The owners of Rat Hole Brewing have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to help renovate a building in Sunriver for their brewery.

Susan Toepfer, who, with her husband, Albert Toepfer, owns the nanobrewery on McArdle Road east of Bend, said the couple plan on moving the brewing equipment to Sunriver. They also plan on opening a second Rat Hole Brewpub there, she said Tuesday. The couple recently moved to Sunriver, she said.

“We thought it would be nicer if we didn’t have to do a 30-mile trip every day,” she said.

Susan Toepfer’s brother, Les Keele, owns the Rat Hole Brewpub at 384 SW Upper Terrace Drive, in Bend, and the property on McArdle Road where the Toepfers brew their beer. Susan Toepfer said Keele plans on selling the McArdle Road property, so the Toepfers have to move their 2.5-barrel brewing system.

The Toepfers leased 2,200 square feet of warehouse space at the Sunriver Business Park on S. Century Drive and are hoping to raise $26,250 to make the space ready for their brewery. Thursday, their Kickstarter page showed they’d raised $2,330 toward their goal, with 14 days left on the campaign. Donors receive Rat Hole coasters, glasses and other gear in return for their contributions.

Separately, they also plan on opening a second Rat Hole Brewpub in a former restaurant space, RJB’s, on Venture Lane, Albert Toepfer said Thursday. They also plan on expanding their brewing capacity with a 7.5-barrel system.

That’s as much expansion as they plan, he said. Toepfer, a former homebrewer and retired General Motors auto mechanic, started brewing under a state license in 2012 in his brother-in-law’s barn.

“It was more of a rat hole than a barn,” he said, “and that’s how we got the name.”

The new Rat Hole Brewpub in Sunriver may open this month, but Albert Toepfer said September is a better bet.

“We’ve pretty much done a renovation on it. We’ve remodeled the bar, and the kitchen is the next major project,” he said. “I was told all our equipment will be here next week.”

Demand for their product is high, but the small brewery doesn’t even make enough to meet requirements for the upcoming Bend Brewfest, Susan Toepfer said.

Rat Hole Brewing in May sold 13 taxable barrels in Oregon and just over 72 barrels for the year, according to the Oregon Liquor Control Commission.

“There are restaurants and different places, growler stations, that want to carry our beer,” she said, but “my brother consumes 98 percent of it through the Rat Hole Brewpub.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7815, jditzler@bendbulletin.com