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Tap Talk: Delano's Lupine Brewing Company

Over the last five years, the craft brewery movement has grown exponentially in Minnesota. The Associated Press says licensing records show two-thirds of Minnesota breweries have opened just since 2010. So, we decided to help you – and your livers – keep up with the taproom trend by stopping by some of these Twin Cities brewhouses. This time, we head out west to Delano to chat with Lupine Brewing Company.

Community is a cornerstone of the craft beer movement.

From a homebrewer sharing their creations with family and friends to groups that enjoy a beer together to cities that embrace a watering hold that embodies their town, brewing is built and sustained by community.

So, it makes sense that a group of long-time friends landed on the brewing industry when opening up their own business.

James Anderle and Michael Dumas spent well over a decade discussing their desire to start their own business.

The pair debated industries for years before finally landing on brewing in 2012.

"We went to a couple taprooms, and started talking to them to see when, why and how they got started," Dumas said. "From that, we thought it seemed like a pretty cool industry."

Joined by Anderle's friend Eric Sargent, the group got to work drawing up a business plan. They conducted market research (visiting taprooms) and reached out to breweries across the Twin Cities for advice on the process of opening.

Anderle came from a project management and finance background, Dumas – a sales and marketing background, and Sargent had engineering experience. Between the three of them, they had over 60 years of business experience, but very little brewing.

So, they decided they needed to brew a beer.

"We said, 'Hey, you know what, maybe we should start brewing a beer,' because we'd never brewed a beer before!" Dumas said.

Test brews of a brown ale and a stout, both of which are still available on tap, solidified their desire to explore craft beer. It also secured their need for a head brewer.

"We knew we didn't have the experience to brew beer and we needed someone to help us broaden the range of beer options," Dumas said.

So, Grant Aldrich joined the team as head brewer.

Finally in 2014, after two years of prepping and planning, Lupine Brewing Company was born; a brewery born out of community, in name and in ownership.

 

Tap Handles At Lupine Brewing Company
(credit: Lupine Brewing Company)

Lupine Brewing Company

Follow them: on Twitter at @LupineBrewing, on Facebook at Lupine Brewing Company, or visit their website online.
Owners:  James Anderle, Michael Dumas and Eric Sargent
Brewer:  Grant Aldrich
Location:  248 N. River Street, Delano
Hours:  Wednesday – Thursday: 4 to 10 p.m., Friday 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday: 2 – 11 p.m. and Sunday 2 – 6 p.m.
Contact: 763-333-1033

Taproom At Lupine Brewing Company
(credit: Lupine Brewing Company)

After building this business for years before it actually opened, tell me how you landed on the name Lupine?

Michael: "Lupine" in Latin means "resembling the wolf." We went through, just like most companies, [a lot of names.] The paw (their logo) got thrown on the table and we kind of talked about the paw and what it meant to us. We're all outdoors people, and the name "Lupine" came about and it seemed like a good, reserved name. It seemed like a very simple logo where we could brand it similar to big brands, like Nike, Adidas etc., where you can just look at the logo and you know what it is. We were looking at the future of that name and seeing how far we could expand it. Now, we kind of name a lot of our beers after groups of different animals too.

That's awesome that the name fit the image you were already somewhat attached to. Also, it opens up a lot of possibilities for beer names as you said! So, when trying to find a name were there any standouts prior to Lupine?

Michael: A couple of the last ones (laughs). Fish Bone [was one, but] Fish Bone is an Australian wine company so we couldn't use that one. The other one that was kind of crazy-out-there that we thought was fun, but we wanted a little more reserved name, was Slippery Fish. That came from a Boundary Waters trip. James and I were out fishing and James was not catching a lot of fish, and he finally caught a fish. He brought the walleye up to fire pit and kept picking up the fish and dropping it. We played around with that name for a while but decided that it may not go well with beer.

I can see how maybe Lupine was a little bit easier to brand! So, the brewery began in St. Cloud but expanded to Delano. How was the reception when you moved to Delano?

Michael: They were totally ready for something like this to show up. There was a coffee shop called the Three Crows that played live music a lot and they closed about a year and a half ago because the water was too high from the Crow River. [The 2014 floods] kind of washed the back of their facility out. [And since they closed] people were always looking for a place to call home again. When we opened they found their place to hang out. Now we do live music every Wednesday and Friday night.

Many towns outside of the metro area have their own breweries, but the scene isn't quite as large as Minneapolis or St. Paul. So, I'm curious, was there a certain level of education you had to do when moving out west?

Michael: No, there's a lot of craft beer drinkers [out here].

Grant: On craft beer in general they are pretty knowledgeable, but there are a handful of people that have never heard of specific types, like a kolsch. So there's a little bit of education, but its more specific types rather than the general craft beer culture. They are pretty versed in that already.

That's great! I'm sure that helps you to be able to experiment with a lot of different styles. Again, with so many breweries being condensed in the Twin Cities, what is the craft beer community there like?

Michael: Well, weekdays probably 80 percent of our people are local and then on the weekends 80 percent of our people that come in not local. [And by not local I mean] over 25 miles or better away.

Wow! That's great! I'm glad so many people are expanding their beer horizons beyond the Twin Cities. So, let's shift gears and talk a bit about the beer you have on tap! What are you're year round beers?

Grant: We got an IPA, a brown ale and a stout. The stout is the Murder of Cranberries, which is an oatmeal stout with cranberries in it.

That sounds delicious! What are your seasonal beers?

Michael: Our Irish Ale just went off the line. That was a beer we bring out around St. Patrick's Day. Our Einzelganger German Alt beer is one we bring out around this season and we do some German festivals. Right now we also have our oatmeal stout on nitro, a wheat ale, our Hell Hounds, which is a Helles, and currently a barrel-aged UnCayndness, which is s chocolate cayenne stout aged in a wine barrel. We're about to release a bourbon barrel-aged UnCayndness too. Then we also have our Imperial stout.

Sounds like there is a lot of selection! Which is the best seller in the taproom?

Michael: It's hard to say because we float up and down, [but] probably the brown ale and the Murder of Cranberries is a close second. [But] everyone is chasing the latest greatest beer you have. I would say 80 percent of our customers chase [that]. So when the Irish ale was on, it was on and off in less than 30 days. It sold like crazy. We normally do 20 barrels of that, so that's 40 kegs. The German Alt just came on the market within the last week so we're going to reproduce that one and we'll be pushing through that one really fast. Every new beer that we come out, everyone wants it.

It definitely is a trend for people to want the latest release within a taproom. Something about the limited nature of seasonals! So, Grant, are there any flavors you've been wanting to experiment with?

Grant: I've been just recently trying to talk him into wet hopped beers, which almost intentionally taste different each season. [They really] promote the different hops. I personally really like that so I'm trying to push for another style or two where it is intentionally different here and there.  [Also] I've been wanting to explore with the tea ale. That originated eight years ago when I was homebrewing, so it was really awesome being able to do it on a professional scale and sell it and get feedback from it. But I've been thinking of doing more with different kinds of teas. I haven't gotten too far with it.

I could see as a brewer why it would be fun to experiment with the way you use hops within your beer. Tell me, what is your favorite beer?

Grant: German Alt is what I find myself drinking more than a lot of the others. But the original UnCayndess, even though I don't drink it that often, is probably one of my favorites just because it's such a unique beer. I don't find a lot of other examples out there like it. [But] it depends on the day. (laughs).

I suppose for someone who works in a brewery it is hard to pick a favorite! So, being that your audience is so wide on the weekends in particular, what would you serve someone who came in and was sort of a "beer snob?"

Michael: [It would be sort of a conversation about] what type of beer profiles[they like.] [I'd ask them] do you like heavier imperials, do you like stouts, do you like porters, do you like wit beers, what kind of beers do you want? Then we'd have to map from there. So, if someone comes into our place and says, "I like hoppy beers and only hoppy beers." I say, "Well you've come to the wrong location. We don't have any hoppy beers." The IPA is the hoppiest beer we've got and it's 60+ IBUs. But what we've found, with 90 plus percent of our guests, there's not one bad beer in this bunch. That's been a really good deal for us.

What about on the flip side? What would you serve someone who hadn't ever tasted a craft beer? Or even said they weren't a beer fan?

Michael: [It would be a ] similar conversation. Some people say, "I'm a wine drinker , I don't drink beer." So, I'll throw the Murder of Cranberries in front of them and at least 50 percent that were wine drinkers and don't like beer, were never into beer, were converted.  Then we've got the other ones that are like, "You know what, I only drink Michelob Light or Miller Light." Well, we've got our Helles beer and they are like, "Wow, it's really good. I'll have another one!" So it's education always, whether it's a "beer snob," a first time beer drinker or "I don't like beer." We always try to communicate with our customers and see what they're thinking and feeling.

I think that is probably the most important part of craft beer, the conversation about it and what types there are that exist. That's how we learn more about this burgeoning community in our state. Speaking of the community, what do you see happening to the craft beer scene in the next 10 years?

Michael: What I see in reality happening, probably in the next two years, is more growth and then after that some fall off. Purely just because you'll hit saturation. I think we have growth over the next 10 years, but even in the next 3 to 4 years I see it tapering off quite a bit.

What do you hope to see happen in the next 10 years?

Michael: What I hope to see is that there continue to be other breweries that come to different towns and continue to expand the market, the growth and keep people excited about it. We want the beer community to continue to support each other. I think that's a huge part for all of us to be successful. [We want us to continue to] all take care of each other and we talk highly of others ones. Sometimes you don't always hear great things about other breweries, but as long as you stay positive and we support each other we'll continue to be successful and we'll continue this journey for a long time.

That's a great hope for Minnesota's brewing community! Tell me, where do you see Lupine specifically in the next 5 years?

Michael: We'll be doing bottling and canning. We should be in full production/distribution [mode,] be adding contract brewing. [I also see us] expanding to the large size market and chasing the big guys like Summit, Surly and Fulton.

So, I put together a word cloud from you website and the main five words/phrases that came out were: one, great time, beers, together and community. Do you feel that is an accurate portrayal of your brewery?

Michael: Oh yeah. A big part of our [brewery] is a sense of community. We have built our whole brand around that, like beer names with the different groups of animals. Most of the animals are in families or groups, and when people hang around and have a beer they are normally with friends or people they enjoy.

Grant: I think Delano has a great community. It's awesome to be a part of it. A couple weeks ago my parents were visiting the taproom and my mom said, "It's like a family reunion in here," because there were a bunch of different people hugging each other. I thought to myself, "I see that all the time, but it never really dawned on me." There are a lot of people that have known each other and have been friends for 20 years. When we opened up it was an immediate welcome and we felt part of the community. I've lived in a handful of different towns and I've never experience community like I have in Delano.

That's great to hear that they embraced you with open arms. As you mentioned earlier, I'm sure they were just as excited to have you as you were to find a place for your taproom. So, sort of like the word cloud, if you had to define Lupine using just one word what would you choose?

Michael: Exhilarating.

Grant: Challenging; which I see as an awesome thing. Pretty much any brewer would agree with me that there's always something coming up, even good challenges.

Michael: On the taproom side it's friends, community, beer…I can't put it into one word!

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