Microbrewery owner always in great mood

Coldwater, Mich. – Whether working hard taste-testing a new brew or simply shooting the bull over a pint during downtime at his Central Ave. microbrewery, John Ladds, owner and operator of the Hard Dollar Brewing Company, is always in the best of spirits, sources close to Ladds reported Saturday.

“I’ve been coming to the Dollar for over three years and I can’t remember a single time walking through the door when John wasn’t up at the bar wearing a huge smile and waving me in to sit down and have a pint with him,” said Austin Nims, a regular at the establishment. “You’d think a guy running his own business would be under a lot of pressure and be a little testy sometimes, but I’ve never seen John in anything but a good, jolly-ol’ mood. I think he just really loves what he does and he really loves his product.”

Jason Buchenholt, another longtime patron, echoed Nims’ sentiments.

“I’ll order a Red Cent Lager or a C-Note Stout and John will say something like, ‘Well, you know, I’m not in the business of selling a product I don’t personally endorse!’ and go ahead and pour himself a pint at the same time,” said Buchenholt. “Then he’ll grin real wide and flash me a we-know-something-the-world-doesn’t kind of wink as he slides me my pint and puts his glass up for a toast. The guy’s just a constant ray of slightly stumbling sunshine.”

Buchenholt said that although Ladds is thrice divorced, estranged from his four children and dangerously deep in debt, the 47-year-old entrepreneur beams an intoxicatingly gleeful mood that permeates the brewpub from the moment he starts his morning taste testing until he personally drains the last tap at closing time.

“John’s got problems in his life just like everybody else, but I think he manages to drown that out by immersing himself in his work at the brewpub,” said Buchenholt.

“Even back in November, right after John had just gotten popped for his third drunk driving and was in the process of having his driver’s license revoked, I still don’t remember ever seeing him turn a frown. I wish my work brought me that kind of transcending joy. Maybe I should get into the microbrewery business.”

Buchenholt also praised Ladds’ unyielding work ethic.

“You could wander into the Dollar for an early lunch at ten-thirty and John will have had already been there for two hours making sure all of the beers taste right,” said Buchenholt. “Now remember, he’s got twelve different kinds of beer to sample, and that’s no small job. Yet there he is every day – laughing and making jokes and giving everybody the thumbs-up as he finishes each sample pint. You can just tell he enjoys his work. In fact, by the time he finishes his quality assurance testing he’s usually in such a good mood you couldn’t punch the smile off his face.”

Both Nims and Buchenholt agreed that the atmosphere Ladds’ perpetually euphoric mood generates is what prompts them to frequent the Hard Dollar.

“Not only is John about the happiest businessman you’ll ever meet, most nights he’s also the life of the party,” said Nims. “He’ll do stuff that you’d think nobody that’s thinking clearly would ever do. Sometimes late in the evening – after he’s been at the pub all day personally performing quality assurance tests – he’ll climb up on the bar, hold up a pitcher and yell out to the whole crowd, ‘Friends, have you heard the Good News? Yeast has risen!’ and then he makes the whole place do a toast. That one always brings down the house.”

Although Ladds, who opened the Hard Dollar Brewing Company in 2008, is rumored not only to be an enormous grump in the morning and often erupts in fits of spontaneous anger and even turn violent during the wee hours, such gossip was quickly dismissed by Nims.

“Yeah, I’ve heard secondhand stories about John’s mood suddenly turning ugly after-hours – you know, after the bar’s closed up and just a few people are sitting around drinking – but I just find that really hard to believe,” said Nims. “I can’t imagine what set of circumstances could shake that sparkle out of John’s eye. It’s like John himself has told me a dozen times: as long as his medicine is flowing good, there isn’t a problem in the world that can’t be cured.”