SoMinn FOOD & DRINK Review

in our brewery, so we can manage that without too much trouble,” added Schulz.

Thoughts on Free the Growler bill: “I think it is a small step in the right direction for Minnesota liquor law. It’s disappointing that the volume limitation on selling packaged product was included in the bill — 128 oz. per person per day likely doesn’t make a business case to start packaging in 12/16 oz. cans work for people who aren’t already doing it for other distribution reasons. The restrictions are also complicated enough that customers aren’t going to understand them, and we’re going to have to educate them and manage their expectations versus the experience we can provide. I’m happy all Minnesota breweries can sell growlers and crowlers now, as it should have been all along.” — Brandon Schulz

FORAGER BREWERY, ROCHESTER

Because of Minnesota laws about beer distribution, about two years ago, Forager set up a sister distribution brewery, Humble Forager Brewery, by which they distribute their beer.

Humble Forager beer is based on original Forager Brewery recipes.

“We had to have a separate company with different ownership to do this. So far, so good, and if you see Humble Forager beer on a shelf or on tap in Southern Minnesota anywhere, that’s what that is,” a Forager spokesperson said.

Thoughts on Free the Growler bill: “Forager Brewery, as a brewpub, is not included in the new “free the growler” distribution law, so the change doesn’t make any difference to us,” Barb said.

MONTGOMERY BREWING

Montgomery Brewing is owned by Chuck Dorsey, and his head brewer is Josh Kaderlik. The distribution manager is Lindsay Simon. The company produces beer, with a focus on IPAs and sours, but they produce the whole gambit — blonde, amber, brown, stout, and many more.

Dorsey supplies 16 oz. for distribution of cans. Growlers, crowlers and 16 oz. cans are the to-go options at the taproom.

“This is a crazy business. Margins are really tight as all of our materials have gone up. But we do continue to grow. We are getting a larger brew system this year to keep up with distribution,” Dorsey said. The venue has historically had a small system, which rotated in new beers all the time. Dorsey and his crew focus on keeping the fermenters full.

Thoughts on Free the Growler bill: “It’s awesome! We’re one of the last state’s in the country allowed to do it. It’s silly that Minnesota breweries could only sell customers visiting their taproom a 13% barrel aged stout in 750 ml (25oz) or in a 64-ounce container. This new law isn’t perfect, but it’s a great start. Having the additional container sizes makes sense” — Chuck Dorsey

MINERAL SPRINGS BREWERY, OWATONNA

Mineral Springs Brewery is owned by Rod Baker, Bill Cronin, and Mark Sebring. They have a fully operational brewery and taproom, selling a variety of fermented products (beer, seltzer). They also sell growlers and crowlers at this time.

“We are doing well. Owatonna has been incredibly supportive, given we opened just ahead of COVID. We are very grateful,” said Sebring.

MSB has a regular brewing cycle that is tweaked, based on the season and the customer’s response.

“We’re just now into our first ‘normal’ year due to the disruptive aspects of COVID, so we’re still learning some of the flow/need.

Thoughts on Free the Growler bill: “We were pretty neutral to the growler item, as it affected just five of the largest breweries in the state. We don’t currently have the ability to fill the smaller sized cans/bottles that were also a part of that bill, so we’re also currently not benefiting from it. I anticipate we’ll spend some dollars in the near-future to capitalize on that additional flexibility. For us, however, we concentrate mostly on our taproom experience, having great food trucks/entertainment and having welcoming and knowledgeable staff on-site. We’ll likely continue to be more of a taproom-centric model with limited distribution. In that vein, this law is positive for us but not overly impactful.” — Baker, Cronin, Sebring

SCHRAM ENTERPRISES, WACONIA

Owners Aaron and Ashley Schram supply wine and beer. They use bottles for wines and crowler cans for their beer.

“All of our locations are doing fine and seeing successes and challenges each in their own way. Each has had their own journey over the last several years, as all businesses are different. Overall, we are seeing success. Our downtown location, AxeBridge, has been a little slower to return as people are just starting to return to downtown activities,” Ashley explained.

Recently, the Schrams signed up with a wine distribution partner for just their wines and that has opened many doors of opportunities for them. They are bringing wine into locations that have never had Minnesota wine before.

“Beer, we are still doing self distribution on a small scale for control, but we will most likely expand the reach soon with our relationships we are building,” said Ashley.

Managing product and preparing for growth can be a real challenge. For wine, the Schrams have to plan out usually 18 months in advance and that can be tricky with all the rapid changes happening. Beer is easier, as one can turn up or down production faster to react to trends; and because they can follow precedents set in the past, and they can plan ahead around the seasons.

Thoughts about Free the Growler bill: “I would like to give out the major credit to Jim Nash, as he has been working on this for years and really deserves the credit for the hard work he and other authors of the bill worked on; with boots to the ground talking to business owners. I think this helps breweries from several angles, with the most important being the ability to not be limited to just a unique crowler size but have 12-ounce cans or bottles. We all know that those sizes are the norm for people and the ability to sell them in that size provides a fair playing field for breweries. I know the big breweries won out the most with the lifting of those restrictions, but it’s the removal of the size restrictions that the majority of breweries benefited from. It is a great bill that took years of fighting for; that most customers and people would agree should have been common sense.” — Ashley Schram 

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