From tasting menus to tiered tea towers, culinary art is a well-trod medium, but in Norman, one brewery bills itself as “liquid art.” When Oklahoma laws changed in 2016, allowing breweries to sell product direct to customers, it christened a potable renaissance for a state still dusting off Prohibition-era regulations. Seemingly overnight, craft breweries began to boom, and in the upper echelon was 405 Brewing Co. in Norman.
Then and now, the brewery distinguished itself from anything else on the market — in terms of its singular beer styles, as well as the artistry that accompanied them. The creativity was evident both in the can, and on it. And it’s all a testament to co-founders Trae Carson and Jonathan Stapleton, two friends with a passion for craft beer and a penchant for ingenuity.
What started as a home-brew operation in 2008 evolved into a full-blown business, with a production facility — which remains today — established on the north side of town in 2015. From imperial stouts to live culture sours, the inaugural brews were big and bold, quickly marking 405 Brewing Co. as a destination for connoisseurs. Inspired by pioneering breweries like Schlafly in St. Louis and Jester King in Austin, Carson recalled an early love for wild fermentation, and an interest in debunking the rules.
One such imperial stout, FDR, is a signature beer that sums up that philosophy. An acronym for “F*** the Damn Rules,” it stems from the brewery’s origins, when Carson and Stapleton were entering beers into competition. “Feedback we might hear when we were talking to other brewers about how we’re making beer, they were like ‘That’s not how you make this, according to this guideline,’” Carson said. “For us, it doesn’t have to be a style or a guideline. If your palate likes it, your palate likes it.”
Art has never been one for guidelines, so they leaned into the “liquid art” of it all, crafting beers with unexpected flavors and techniques, packaged in colorful cans that are just as illustrious. Over the past decade, customer preferences directed 405 Brewing Co.’s focus to lagers, IPAs, fruited sours and imperial stouts, but the artistry never faltered.
“We’re still remaining unique and passionate about all of our products, making them different, whether it’s through an infusion process or a technique,” Carson explained. That passion has begotten standouts like the Trae P.A., their enduringly popular IPA, barrel-aged stouts like Freelance Whale and a fast-growing series of live culture sours called Magic Whip, available in flavors like pineapple and pomegranate and made from 100% pure juice, inspired by Dole Whip at Disney World.
The latest evolution finds a new 405 Brewing Co. taproom in a historic building on Main Street in Norman. Now, customers can drink in a comfy space bedecked with Nintendo games and, aptly, art. The taproom features new beer releases every Thursday, presided over by Carson himself, while the downtown location — coupled with other nearby breweries, like BIG Brewing Co. — has turned Main Street into a craft brewery destination. From home brews to Main Street, it’s the latest evolution for a proven pioneer, and a brand that eschews guidelines for liquid art.
