless brewery and theater and make our pointless dreams come true!’”