Grain to Glass Series: Introduction

We’re thrilled to introduce to you our new Grain to Glass Video Series! The first video in the series focuses on our sales and self-distribution, and in the coming months, we’ll release the other videos.

Self-distribution, a choice we’ve made for our brewery, is very important to us. From the day we opened in 2011, it’s been a major pillar in our operations for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, it alleviates the need for a middle man. There’s no need for someone else to get involved when our customers can come straight to the source. Since it’s our product, we know the ins-and-outs, we can deliver fresh beer quickly, and we can do all of this at a lower cost without bringing in a third party.

The second reason we choose to self-distribute, which is closely tied to the first, is because of the local jobs it allows us to create. Right now we have 14 employees that handle everything from on- and off-premises sales, delivery, and merchandising, and this number of employees will only increase as our business continues to grow.

While we’ve found much success in our self-distribution method, we’re now being forced to slow down our growth because of a NC law that only allows us to produce and self-distribute up to 25,000 barrels of beer per year. If we exceeded that 25,000 barrels, we would be forced to hand our sales and distribution over to a third-party wholesaler.

Being punished for our brewery’s success is especially frustrating when we’re already battling to even make a tiny dent in the beer consumed compared to The Big Guys, like AB InBev whose annual sales exceed $55 billion. Specifically, in NC, the beer industry contributed $8.8 billion to the economy, but only $1.2 billion of that comes from craft beer. Living and working in the 9th most populous state in the US could provide a monumental opportunity for craft to grow, but until the regulations are lifted, those of us who want the right to make choices for our breweries will continue to be punished for our growth.