Supply chain problems leave brewers feeling tapped out

By John Molseed

September 22, 2022 at 6:00 PM

ROCHESTER, Minn. 鈥� Breweries are feeling a pinch in cost and availability of supplies.

Due to drought and other bad weather, last year鈥檚 crop of barley was smaller than normal nationally. A major supplier of carbon dioxide having to shut off its supply isn鈥檛 helping either.

While these are putting pressure on the local craft beer industry, brewers expect to keep things flowing.

Rochester's Kinney Creek Brewing, which has found a niche with off-site sales of seltzers, has also found the price of cans has tripled, said Donovan Seitz, Kinney Creek owner and founder.

In the last year, four of Kinney Creek flavor compounds key to some of their most popular Seltzer drinks went on national back order, Seitz said.

鈥淐urrently, I鈥檓 still waiting on one to come back and it is one of our No. 1selling seltzer brands,鈥� Seitz said.

Steve Finnie, co-owner of Little Thistle Brewing Co., said supplies he needs are still available but prices are up across the board.

Little Thistle Lift Bridge collab 01.JPG — From left, Nick Novotny, assistant brewer at Little Thistle Brewing in Rochester, Minnesota, Steve Finney, Little Thistle co-owner, and Randy Ust, head brewer at Lift Bridge Brewing Co. in Stillwater, Minnesota, watch beer flow as they brew a collaboration beer at Little Thistle March 22, 2022.

鈥淛ust about everything has gone up 30% in price and takes longer to arrive, so it requires more planning ahead,鈥� he said.

However, it鈥檚 not just brewing ingredients and supplies small breweries are finding in short supply or back ordered. Prices on merchandise such as T-shirts are up.

Some items are temporarily unavailable, Finnie said. Merchandise sales are a significant income for the business, he added.

Smaller breweries seem to be weathering the supply issues better.

Owners of Sylvan Brewing in Lanesboro, Minnesota, say they haven鈥檛 had trouble finding what they need when they need it.

鈥淪urprisingly, brewing ingredients and supplies have not yet been an issue for us,鈥� said Karen Heimdahl, Sylvan Brewing co-owner. 鈥淐osts keep increasing so we're definitely nervous.鈥�

Seitz echoed the sentiment, recalling the difficulties the industry has had from 2020 through now.

鈥淚 hope that we are getting through this as we see things reappear in the marketplace, but it seems like there is always something looming around the corner,鈥� Seitz said.

Sylvan Brewing Andy Heimdahl.JPG — Sylvan Brewing co-owner and head brewer Andy Heimdahl draws a sample of beer from a fermenter July 20, 2022 at Sylvan Brewing in Lanesboro, Minn.

By John Molseed

John Molseed joined the Post Bulletin in 2018. He covers arts, culture, entertainment, nature and other fun stories he's surprised he gets paid to cover. When he's not writing articles about Southeast Minnesota artists and musicians, he's either picking banjo, brewing beer, biking or looking for other hobbies that begin with the letter "b." Readers can reach John at 507-285-7713 or jmolseed@postbulletin.com.