BEMIDJI 鈥� After two years of pivots amid pandemic-related challenges, the crew at Bemidji Brewing is looking ahead as it prepares to celebrate 10 years in business.
They continue to expand their wholesale operations and welcome customers to the taproom while discontinuing food offerings from their own kitchen.
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鈥淚 think we鈥檝e learned throughout these past two years to not have expectations that are set in stone,鈥� said Megan Hill, who owns the business along with her husband, Tom, and Justin and Tina Kaney. 鈥淚 think this will be a new iteration of Bemidji Brewing operations, and I look forward to seeing how it goes forward.鈥�
Since March 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic began, businesses like the brewery have had to adjust to ever-changing restrictions. Bemidji Brewing closed its taproom for about three months, reopened it with limited capacity for a time, then closed it again in the fall of 2020 for a couple of months.
Through it all, the beer kept flowing and the business stayed afloat.
鈥淲e have a multi-pronged business in terms of retail in our taproom but also a wholesale arm where people can buy our product in bars, restaurants and liquor stores,鈥� Megan said. 鈥淚n 2020 we made the decision to put all of the beer we produce into cans. We had only been putting our three year-round beers in cans at that point."
The choice to put everything they made in cans turned out to be a good one.
"Liquor stores were very busy and all of those loyal customers were buying what we were putting into cans, Megan explained. "So it accelerated something that we thought would take a few years. We just had to do it much sooner than expected.鈥�
Expanding their market
Bemidji Brewing also expanded its wholesale reach into the Grand Forks and Fargo-Moorhead markets.
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鈥淲e had plans in 2020 before the pandemic happened to expand our distribution over toward North Dakota,鈥� Megan said. "We began self-distribution to Grand Forks in early 2020, and in March we were planning to do the same to Detroit Lakes and Fargo-Moorhead.鈥�
At first the brewery self-distributed to those markets, but in late 2021 it partnered with McKinnon Company and D-S Beverages to get the product to Grand Forks and Fargo-Moorhead.
All this has meant the brew crew has had to ramp up production.
鈥淥ur staff in the front and the back have been so flexible to the rapidly changing environment,鈥� Megan said. 鈥淭hat resulted in our production team really working so hard to crank out as much beer as they could to move beer through our system as fast as they could so we could send it out our door. They worked really, really hard.鈥�
'Return to our core'
The company was founded by the two couples in 2012, at first brewing beer in the community kitchen at Harmony Food Co-op. It moved to the former Iverson Corner Drug location at 401 Beltrami Ave. NW in July 2013 and opened its first taproom.
Three years later the brewery moved to its current location at 211 America Ave. NW, with a much larger production space and taproom. It also was able to add a kitchen.
The recent decision to stop offering food from the kitchen was a business strategy, Megan said.
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鈥淎s we enter 2022 there are so many things out of our control in terms of increasing prices for everything we do,鈥� she explained. 鈥淲e planned and executed putting a kitchen in when we went to this location, but we鈥檝e just decided we need to return to our core competency, which is making and selling beer.鈥�
Customers are encouraged to bring in food from local restaurants as they did at the brewery鈥檚 former location in July 2013 and opened its first taproom.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have some small snacks like chips, but we鈥檙e really going to encourage people to bring in food,鈥� Megan said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e partners with nearly every bar and restaurant in Bemidji.鈥�
She added that the brewery hopes to have food trucks in the parking lot at some point.
Megan said the owners have been overwhelmed by the backing they鈥檝e received from loyal customers.
鈥淭he support that we鈥檝e gotten throughout the pandemic is incredible,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople were so supportive in terms of buying our beer at liquor stores and still coming in to buy at the taproom, too.
"We鈥檝e been buoyed for sure by the support of the community. In a time that has kind of brought out the worst in people, it鈥檚 also brought out a lot of the best in people. We鈥檝e been really fortunate.鈥�
