It’s no longer a surprise these days when a brewery announces it’s opening another location. Secondary production facilities and taprooms aren’t ubiquitous, but they are becoming more common for companies who quickly outgrow modest homes and expectations.
In 2018, the largest brewer in Idaho came from California. Brewing a little over 10,000 barrels at its Nampa facility just outside of Boise, Mother Earth Brew Company has quickly become a mainstay in the state after opening its second space in 2016. The output from Idaho was about a quarter of all beer the business made last year, with its original facility still cranking out beer in Vista, California.
So, what does it take to pull this off? While traveling through Idaho this spring, I sat down with Mother Earth’s president and CEO, Dan Love, and Chris Baker, director of brewing operations, to get an idea. In this conversation, they reveal that it’s not just a matter of time and money, but relationships and community-building can play a big role. And that’s before you even get to making and shipping the beer.
With rapid expansion thanks to the popularity of beers like Boo Koo Mosaic IPA and Cali Creamin' Vanilla Cream Ale, there’s a lot to navigate on the march toward 100,000 barrels. In addition to selling beer, that also includes a unique situation—Idaho’s Mother Earth Brew Company happens to share an eerily close name to North Carolina’s Mother Earth Brewing. For a company coming east and entering many locations around the Tar Heel State, it creates a wild and interesting backstory you’ll hear in this interview.
Dan and Chris share a lot on running a modern brewery over this hour, and it’s definitely representative of the variety of challenges owners and brewers have to consider today.
This is Dan Love and Chris Baker of Mother Earth Brew Company. Listen in.