FEATURED AFFILIATES BANILLA GAMES LOGO STYLE GUIDE
BRASS FOUNDRY BREWING CO.
BANILLA GAMES
On the western edge of the Twin Cities in Minnesota, Brass Foundry Brewing Co. began in 2017, designing beers that have already won major awards in just a few years of business. The company’s Cream Ale took home the silver medal and its Question 63 India pale ale (IPA) won the bronze in the 2020 New York International Beer Competition. The competition had 600 entries from 14 countries, making these big honors for any company.
Banilla Games began in Greenville, North Carolina, but now does business in many different states and has a Jackson, Wisconsin, franchise that opened in 2018.
Brass Foundry Brewing does not have a taproom. Instead the focus is on distribution — partnering with retailers and distributors in only Minnesota and northwestern Wisconsin markets, explains Eric Petersen, sales director. Due to this approach, a lot of attention is given to the retailers and three Wisconsin-based distributors who sell Brass Foundry products. “We do tap takeovers, coordinate samplings (when allowed), and meet with our accounts in each area to try to learn about them, what their needs are and what products people are asking for, so we know what to develop in the future,” he adds. This craft brewer is a member of the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association and the TLW. It is not a member of the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild, a move Petersen says is intentional as the organization holds beliefs that conflict with Brass Foundry’s point of view. “It’s our belief we should support everyone — the retailers, liquor stores, bars — everyone,” he explains. After starting to market here just last August, 60% of the Wisconsin market is Cream Ale. Petersen and controller John Kraus both say the Tavern League has done extraordinary things for its members, and it directly relates to the company philosophy of partnership and caring about others first. “We love the feedback the TLW and beverage associations have given us because they’ve pointed us to the people that they like to work with most,” Petersen says. “Any input we can receive from actual people is valuable and helps guide our decisions.”
“We are a software company,” explains Dan Lewicki, Midwest sales manager. “We develop our own amusement software for the entertainment industry and work exclusively with Wisconsin Amusement and Music Operators (WAMO), another affiliate of the Tavern League.” Banilla develops the software in house, then markets it to distributors. In other words, the company’s service area is the entire state, but all sales are through WAMO. The games are playerfriendly, and not too hard for anyone to enjoy without previous experience or knowledge. “We put a lot of effort into the player experience, making games with very relatable themes that are attractive and have a good rhythm,” Chris Gunkel, sales executive, adds. “It keeps people excited to play and continue playing.” The development happens in house at the main office in Greenville, with a full team of designers, programmers and 3D animators. This difference is important to customers as the company makes, and therefore can tweak, fix or alter the games in any way to make them better. “We’re not just ordering software and selling it as the middleman,” Gunkel explains. The Great American Buffalo is one popular game that many TLW members may be familiar with. It’s requested often, so much so that “our competitors copied it,” according to Lewicki and Gunkel. Another game Banilla released recently is King Kong, based on the old-time movie, which is causing the same level of excitement as the buffalo game. “That’s our latest and greatest, garnering a lot of requests,” confirms Lewicki. Both he and Gunkel hail from Wisconsin, which they say gives them a very good “lay of the land,” understanding TLW members, and customer likes and dislikes.
This fall, Brass Foundry customers can look forward to Amber Ale being released in Wisconsin starting in September. The company is also working on darker beers to be released in the winter.
“We know the industry and it’s turned into a good business model for us because we know the state better than others,” Lewicki says.
“We love craft beer, but what drove us to the business is we all had industry experience,” says Kraus. “Mine was in finance, Petersen’s was in sales and our CEO has a history of entrepreneurial adventures. We saw a really big demand in the industry and combined all of our backgrounds to create a really strong brewery.”
Banilla Games decided to partner with the TLW because of its close affiliation with WAMO and its important role to the TLW. “We’re all in this together,” he adds. “From a political standpoint, a business standpoint and an amusement industry standpoint, the taverns are our business and we affect theirs.”
BRASS FOUNDRY BREWING CO.
8441 Wayzata Blvd., Unit 290, Minneapolis, MN 55426 (763) 350-4153 | brassfoundrybrewing.com
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BANILLA GAMES
N173 W21140 Northwest Passage, Jackson, WI 53037 (252) 329-7977 | banillagames.com www.tlw.org
