Christopher Klinge
Tom Porter, owner and brewmaster of Lake Louie Brewing of Arena, went in last fall for a routine blood test required for increasing his life insurance. He was denied.
“When I asked why, they told me to call my doctor right away.” Further tests confirmed that Porter had prostate cancer; he spent three months in treatment last fall.
Porter’s diagnosis activated the best in Wisconsin’s craft beer community. Brewers and other industry professionals pitched in to keep Lake Louie beers flowing when the medical treatments left Porter too weak to work.
“This is a small company, there are only four to five of us here, and when one drops out everyone has to step up to keep it going,” Porter says. “This could have been the end of the brewery.”
Porter started Lake Louie out of his garage in 1999 and was among a handful of brewers in the 1990s who ushered in Wisconsin’s craft beer revolution.
Wisconsin Brewing Company’s Kirby Nelson, a long-time friend of Porter’s, arranged for his brewery to send staff to fill in on bottling days. Sales staff from Frank Beverage Group assisted in packaging and cleaning kegs. Offers poured in from other brewers as well.
“It was natural. For the most part we’re all colleagues and when someone needs help, the rally begins,” says Nelson “Tom is a good friend, a great asset to the brewing industry and to the community as a whole. So this was about doing the right thing.”
Porter is gratified that his colleagues jumped in when he needed a hand. “I never asked for it,” says Porter. “They just said, ‘What do you need?’ and ‘We’re on our way, we’ve got your back.’”
While Porter wasn’t necessarily keeping his condition a secret, he talked about it only to friends. He is speaking out now because he wants to show his gratitude to all who helped out.
After his radiation treatments ended in December, Porter got back to the business. He’s now in the brew house at what he considers nearly full speed, making his popular Warped Speed Scotch ale, along with other Lake Louie beers.
Porter loves music, especially playing the guitar; he owns more than 70 of them. He was a founding member of the Lake Louie Growlers, a group that played around southern Wisconsin for several years and more recently without Porter under just “The Growlers.” Since his diagnosis, Porter has turned to his guitar for solace.
“There’s nothing better for me, no better therapy, than playing the guitar,” he says. His friends have taken notice too. “They’ll come over and play with me and say ‘Hey, you’ve been practicing.’” Porter isn’t about to let prostate cancer force him to stop playing the guitar or making beer. He says recovery is about maintaining a positive attitude and playing the guitar and the friends he has in the business are helping him maintain that outlook.
His doctors are encouraged by how he’s responded to treatment. “My lifestyle is certainly a lot different now,” he says. “This has changed me and my outlook on the business. There’s nothing like a dose of mortality and reality.”
