These days, Ben Cook, Hangar 24 Craft Brewery's founder and master brewer, has a lot on his mind.

He's constantly trying to come up with new ideas for brews while taking a particular interest in the quality of the brewery's lineup. Then there is the expansion that is underway at the company's headquarters and brewery in Redlands where stainless steel pipes will be installed to increase the brewery's capacity.

On top of that, Cook, 29, is charged with overseeing the finances, bottling and brewing operations and merchandising of his relatively young company, which he launched in 2008.

"We started at the worst time," Cook said. "We are a high-end product. You have to pay more. But people obviously see the value in it. People also like supporting a local business."

Since 2008, he has doubled his brewing equipment capacity, and is the process of doubling it again. He said he is growing twice as fast as he had projected when he first wrote his 100-page business plan. The brewery currently supplies 255 restaurants, pubs and grocers and has 19 employees.

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Kurt Miller / The Press-Enterprise

Ben Cook not only went to a specialty brewery school before launching Hangar 24 Craft Brewery, but he also opted to locate it in Redlands because of its history of supporting locally owned businesses.

His efforts resulted in his being named emerging entrepreneur of the year at last month's annual Spirit of the Entrepreneur Awards.

Cook, who earned a biology bachelor's degree from Cal-State San Bernardino and graduated from UC-Davis' Master Brewers Program, has a penchant for old-style beer, which he extends to the way he brews his specialty releases.

Cook, who refers to himself as a science geek, got his start in brewing by fermenting home-made beer with his wife.

"Brewing is biology," he said. "There's no better degree to get if you want to be a brewer."

He also has a pilot's license and before he founded the brewery would share his home-made beer with friends at the Redlands Municipal Airport. As for the camaraderie among pilots, Cook has worked to carry that over to his business.

"That whole atmosphere is what we worked to embody here," Cook said.

His love of flying is also conveyed through the bottle labels on his beers and the company's logo. Each label features a different vintage airplane, and in some scenes, the airplanes are flying over the San Bernardino Mountains or Redlands' orange groves.

Hangar 24 has a bar next to the brewing tanks. On certain nights, fans can get a taste of Cook's specialty brews - his trademark orange wheat beer mixed with tropical fruit, a porter accented with vanilla bean and an Alt beer made with oak chips.

Cook, who grew up in Riverside, chose to locate his business in Redlands, where he now lives, because of its tight-knit community.

He has even built the idea of giving back to the community into his business plan. He has made a point of donating merchandise and beer for local charity fundraising events, and purchases the oranges for his orange wheat beer from the Inland Orange Conservancy.

"Being in the Inland Empire where orange growing began, it just made sense to take a shot," he said of the orange wheat beer, which has proven to be one of brewery's most popular lines. "The orange groves around here are really what makes the area unique."

He works with another local farmer to supply him with produce for his special releases. He also buys local orange blossom honey and apricots for some of the specialty beers.

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"We strive to keep as much stuff local as we can," he said.

Although the company is little more than a year old, it has been garnering recognition on beer aficionado Web sites, such as ratebeer.com and beeradvocate.com.

"We have a very positive following," acknowledged Brewer Kevin Wright, who won the J.S. Ford Award, given annually to the earner of the top score in the London-based Institute of Brewing and Distilling's general certificate in brewing exam. "We don't have a lot of rankings, but the ones we have are very good."

Wright added that he has been focused more on the quality of the beer produced by Hangar 24 than its online ratings. He said his role is to make sure that everything the company produces is as consistent and high quality as it has always been.

And let's not forget the company's expansion. Last year, Hangar 24 produced 1,100 barrels, or 33,000 gallons of beer. This year, the company is on track to produce 5,000-6,000 barrels, Wright said.

As for what's on tap in 2010, the company is adding to its draft beer lineup with some Belgium style beers and German seasonal beers.

"People really like something special," Cook said, "something they can only get for a limited time or locally."