Lake Monster Brewing - a new MN brew?

Pretty sure that it is this guy:

http://www.linkedin.com/in/jmaynor

No background on the resume about beer, but lots of decent experience in other industries. Probably a homebrewer with money to burn. Also runs a nondescript limited liability called J A Maynor, Ltd. I wouldn't be surprised if the brewery is opened under this.

 

Labels mentioned being brewed in Black River Falls (Sand Creek), so therefore contract brewed in WI.

 

Sorry, I typed that even before reading the article. This guy Jeremy that is mentioned only in passing is probably the backer/partner? for these other two guys. He registered the domain name, so he is obviously more involved than just introducing the two. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I think that too many breweries have gotten by riding a wave, without any real business minded people as primaries. But my concern, is that this may end up being more like what we see from so many contract breweries that have been popping up, which are business minded in creating a brand that produces mediocre beer that then becomes one more brand bumping more established and better brands off of tap handles and shelf space, while these resale spaces feel the pressure to throw anything new on because the general customer base seems to prioritize newness over quality.

I wish them luck if they bring great beers to market, but I have to say that it looks like somebody else jumping on the craft beer bandwagon and putting a couple of brewer guys as the face of the company.

 

Emphasis mine.

You offer several valid concerns here, and yet as it pertains to the Specialty and Craft beer niche(s), this has been the model for quite some time now, and even long-established breweries (August Schell as but one example) feel the pressure. "What have you done for me lately?" might best describe the hobbyists' perpetual, plaintive cry . . .

If I could offer one example of an outfit that I initially suspected might be similar to your own concerns, it would be Furthermore -- also a Sand Creek contract (or "tenant brewer", technically.) They had always stated an interest in creating not just their own distinct brands and authentic, independent identity, but had also stated that they intended to open a small brewery or brewpub in Spring Green, WI. Well, it's over six years later and I wonder how that brewery is coming along?

Meanwhile, their beer is decent and distinctive, so a lot of us are willing to cut 'em some slack.

Good luck to these new fellows, as always.

 

I was just wondering the same thing about Furthermore. They are sort of the exception to the contract brewing rule I think, as most everything that Sand Creeks brews for them is very good-although I see their new DIPA is brewed at Milwaukee Brewing. Havent tried that one.

I think all will say contract brewing is a means to an end-thats what consumers demand-but will it ever happen? How about Brainard Lakes? Does Mantorville still brew at Sand Creek(or are they even still around?)

 

https://twitter.com/LakeMonsterBrew twitter if interested

 

http://beerpulse.com/2013/02/furthermore-brewing-launches-in-chicago-with-glunz-beer-inc/

 

A little late to the party. Plus they are starting with an IPA & Pilsner, both styles that have seen saturation lately in this market. On top of that they are being contract brewed at Sand Creek. One of these needs to be a homerun if they have any shot of getting a foothold in this market. Cutesy MN nice labels aren't going to sell this beer alone.

 

This is genuinely interesting. On the one hand, both Furthermore and Lake Monster make use of the Black River Falls facility as a location to tenant-brew their beer, but on the other, even Sand Creek has expanded in terms of total barrelage in recent years, so they can handle the additional production demand that the Chicago market will bring to bear.

Trav, I wonder about the Mantorville contract via Sand Creek, too, and only Mr. F can answer that for certain (and I reckon he don't use Beer Advocate as a participating or posting member.) I haven't seen a label approval one way of the other (and yes, I check and re-check -- what else is a can-collectin' beergeek with OCD supposed to do?)

A few months back, Fytenburg had label approval for a certain brewery up north. Nudge nudge, wink wink.

 

we need someone to start making awesome sours!

 

Hello Beer Advocate Community. I appreciate the interest in Lake Monster and wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself and hopefully shine some light on this "mysterious" new brewing company.
First I want to say that I understand the cynicism surrounding contract brewing. I have tasted the same mediocre contract-brewed beer that you all have, but I have also tasted beers like Furthermore and Fulton (both of whom began by contract brewing out of Sand Creek, I might add) which stack up to just about any beer out there.
My name is Matt Lange. I was born and raised in the Twin Cities, and moved to Madison, Wisconsin to attend UW-Madison. I began homebrewing while in college and quickly became obsessed with the hobby and the local craft beer scene, so much so that two friends and I started a craft beer radio show and podcast through the UW student-radio station called Beer Talk Today. (You can still find some old audio if you google "Beer Talk Today," if you are curious). Through the radio show I was able to meet and interview many of my favorite brewers, guys like Dan Carey from New Glarus, Larry Bell from Bell's, John Hall from Goose Island, Todd Haug from Surly and Ron Jeffries from Jolly Pumpkin. I was also able to convince (ok, maybe beg) one brewer, Dean Coffey from Ale Asylum, to give me a job in his brewery when I finished school. After a great experience working under Dean and Chris at Ale Asylum, I left to try and start my own business. Initially I was looking at starting a small distillery, but as this began to look more and more difficult I was connected with my business partners Matt and Jeremy through a mutual friend, and we began working on Lake Monster Brewing.
Part of the confusion on this forum seems to stem from the Beer Activists article. We had a nice chat with Andrew from the MN Beer Activists on Saturday, and we appreciate the write up spreading the word about our beer, but the article had a few small inaccuracies that were either poorly articulated by us or misremembered by Andrew. In the article it mistakenly says that Jeremy introduced Matt Zanetti and I. Jeremy was already involved, and I was introduced to them by a mutual friend. Jeremy still has a day job, and at this point Matt Z and I are doing the day to day work which is why we are the ones fielding interviews and talking about the beer. Jeremy is not some mysterious millionaire using us as the face of his company, though I kind of wish he was because then maybe I'd be making a salary
As far as the beer, as I said I have experience as a professional brewer and have written on beer and brewing for magazines such as Beer Connoisseur and Zymurgy. If Matt Z and Jeremy wanted to make some quick bucks in the beer business, they could have simply called up Sand Creek (or Minhaus, or Point, or Cold Spring or whoever) and said "Hey, make us an IPA!" and tried to sell the beer on marketing alone. Instead they found someone with commercial brewing experience who shares their philosophy on beer and business, and who can easily take over the brewing operations once we have our own facility. The guys at Sand Creek have been extremely flexible with letting me brew the beer exactly as I want it. It was the quality of products like Furthermore that convinced me we could make great beer at Sand Creek, and I have been very happy with their quality control and everything else I have seen there. I was there the entire day when we brewed the first batches of IPA and Pilsener, I was there when we were making the decision that the beer was ready to move to the conditioning tanks, and I will be there on Tuesday to give final approval of our first beers. These are my recipes brewed with my ingredients under my supervision to my specifications. It is true that we don't own the stainless, but I feel very strongly that this is my beer.
At the end of the day it is the quality that matters, and I'll leave that up to the individual drinkers to judge. I hope you will give us a chance, and I think you will be very pleasantly surprised.

 

Good luck guys!

 

Props due for that post. Of course anybody is going to speculate on anything new based on the information available, but personally, I don't even have anything against contract brewing itself, but a lot of finance people have been dropping coin on some of these newer operations popping up just because a week doesn't go by now that craft beer isn't mentioned in the Wall Street Journal. It sounds like you are really into this and I can't wait to give your beers a try!

 

Good luck Matt.
I was at the Fargo Brewing Company's taproom last night (which officially opens tonight) and I was never impressed with their Stone's Throw Scottish Ale until I had some that they brewed themselves instead of the batches that Sand Creek did for them. Their experience contract brewing pushed them to brew themselves as soon as they could.

 

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread, but I wanted to let people know that our beer is now on tap at Alary's, Victory 44, Pig Ate My Pizza, and Old Chicago Eden Prairie. We are also having a tasting/meet the brewer night at Old Chicago EP tomorrow (10/9) from 5-7 if you want to get some samples and say hi.
Cheers!
Matt Lange, Lake Monster Brewing

 

Got to give both a try today in Eden Prairie. Both brews imo are very well done and I'm looking forward to enjoying more of the Pilsener.

 

I was into these dudes before anybody...

http://beeradvocate.com/community/t...n-cities-october-edition.119828/#post-1775740