Forager to Start Distro Next Year

https://growlermag.com/forager-brewery-launching-new-beer-brand-humble-forager-for-distribution/

https://www.medcitybeat.com/news-blog/2019/humble-forager-brewery-nationwide-distribution

https://thefullpint.com/beer-news/f...e-humble-forager-brewery-to-aid-in-expansion/

 

Except not really? Sounds like they’re forming a new brewery/brand and contract brewing a few beers for distribution. Might be great beers but unless I’m misunderstanding the situation, they won’t be forager beers?

 

I don't know the exact details of the Forager / Humble Forager relationship, but the standard practice in Minnesota is for the brewpub to establish a separate company with technically different ownership that will act as a client brewing company that will hire a contract brewery to brew recipes licensed from the brewpub. As The Growler article mentions, Fitger's already does the same thing with the Duluth Brewhouse brand. Yoerg also has a similar arrangement (although, in Yoerg's case, the client brewing company preceded the brewpub). It sounds like Humble Forager may eventually set up its own brewery and taproom, in which case it will be utilizing the Barley John's model. Whatever its form, it's a mere workaround to overcome Minnesota's archaic prohibition on distribution by brewpubs. So, I suppose technically you're correct that "they won't be Forager beers," but effectively they will be, although contract breweries are famous for producing mixed results.

Note that Forager long has utilized a different ingenious workaround to "distribute" its beer to other bars and restaurants: It takes advantage of its catering license to "cater" its beer to other establishments, such as, occasionally, Ansari's in Eagan.

 

I'm curious how closely this is getting scrutinized anymore and what it takes to classify as "catering". I don't recall seeing any Forager food on the menu the past couple times I've been at Ansari's and Forager has been on tap.

Forager: "Hey, we're gonna be in town next week. Mind if we stop in and tap a few kegs?

Ansari's: We're all for it but what do you need to use in our kitchen to be catering compliant?

Forager: No worries, my grandma will make us some brownies we can bring up to share with everyone!

Ansari's: Perfect! Well put them in the glass case next to the baklava near the front that no pays attention to after 10:00 pm!

 

I'm not sure if that was a hypothetical example or not but that's essentially what they do at Ansari's. They typically bring desserts of some sort or an amuse bouche bite-sized food and hand out a tray full of them. I guess that's all it takes if neither of the establishments are concerned about getting in trouble over it. I know with one of the batches of Nillerzzzzz they served you a cookie with your beer but the rest I think they've just had some food on site and handed them out randomly.

 

I think I just heard the ears of the owners of Birch's Lowertown chirping up

 

Unfortunately I don't think that would really serve Birch's purposes. Birch's main problem is that it has excess brewing capacity at the Lowertown location. Its point is that if it could use that capacity to distribute, it potentially could make that location profitable despite lower than desired traffic at the Lowertown brewpub. Creating a client brewing company to utilize a contract brewery's excess capacity may or may not make sense for Birch's in general,* but it really wouldn't do anything to help make ends meet at the Lowertown site.

* I lean toward "not make sense." Forager has developed a national reputation for its beer, and there's a lot of demand that its non-distributing brewpub -- which is a long drive from a major metro area -- can't satisfy. As far as I can tell, that's not at all true of Birch's, where bottles and crowlers linger in the refrigerators at both brewpub locations. For the record, I think Birch's generally makes significantly better beer than Forager does, but Birch's is much less attuned to the zeitgeist at the moment. That said, I do think Forager / Humble Forager is quite vulnerable to a potential shift in the cultural winds against the three style types it, along with quite a few other hip breweries, has made its specialty. I consider such a shift inevitable and possibly already in its early stages, as much as some fans of those styles wish to deny it.

 

HAHAHAHA

 

The last time I was at Forager, earlier in the year, they had little that i wanted to drink. Although the one beer I did choose to drink, a saison, was fabulous but was not available at the time to go. If they brew and distribute that, I would be onboard. But I do not think that is their plan. I will visit again on the 25, so I hope the selection will be better.

 

Oops, sorry, I wrote that wrong. I meant to write that the same styles and breweries that are the most popular today definitely will be the most popular forever, and Forager, being the best at the permanently trendy styles, therefore is unquestionably the best brewery and a guaranteed financial success in any venture it undertakes.

 

Austin is as good at brewing the styles that you seem to gravitate towards as anyone in this state. He is also smart enough to know that it would be stupid to specialize in those if he wants to make money. If/when the winds shift, he will be at the front of those new trends too.

 

Wait, people can be good at brewing many types of beer?

 

Surprisingly few. Making up numbers, I'd say 10% of breweries or less put out consistently excellent IPAs, sours, & big stouts (to pick the big three).

I know you're being ironic/poking the bear, but I've always wondered why talent in one style didn't necessarily translate to talent in another style. One of life's great mysteries, I guess.

 

I disagree. Based on several disappointing visits in which I've sampled a variety of styles, I've found Forager's output to be decidedly middling outside of its legitimately good saisons / farmhouse ales. I've written elsewhere that I'd rank it slightly below the unheralded LTS among Rochester breweries style-for-style (and I don't think LTS is outstanding either), and I'd rank it far below the aforementioned Birch's in terms of the ability to execute well on a variety of styles. I don't think Forager would have anywhere near the reputation it has today if it hadn't chosen to focus on presently hip styles. To the small extent that anyone cares about Forager's dubbels and pilsners, Forager likely benefits from a halo effect in ratings, in which people are primed to think its entire output is great based on the reputation built in its areas of specialty.

I'll also add that I suspect Forager benefits from the effects of scarcity, in which various "crews" send mules to a single, incovenenient location to stand in line to pick up its special releases, which can be busted out to impress at bottle shares and employed in trading. Humble Forager distributing contract-brewed cans to liquor stores across several states surely will reduce that allure.

That said, dipping toes in the water via a contract brewing arrangement likely is a low-risk venture.

 

Interesting. Curious as to how you came up with the 10% or less number.

 

Pulled right out of my ass, with an assist from almost 30 years of drinking beer.

 

You're absolutely, completely, 100% fucking wrong. Forager's big barrel-aged stout releases might be the best that MN has ever put out. If they were sitting on shelves I'd happily pick them up regularly just like I do other world-class barrel-aged beer (Central Waters, Founders, etc.) & I'll wager plenty of others would as well.

You should change your avatar to this phrase. It would save a lot of typing time.

 

I appreciate your sort of honest reply. Your 30 + years obviously mean absolutely fucking nothing in regards to the percentage of brewers who can make myriad styles of beer well.

 

Forager's current tap list, for shits and giggles:

3 IPAs
3 Belgians
3 fruited kettle sours
3 "light" beers including 2 lagers
3 stouts
1 mixed culture saison
2 guest tap lagers