Dear Client:
Back in 2014, Brew Hub announced that their second facility would be built in Chesterfield, Missouri, but details on the project have been slim since then. Over the weekend we learned that Brew Hub has selected a site for the $20 million facility in Chesterfield “and planning commission consideration could come as early as this month,” per STL Today.
The company “has a letter of intent to acquire a 7-acre property at the southwest corner of Chesterfield Airport Road and Spirit of St. Louis Boulevard to build the facility,” according to CEO Tim Schoen. The new brewery will ultimately encompass 71,000 square feet of space and will be able to produce 75,000 barrels of beer annually.
The Chesterfield brewery is slated to open in 2017, but the tasting room could open before year’s end. Despite being a good year away from opening, Tim said they’re already “in talks with several local brewers.” and that “the local and regional interest is incredibly high.”
As you know, this endeavor falls in line with Brew Hub’s plans to “build or acquire five facilities nationwide, representing an investment of more than $100 million, backed by financing from Los Angeles-based private equity firm The Yucaipa Cos.”
Brew Hub had originally anticipated to construct all of these facilities, but Tim said they’re now looking at acquiring existing breweries in Texas and the West Coast, “with the breweries keeping their brands and Brew Hub brewing the beer.”
“There are quite a few breweries that would like access to our help, and we are actively in negotiations for acquisitions,” Tim said. “This could happen a lot faster than a build-out, and we could open another location this year.”
GREG KOCH ON STAYING TRUE TO IDEALS
The always outspoken Greg Koch is not backing down from his stance on selling out. After penning an op-ed on the topic in the San Diego Union Tribune last month [see CBD 02-15-2016], the Stone Brewing co-founder is back at it again – this time in a video interview with The Full Pint.
In the five minute video, which you can watch in full here, Greg explains to viewers why his brewery staying true to its ideals is “more important than any check.”
What are Stone’s ideals? “We have told you over years, these are the things that are important to us – our creativity, our authenticity, or going our own way, our belief in craft beer, our belief in the simple fact that the world is better with great choices, as opposed to a world that is limited to just commodity industrialized, commercialized versions,” said Greg.
He said if he erased all that by selling Stone’s vision out, he would become a “a rich motherf***** that doesn’t want to look in the mirror.”
“Do our ideals change because somebody dangles the almighty dollar?” Greg said. He’s cognizant of how important the almighty dollar is “because I can’t run my business without it.” However, “it’s not quite as almighty as some people think.”
Greg predicted that the aforementioned statement on the almighty dollar would likely elicit this type of statement from some viewers – “Greg, you’re a self-righteous idiot. Are you kidding me? It’s the American dream to grow a company and sell it out and make bank and to be able to retire with hookers and blow 0r whatever you might want.”
“Yeah, well not me,” he said, “that’s not my ideal.” Adding, “Stone Brewing is my ideal, being consistent to my personal values and the values that we built as a company and all the people that work here is my ideal. And that ideal is more important than any check. Period.”
SMUTTYNOSE’S TOOL FOR SKUMAGEDDON
In an effort to streamline rare and limited beer release distribution, Smuttynose Brewing Company has unveiled a new allocation tool, The Beer Vault, which “directly connects the most discerning specialty craft beer bars” with limited offerings from Smuttynose and Smuttlabs, the brewery’s innovation center.
“The last few years have seen a paradox with limited release beers. Beer drinkers crave them, but they can be difficult for wholesalers to manage because of the small volume,” said Michael Saklad, Smuttynose’s Sales Director, “Creative limited-release beers drive buzz and excitement, but they’re not efficient for volume growth because of the time needed to constantly create new brands with short life cycles.”
Here’s how it works: Any retailer that has signed up for a Beer Vault account, will get “an advance email announcement introducing a new beer and the go-live date.” Once the bar manager logs in to the online portal “they’ll see a real-time inventory of everything in the special stash and can call ‘dibs’ on whatever kegs they want and submit their requests.”
This interface gives the Smuttlabs team “the freedom to be spontaneous and avoid having to schedule six to nine months ahead,” the brewer said. The Vault will be the only medium to get Smuttlabs beers like Brett & I, The Stallion, as well as brewery-aged, vintage beers and new, draft-only releases of storied Smuttynose beers like Wheat Wine.
Smuttynose said their wholesalers are “very excited” about the launch of the new tool, as it allows them to dedicate more time to volume brands.
The first release on deck is a 60 keg release of Kisses and Kittens, a 3.8% barrel-fermented Brettanomyces saison. The release will take place on March 11.
BEER BRIEFS:
YUENGLING ADDS THREE MORE WHOLESALERS IN MISSISSIPPI. Earlier this year, Yuengling made its entrance into Mississippi with four wholesalers, they’re now adding another three in the state, per company release. The new partners in the Magnolia state include: Magnolia Beverage, Better Brands, and Capital City.
 These newly appointed wholesalers will begin to distribute Yuengling Lager, Light Lager and Black & Tan brands in mid-March and seasonals will make their way down south in April, starting with Summer Wheat.
STONY CREEK HEADING TO MASSACHUSETTS. Stony Creek Brewery is bringing their beers to Massachusetts this spring. The Connecticut brewer is scheduled to hit Boston this month with Horizon Beverage and will expand statewide in April partnering with Quality Beverage, Williams Distributing and Girardi Distributors.
PERRIN MAKES FIRST FORAY OUT-OF-STATE. Perrin Brewing is set to distribute outside of its home state, Michigan, for the very first time this spring – with moves to Colorado in late March/early April. This foray out-of-state builds on their partnership with Oskar Blues, recall, the Colorado brewer acquired Perrin close to a year ago. “Through the partnership with Oskar Blues Brewery, the jump into the Colorado market seemed like a logical step towards out-of-state distribution for Perrin,” said Keith Klopcic, President of Perrin Brewing. After the rollout of cans last fall, Perrin is now prepared to offer canned beer outside of Michigan like 98 Problems IPA, No Problems (session IPA), Perrin Black Ale, and current seasonal Grapefruit IPA, which will be followed by Blackberry IPA in August. Draft offerings for these brews will be sent over t0 Colorado as well.
Until tomorrow, Jordan
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
– Mark Twain
———- Sell Day Calendar ———-
Today’s Sell Day: 5
Sell days this month: 23
Sell days this month last year: 22
This month ends on a: Thurs.
This month last year ended on a: Tues.
YTD sell days Over/Under: +1
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