Brewbound 2022 Rising Stars Interview: Modist Brewing

Speaker 1 [00:04] Let's meet our next rising star, Modist Brewing from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Joining me now is co-founder John Donnelly. Thanks for being here, John.

Speaker 2 [00:14] Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1 [00:15] Yeah, and congratulations on being a rising star.

Speaker 2 [00:18] Yeah, that's awesome. Thank you. I really, really appreciate this. Yeah,

Speaker 1 [00:22] 11 of the things that we were really impressed with was in 2020, Modist really established itself as a company that was willing to take a stand for social justice, um, and that really showed, showed out, uh, in the wake of George Floyd's murder, and you guys really opened up the taproom to protesters, you fed them, you raised money for social justice issues, um. And, and, you know, you guys were really outspoken, and, you know, I, I really appreciate what you guys did there. So, you know, how has being an outspoken business been received in Minnesota?

Speaker 2 [01:00] It's uh ups and downs, it's with the internet. Uh, anything you put on the internet it's got, uh, several, you know, uh, several trolls or several people that wanna, uh, assert themselves on their soapboxes, and you deal with it as it comes, and, um. As far as, um, you know, what happened in, with George Floyd and down in, um, in South Minneapolis, uh, myself and two of the other owners, uh, grew up, uh, not grew up, but lived, uh, really close to, uh, where that happened, uh, on 38th in Chicago. Um, so it's, uh, you know, it's just, it hits home. Um, so we didn't really feel like there was another thing to do, so.

Speaker 1 [01:42] Totally understandable, um, and, and I imagine being outspoken like that has built a stronger bond with the, the community there.

Speaker 2 [01:51] Yeah, certainly. Um, yeah, we, my, myself and, uh, the other owners, uh, you know, the, uh, other members of the management team here at the, at the brewery, um, uh, after, after that, um, uh, happened and after the, the uprisings and things like that, we, we really doubled down and tried to do, do the work and try to like really instill that as a company value. Um, certainly made mistakes along the way, but Um, just trying to do better, uh, as people and as business owners and members of our community.

Speaker 1 [02:24] Yeah, that it's definitely showing out, so, I, I, I've, I've been very impressed, you know, we got to visit you all, uh, during the raft brewers conference, uh, we, we stopped in and, and got to hang out, and, you know, it, it was a great vibe in, in the tap room. So, it definitely showed, and, you know, a diverse crowd was there, so I'm very impressive.

Speaker 2 [02:46] Uh, thank you, I appreciate that, uh, you know, you, you, you, you do all that, all the stuff, and, and, um, and put yourself out there and Hopefully it, hopefully it's, um, it's showing, uh, but yeah, we're trying to, trying to do it in our own way and, um, be humble about it. So, thank you. Yeah,

Speaker 1 [03:04] well, here we are two years later, um, you know, 20222 is almost over. What stand stands out to you as highlights for Modist this year?

Speaker 2 [03:15] Oh man, let's see. Um, Boy, this year was, uh, was, uh, another, uh, just kind of crazy year trying to figure out, you know, what, what to do, uh, you know, on the, on the quote-unquote backside of, uh, of COVID, of the pandemic, and, and trying to figure out what, um, you know, what the world looks like now. Um, definitely highlights, uh, for me personally, we're going to, uh, events again, seeing people getting that kind of community feel, um, back together, uh, seeing more than, you know, 1520 people in the taproom, uh, uh, you know, in one in, one out kind of thing. That's, that's been great, um, going to, uh, out of state for events. We did, uh, Green City with other half in New York. We did, uh, Wavy Days with Mass Landing, uh, in Maine. Um, yeah, and, uh, tons of festivals, tons of, tons of more fun. So, it's kind of feels good to not be constantly pivoting with, you know, new state and city regulations and trying to do the right thing and, um, in, in, in that regard, uh, health and safety wise, but it's been, uh, it's been a wild year for sure.

Speaker 1 [04:24] Yeah, well, when you think about what's been driving the business, uh, product-wise, what, what really has been, uh, doing that for you guys this year?

Speaker 2 [04:34] Um, we've really, uh, we've, we've continued with, um, you know, our, uh, our pace during COVID was, was pretty aggressive, uh, on release schedules. Uh, we were sending, uh, 2 new beers to market every 2 weeks. Uh, so it was, um, it was a breakneck pace. We dialed it back a little bit to 2 beers every 3 weeks. Um, so we've, we've really just, uh, um, just been pushing limited releases and, and, uh, making just Uh, wild and crazy beers with, uh, the system that we have and, um, uh, sending out to, to select markets and, and doing things like that.

Speaker 1 [05:11] Minnesota opened the door this year to THC infused beverages, uh, which was really quite unexpected. Um, and I, I, I, I don't even know that the lawmakers or many of the lawmakers who voted for it knew that they were, but, um, Modist, in, in the wake of that, Modist has launched a tent, uh, a line of low-dose THC infused seltzers made with Minnesota grown hemp derived from delta 9 THC. It's also got real fruit in it, no added sugar, 0% alcohol, of course. Um, how has that launch gone for you guys?

Speaker 2 [05:45] Uh, it's been, it's been incredible. Um, if, if anything, there is a, it's just showing that the market is, is ready for these types of products. Um, craft breweries are set up, uh, in, in my opinion, like the most correct way to be producing things like this, um, and, and distributing them because we're already trained as, you know, 21+ compliant, um, company. Uh, we have all the equipment, all the sanitary practices, everything like that. Um, and, uh, and, and the launcher, I mean, everyone's been, um, been super supportive of it. We've, uh, we've had nothing but great feedback. Um, our, our supplier, uh, for the, uh, the THC, uh, product has been great to work with. Uh, I, I, yeah, couldn't be happier, to be honest. I'm wearing, uh, I'm wearing one of our shirts.

Speaker 1 [06:33] Oh, nice. Well, that's very, yeah, that's perfect timing.

Speaker 2 [06:40] Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 [06:41] Do, do you guys see this becoming a meaningful part of the business going forward?

Speaker 2 [06:46] Yeah, I mean, uh, we, we're, so we're sort of in the middle of, uh, an expansion. The, the room behind me is gonna be demolished and put into, uh, or turned into a, uh, private event space. Um, and, um, basically, a lot, a lot of that, um, Uh, a lot of like the financial projections and things like that we're putting together. Uh, we have one copy where, you know, THC is still on the table, one copy where it's not. Both are, you know, gonna be, I'm not, uh, scared that either are not gonna be approved by the bank, but the THC side looks much better. It's, uh, it's been a, uh, a very successful launch. Uh, we're all, I think myself and kind of everybody else that's producing or selling, uh, uh, right now is sort of, uh, like, what are, what's gonna happen, you know, after this election tomorrow and, uh, January and, and the next, the next legislative session and things like that. So we're, we're all kind of like waiting in the wings and kind of seeing what's gonna happen.

Speaker 1 [07:45] Do you see a lot of overlap with the craft beer drinker and tent?

Speaker 2 [07:51] Yeah, yeah, there, there's quite a, quite a bit of overlap, but um they're also, uh, we launched it in, at the very end of August, like the last weekend of August and through September, so we still had, um, where, where we're located anyway is right by Target Field where the Minnesota Twins play, and uh there was tons of people, um, of all age groups, uh, every, and everything else, um. Just like buying, buying tin, by the 4-pack, uh, and having a great time and just kind of a new sort of drinking culture, I guess, um, cause they're, they're pretty low dose. Um, there's 3 mg and 5 mg. And, um, I was, I was pleasantly surprised with the kind of the crossover, but also folks that are, that are sober or the California sober or whatever you wanna call it, um, or Uh, or just haven't just quit drinking altogether, um, come to, come to the taproom and like, oh, I've, I've heard about you guys, I've seen you, but I've never been in cause I don't drink beer, or, you know, whatever, for whatever reason. Um, and, uh, and that's been kind of cool to, to, to watch new faces come in as well.

Speaker 1 [08:59] Yeah, so it opens you up to a whole new market of customer, basically.

Speaker 2 [09:04] Yep, exactly, exactly. Yeah.

Speaker 1 [09:08] When we look ahead to 2023, what do you see as the opportunity areas for Modist?

Speaker 2 [09:15] Opportunity areas, we're, we are working on, um, uh, so our, so what we have is a mash filter system. Um, we're the only one in Minnesota to have one. There are several around the country. Um, but, uh, it's a Mira MAS filter system. And so what we do with that is, uh, it, it helps with efficiency and, um, Uh, efficiency and like labor hours and things like that. But it also allows us to do like really creative things with our malt bills. Um, and so we've been doing kind of, uh, uh, we'll call them high, high gravity, uh, uh, beers. So we have a, um, one in barrels right now called, well, we don't have a name for it yet, but it's, uh, sitting at about 27% alcohol. So, Yeah, doing, uh, doing larger, larger things like that, more barrel aging, more, uh, more creative malt builds, um, and then, Yeah, depending on what happens with um THC legislation uh here in, in the state, uh, we'll continue doing that as long as we can. So,

Speaker 1 [10:15] do you expect that to come up sooner than later?

Speaker 2 [10:19] I don't think so. I think it's kind of a lower uh priority for, for the state right now, um, just in my opinion, but it seems like, um, legislation with, uh, alcohol and, and, um, marijuana in general is just sort of kind of a back burner thing for a lot of, um, a lot of our legislators. I could be my foot in my mouth right now, but

Speaker 1 [10:42] I guess we'll find out, you know, we'll see how election day goes, yeah.

Speaker 2 [10:48] Yeah, they'll see this, uh, this interview as an exhibit A in a, in a legal standing or something. It, it, it'll

Speaker 1 [10:54] be uh well over by then, so.

Speaker 2 [10:57] Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1 [10:59] Well, one last question for you, uh, what's one thing that you learned over the last couple of years, uh, that you'd offer as a piece of advice to the entrepreneurs out there?

Speaker 2 [11:10] To, to brewery specific. Uh, if you're looking to, if you're looking to start a brewery, uh, if you're looking to, to get into the beverage industry, um, as a, uh, as an owner, or like, if you want to own some, some part of some tier or some uh piece of this business is, is to really work in the, in the business first. Um, myself and my, uh, two business partners, um, we all wanted to start a brewery, but we, uh, first went to the breweries that were in town, uh, at the time. There wasn't many in Minnesota when we, when we started, um, but we all worked like scrubbing floors, filling growlers, doing the, doing the grunt work, so to say, uh, worked, and we worked our way up to head brewer, uh, head of packaging, and, um, that, that showed us a lot of what to do and what not to do. And I think that can apply for every field, is really work in that field that you, that you wanna be in, you know. It's a, Yeah, owning a business is a lot of freaking work, and it's not, uh, it's not always great, but, um, at the end of the day, it's, uh, it is really, uh, it's really rewarding, uh, and there's a good beer at the end of the day too.

Speaker 1 [12:22] Yeah, I think you said it well. So, thanks for the time, John, and congratulations to you and the team at Modest.

Speaker 2 [12:29] Thank you very much. We really appreciate you guys. Yeah,

Speaker 1 [12:31] we appreciate it. So, take care.