Great Divide

Brian DunnOwner

MBAA-Rocky Mountain District Meeting February 3, 2010

The Ideas• 1985 BS in Agriculture from CSU

Beer• 1985 to 1990 Agricultural development overseas

Algeria, Portugal, The Netherlands, EU, Middle EastBeer

• 1990 Bummed around AsiaBeer

• 1992 Masters in Environmental Policy and Management from DUStarted homebrewingBeer

Getting Started

• 1993 – Wrote marketing study– Business plan– Raised money– Banks– Rezoning– Construction– Start up costs– Beer

Going Commercial• May 1994 (a year and a half after first thinking about starting a

brewery) brewed first commercial beer – One full-time employee (self)– 5,000 ft of leased space – 17 barrel system – Open fermenters – DE Filter – Hand filler – 100 kegs

• Sold around 275 barrels

Development

• 1995 – Ran out of money– Sold the open fermenters– Bought 34 bbl unitanks and serving vessels – Rented 22 ounce Meheen filler from Avery – Bought 12 ounce and 22 ounce Meheens – Brewed Hibernation Ale

• 1996 – Starting buying 50 barrel unitanks and bright beer tanks– Added 17 barrel whirlpool– Bought CIMEC/Prospero bottling line from NBB– Glass on the line and filled bottles off the line manually

Development (Cont.)

• 1998 – Bought a 50 barrel brewhouse at a tax auction from the former HC

Berger Brewing in Fort Collins

• 2001 – Bought the building and undertook a lot of environmental remediation– Rented rehearsal space to 12 bands

• 2003 – Maverick Imperial Stout and Maverick IPA, starting oaking beers

• 2007 – Started buying 100 bbl unitanks– Demo’d second floor to get the ceiling height needed

Branding and Controls

• 2008 – Bought current packaging line – Moved from using pre-packed glass to bulk glass– Big savings on glass and labor– Ink Jet date coder– Oxygen ranges from .1 ml to .4 ml (headspace airs)– Significantly reduced beer loss: with the old CIMEC filler we saw

as much as 10 to 12 percent beer loss from bright tank to packaged beer, with the new filler our current beer loss ranges from 1 to 2 percent from bright beer tank to packaged beer

Increasing Volume• 2009

– Added five 100 bbl fermenters and one 100 bbl bright beer tank, increasing fermentation capacity by 50%

– Overall volume grew 34% to 12,070 bbls– Backordering on beer most of the year– Current capacity is around 16,500 barrels– Volume sold in Colorado grew 34% in 2009

• 2010

– Planning to add another 7,500 barrels of capacity (45% capacity increase) to give the brewery an estimated 24,000 barrel annual capacity.

– Two 300 bbl unitanks and one 300 bbl bright beer tank are planned– Just added 10 square meter DE filter– Looking for a 30 keg per hour wash/fill line– Grain out system

GD Today• 16 medals at GABF, 4 at World Beer Cup• Ratebeer.com, “Best Brewers in the World 2010”, 8th

• BeerAdvocate, “All-Time Top Brewers 2010”, 7th • 20 great co-workers

• Challenges:– Expansion Restrictions: 19,000 square foot lot, mostly one

story, no loading dock, limited parking, old building

• Solutions:– Creative engineering, patience, must be willing to accept some

inefficiencies, hire great people– Tanks in the parking lot, packaging line on two floors,

occasional use of off-site storage

Craft

• Craft Business:– In 2008 craft was 4% of US beer market by volume, 6% in

dollars– In 2009, craft is expected to be up in the high single digits (in

volume) and up around 10% in dollars– Increasing interest in locally brewed beers, and more

challenging beers– Need to be very profitable to be able to grow

• Beer