Cool! Do they deliver to St. Louis Park??
- Al
Original Message:
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From: Steve Daiken duvelhop(a)yahoo.com
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 07:10:19 -0700 (PDT)
To: mnbrewers(a)yahoogroups.com
Subject: [mnbrewers] Fitgerâs Brewhouse offers beer delivery
Fitgerâs Brewhouse offers beer delivery
Patrick Garmoe Duluth News Tribune
Published Thursday, June 05, 2008
Fitgerâs Brewhouse made a dream come true for generations of beer
drinkers: a way to make the beer come to them.
The brew pub is the first in Minnesota to begin delivering growlers â
half-gallon sealed jugs of freshly made beer â to homes.
Ideally, it plans to make daily and weekly routes through the city.
Growlers
to go filled with Lighthouse Golden beer chill in a refrigerator at the
Fitgerâs Brewhouse Beer Store in the Fitgerâs Brewery Complex. [Amanda
Odeski / News Tribune]
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âJust exactly like the milkman. Heâll drop it off and take your empties
away,â said Dave Hoops, brewmaster at Fitgerâs Brewhouse.
The growlers are $14 each, or $11 for a replacement.
An introductory rate of $1 is being charged per delivery â regardless of
how many growlers are purchased.
âWith todayâs gas prices, that wonât stick around forever,â Hoops
promised.
You can order growlers online or by phone. Identification will be required
upon delivery.
The growlers also are available at a new store just beneath the pub and
restaurant.
After
quietly launching the service a month ago, the company already has sped
up delivery of the beer, because brewers found most people didnât think
to order it in advance.
âThey want it now,â Hoops said.
So
now it guarantees delivery of the growlers within 24 hours of an order,
though immediate delivery is possible when a driver is available.
The service grew out of a need to provide a place to fill and sell growlers
separately from the bar area in the restaurant.
âWe decided to try it out, if for no other reason to push the
boundaries,â said Tim Nelson, co-owner of Fitgerâs Brewhouse.
Itâs just the latest step in the steady growth of the beer-making
operation.
Ten
years ago, the pub made about 200 barrels of beer annually. That figure
has grown steadily to 2,500 barrels last year, Hoops said.
In
tandem with the delivery service, the company opened a 900-square-foot
store directly beneath the restaurant in the Fitgerâs building.
The
beer store sells growlers, growler cozies, packs for carrying the
growlers, pint glasses, Fitgerâs Brewhouse T-shirts, hats, bike jerseys
and other products.
The expansion added one full-time position and three part-time positions,
Nelson said.
Bob
DuVernois, president of the Minnesota Craft Brewerâs Guild and head
brewer at Great Waters Brewing Company in St. Paul, said Duluth is
ahead of most pubs in delivering the growlers.
âNo oneâs really thought to pursue that,â he said. âTheyâre the
first ones.â
But DuVernois anticipates other brewers will follow Fitgerâs lead.
With Fitgerâs essentially owning the market here, DuVernois expects the
delivery option will pay off.
But donât overlook the most obvious reason for potential success,
DuVernois said.
âThey make really good beer.â
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