Regarding Virginia, Tallgrass founder Jeff Gill said he was approached at the 2010 Great American Beer Festival by Jacob Brunow, a representative of Brown Distributing in Richmond, Va. “He said he was impressed with the quality of the beer, and the fact our beer was in cans.” (Not just your garden-variety twelve-ounce can, but sixteen ouncers, an unusual size for craft beer.)
“We weren’t really seeking that market out,” admits Gill, “but we knew it was growing and that intrigued us.” Besides, “you have to sell beer where the people are. There are only 2.5 million people in Kansas and Guiffre (a northern Virginia wholesaler) might have that many people in its distribution area.”
Selling beer so far afield does create certain problems. It’s hard to keep an eye on your Virginia market when you’re 1,100 miles away on the prairie, so Gill employs a part-time salesperson who works on commission—his “feet in the street”—to conduct samplings and make sure local stocks are replenished on a timely basis. A skillful beer rep, he says, “knows the beer bars and the players and how to market your beer to make it feel like it’s been sold there for 20 years.”
Transportation is also an issue. Tallgrass generally ships its beers in refrigerated trucks, although Gill admits that in the winter he might settle for an ordinary box truck. Actually, for December and January deliveries to Minnesota, insulation (to keep the beer from freezing) is more important than refrigeration. “If the trucker stops for the night, it can get pretty brutal!”
Gill says he’s thinking of sharing a truck eastward with other breweries to cut down on expenses. “A lot of Colorado breweries are shipping east, and we’re down I-76, eight hours from Denver.”
