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Justin Costello, Boat Town Brewing
Boat Town is home.
I was born in the Bay Area in California, and as a kid we moved around a lot. We never stayed anywhere very long. My parents were drug addicts, and that was hard. We bounced between different parts of the Bay and the Central Valley. I was a theater kid in high school, which actually helps a lot when you’re bartending. But right after high school, I got super antisocial. I started playing World of Warcraft and kind of disappeared into that world. Then I met this girl, we started dating, and out of nowhere she had some properties fall into her lap in Lebanon, Missouri.
Back in California, I worked in healthcare, but I wasn’t going to make that kind of money here. My first job in Lebanon was at Brown Derby. I stayed there until it closed. I also worked at the Civic Center for about a year. Somewhere in the middle of all that, I got introduced to the original owners of Boat Town Brewing. A little while later, Brian hired me.
At first I was stiff behind the bar. Brian kind of gave me a kick in the pants and said, get out there. After that, it was game on. Getting to bartend and be part of a product like this, it’s amazing.
That relationship I moved here for eventually ran its course. We moved to Sellersburg, Indiana, just outside of Louisville, Kentucky after we finished what we needed to in Lebanon. But I missed Lebanon the whole time I was gone. All 18 months. I had lost my first love – Boat Town. I was just down in the dumps.
Late in 2019 Brian reached out and asked if I was planning to come back. I told him me and the gal had split up, so I just needed to save up a little money and I’d be back. That was the first time in my life I ever backtracked. I’ve moved all over, but never once gone back to a place, until Lebanon.
I got back right before COVID hit. I had maybe a week to land before everything locked down. It was wild.
When I first lived here, I hadn’t really been downtown much. I’d eaten once at Madison Street Grill. That was about it. But then in the summer of 2023, Brian said we were moving. We packed everything up and left our old location on Campground Road.
We wanted to be in front of people. Everything we’d learned – Brian as a manager and owner, me as a bartender and brewer – came with us. And now we’re this beautiful cornerstone downtown. We see everyone from all walks of life. People who’d never interact normally sit and talk over a beer. That’s what I love about this place.
Being downtown is where the opportunity is. You never know who’s going to walk through the door. You could meet someone and it’ll change your life. I hear those stories behind the bar all the time. People connect over a drink, and suddenly, life takes a new path.
To me, home isn’t where people know you. It’s where you can be yourself, where you don’t have to change who you are to fit in. That’s what Boat Town is for me. Home. Doesn’t matter where it is physically. Boat Town is home.
The industry is a big part of why I stay. You can walk in here and see the guy who made your beer. You can talk to him. That’s powerful. And it’s not just about the product, it’s about how it makes people feel. We’ve got regulars who say, man, I’ve been thinking about that beer since Monday. You spend weeks shaping something, and then you get to see someone love it. You get to see it mean something to them.
There’s a patron who came in once or twice at the old location. Now we see him two or three times a week. That’s what we wanted, to create a place where people pop in for an hour just to say hi, grab a drink, and see familiar faces. That’s what being downtown allows.
Back when I was a kid, I didn’t have the typical American upbringing. We camped whole summers and into the winters. I didn’t realize how unstable things were until I got older. But the system worked in our case. My parents were a great example of what not to do, and I’ve done my best to go the opposite way.
My first job was at a McDonald’s near Yosemite, dealing with tourists from all over the world. Most of them didn’t speak English, so every interaction was a challenge. It was tough. Later, I got into healthcare – home health and assisted living. It was hard, especially emotionally, but I loved it.
Healthcare and bartending actually overlap more than you’d think. Both take care, attention to detail, and the ability to connect with people. This job is the first one I ever missed. I was gone for a year and a half, and I missed it every day. I’ve never felt that way about any other job.
One thing people would be surprised to know about me is that I’m a giant introvert. People don’t believe me, but it’s true. I get overloaded. Sometimes I’ll sit next to my girlfriend and text her instead of talking. That’s just how I reset.
I’ve seen what addiction can do. I’ve lived it. I had my own form with gaming. I played World of Warcraft for 14-hour stretches. That was my escape. But we’re also responsible here. We don’t overserve. We give people rides. We look out for each other and our patrons. That’s how you build trust. That’s how you build a community.
Craft beer is about more than the pints. It’s about connection. Community. Family. And here in downtown Lebanon, we get to do that every day.
Making friends. One beer at a time.
