612 Brew: “A Rising Tide Lifts All Ships”

I’ve always loved a good comeback story—one who’s been through the school of hard knocks, learned from experience, and rises stronger than before.

612 Brew is no exception.

After a fresh snowfall in the Twin Cities this January, I wove my way through the backroads to a renovated warehouse in Northeast Minneapolis. The brick building, located on the corner of Central and Broadway, is home to several businesses, including a yoga studio, a coffee shop, and 612 Brew—my destination. The local brewery takes its name from the area code.

Austin Myhram: Head Brewer

On this quiet Monday afternoon, I sat down with Austin Myhram. He’s been with the company for five years, serving as head brewer for the past three. He’s also worked at Flossmore Station, a brew pub that opened in the 90’s in a south suburb of Chicago, and Indeed Brewing Company and Taproom in Minneapolis.

Myhram got his start in the beer industry at the Siebel Institute of Technology out of Chicago, a trade school for brewers that’s been operating since the 1860’s. He also participated in the student exchange program, which the Institute collaborates with Doeman’s Academy out of Germany.

Myrham completed his certification course in a little over two years, spending half the time in Munich under German professors. 

Growing Pains

When Myrham initially started at 612 Brew, the small company was going through what he calls “a rough patch.” Myhram says that one of the initial problems was “such a rush to get a return on the investment that there was never the conversation—‘What’s your brand?’ So 612 suffered from a lack of direction.”

He adds that there was also a lack of experience. “You can’t be running out of beer or putting out stuff that doesn’t meet the standard it should…

“And it’s also sort of tricking yourself, saying, ‘Well, we’re busy, so it’s good. It has to be good, or people wouldn’t still be coming.’ So it kind of worked like that for a long time. That was before I came here—even when I first got here. There were obvious problems that were ignored because it was busy.”

Sure, they’ve made mistakes. But what start-up business hasn’t? The important thing is learning from one’s mistakes—and that’s exactly what 612 Brew has done. Fast-forward to present day, and he says there’s more experience and brewer control.

They’ve also added a canning line and centrifuge, which clarifies beer, removing the solids and extending shelf life.

Finding a Niche: Sometimes Less is More

The key to a strong brewery, Myrham emphasizes, is to find one’s niche.

“By everybody trying to do everything, it actually leads to a level of homogeneity. If you go to a place, and everybody has Hazy IPA and Sour, Imperial Stout… it becomes tedious, homogenous. Nobody’s doing one thing because everybody is trying to do everything.

“And consumers will think, ‘If everybody in my town is doing all the same thing, what’s the point of all these breweries?’

So 612 Brew has gotten busy.

Their focus? “Taking a more traditional route with a well-balanced, approachable, and then hoppy array—'not super gimmicky beers.’”

Other breweries are following suit, he notes, “which I think is great, because they’re going to have to stand out when there’s 8,000 breweries in the country. Seven years ago, when there were 3,000 breweries, it was a lot easier to do, but now there’s so many. And the density is so much higher, especially in the inner cities having breweries... you have to find a way to stand out. Oddly enough, that means doing less for a lot of breweries...

The same is true in the food industry, Myhram says.

“If you go to a restaurant and the menu is six pages, you know it’s not going to be very good. But if you go to a restaurant and there’s only one page, you’ll probably think, ‘Okay, they seem to know what they’re doing here. Oftentimes, that’s a good sign.”

Consistency

Brewing good beer takes “an eye towards constant improvements,” Myhram adds. “And also staying vigilant on it because we are such a small team. Steve and I are the whole production staff. So it can be easy to overlook some of the small things. It gets easy to say, ‘Ah, I’ll just do it tomorrow...’

But procrastination doesn’t work in this industry. Being a good brewer takes commitment to the details. Consistently. For Myhram, “That means tracking fermentation; doing sensory testing; checking up on everything; reading the gravity level for the PH level; tasting it; smelling it; and just keeping on top of it.

“Every brewer knows what to do. It’s just being committed to doing it. All the time. Our customers need to know that we’re committed. We’re all in, and we take it seriously. It’s very important to me that you enjoy it. And when someone doesn’t enjoy it, I take that personally, too.”

Defining Success

As I interview different business owners and experts in the field like Myhram, I’m always curious how they define success in their industry. So I asked him, “What’s your measure or gauge?”

“Monetary success is sort of the obvious metric. You know, if you win an award, that’s a good measure. But to me, it all just comes down to—are people happy with the beer? And are we continuing to improve? Are we continuing to experiment where we can in order to push ourselves to become better brewers?

“That, to me, is the measure of success. It’s the combination of all those things to make your brewery successful, and some breweries measure it by how much you’re expanding every year because that’s an obvious measure of success.

“But to me… is it something that people want to come back for? Are they bringing their friends back, enjoying it, saying, ‘This is good. I love this.’ That, to me, is what’s success. Ultimately, is the beer good or not?

“And a big measure of success for me is when you see other brewers coming in. That—to all brewers—is how you gauge it. You know, are there people from the industry who recognize you, and are they showing up and drinking beer?

“That’s a huge thing. If you’re not seeing any of the brewers coming through, that might be an issue.” He laughs. “Also, if you get that shelf space at the liquor store, that’s becoming really hard because there’s so much beer out there that people’s beer attention-span is really short.

“I’m really proud of all the beer we put out. The overall perception of our brand has really improved, and there’s been a lot of positive reviews put out by The Growler, City Pages, and Star Tribune.”

Collaboration

What’s fascinating to me about the brewing industry—at least in Northeast Minneapolis—is the culture of collaboration between brewers. There are at least seven or eight breweries within walking distance of 612 Brew, making this the brewing hub of the Twin Cities.

With this many brewers, I’d imagine a competitive, cut-throat culture. Isn’t that typical in most American industries when you’re a business owner competing for consumers?

Evidently, it’s different here. Austin, along with other brewers in the area, get together frequently to sample each other’s beer and create new recipes together.

“One of the coolest parts about the brewing industry is collaboration,” he said. “It’s, ‘You like my beer; I like your beer. Let’s get together and make beer together.’ And that’s literally what it is.”

Then he added, “Of course, there’s competition, but we’re all pretty friendly with each other. We borrow stuff from one another. We help each other out, go to events, promote each other.”

It’s like a friendly neighborhood.

In contrast, the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild lobbies to promote legislative interests and put on festivals. Myhram explains, “That’s a professional guild where we come together and figure out how to promote our own interests.”

“But the collaboration aspect is a lot less formal. It’s friends of ours. Last year we did something with Social CiderWorks, which is just up the street... La Do?a Cerveceria—we made a beer with them…

“To me, that’s still the coolest part of the industry, the collective nature of it. It’s very much, 'A rising tide lifts all ships.’ It’s—if I do better, they do better. If they’re doing better, we’re doing better.

“But that’s not the case everywhere. You know, I’ve been to places where it’s less cooperative than that. But there is a certain amount of that to some degree in every area where there are breweries.”

Trademark

When I asked about the actual creation of a new brew—even among friends—I had to know, “Who gets the copyright?”

Austin clarified right away. “It’s not called copyright. You can’t trademark a recipe. You can trademark a brand and trademark the name and the design, if you’re doing cans. But the physical—the beverage inside—anybody can make. So I could make an exact copy of Bell’s Two Hearted. I could do that, but I wouldn’t… It’s like in a restaurant. You could duplicate a recipe.

“Wherever that beer is produced, that brewery would own the trademark to that name. And that’s how collaboration works… You know, you spend so much time doing the day to day things. It’s just a fun thing to do.”

“And the great part is just helping each other out. You know, borrowing hops, yeast, a bag of malt, a pump if they need it… The other day my friend from La Do?a came by and needed growler lids, so I borrowed him some of mine, and he left some beer.”

It’s like being a good neighbor. What a fantastic model in the American culture, the missing piece to cut away from the daily grind. It’s about building relationships. Looking out for each other. Having each other’s backs.

And not just because you expect something in return.

Another Layer of Collaboration

This care for neighbors in business is not just between brewers.

Myhram is also friends with Tony, the roaster at Spyhouse Coffee on the second floor of the warehouse. Because roasters and brewers both have their own “trade languages,” they can describe the different flavors without having some preconceived ideas or bias. That’s important as they work to write up descriptions and promote their products.

What’s more, Spyhouse Coffee supplies 612 Brew with espresso for one of the brewery’s full-bodied porters, Bone Digger, an oatmeal porter at 5.1% (similar to stout) with a hint of raspberry flavor. 

Hurdles

Despite the major improvements to quality and consistency in their product, 612 Brew has had some challenges in convincing customers to come back and give the brewery a second try.

“We’re past the initial issues that plagued us—issues like quality and consistency. That’s well in the past, I’m happy to say. The issue is rebuilding that reputation. Getting people to give you that second shot because there are so many breweries now. The novelty has worn off. People are familiar with going to a taproom, and the quality of beer around here is really high.”

He adds, “Plus there are people that over the last seven years have really risen to the top of popularity—and well-deserved—because of making really good beer.

“So now there are more breweries for the same amount of people. I wouldn’t call it a saturation issue by any means, but it’s just—that’s the math. And people are used to taprooms; this isn’t the brand new, shiny thing now. It takes a little more to set yourself apart.

“If you’re trying to do that with a less than all-time stellar reputation, it just makes it more difficult. It’s the challenge of coming up with telling your story and making beer to back it up, then having your space and events be cool. So it’s a big challenge. It’s work every day to make that happen.”

“That’s why consistency is so important,” I said. “It’s great to have big, grandiose ideas, but it’s the day to day consistency that matters.”

“Yes,” Austin adds. “And it’s the not fun stuff you have to do.”

I laughed and told him about a book I’d read by Brian Tracy—Eat That Frog!—a book about planning each day, stopping procrastination, and getting the little things done. For me, it’s just one step at a time. It’s doing the little things you don’t like to do.

Surly Bill

One of the challenges 612 Brew faced was not being able to directly sell to restaurants and retailers. They supported Surly Brewing’s owner, Omar Ansari, to pass the Surly Bill. As Jessica Lussenhop writes in City Pages, the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association initially opposed the bill, but when it eventually passed, the Surly Bill “made it legal for brewers to sell pints of their own beer in the state of Minnesota.”[i]

Myhram explained, “It essentially legalized taprooms, us being one of the first. The concept of a brewery and taproom was a new, novel thing. At the time for a lot of people this was their first foray into beer. They just didn’t have a lot of knowledge about craft beer. There wasn’t a lot of exposure to it.

“The Surly Bill has to do with the three-tiered system: there’s the producer or brewer; there’s the wholesaler, your distributor; and there’s the retailer. But that’s old, archaic.”

“Yes,” I said. “I read that it was set up because of Prohibition.”

“But if it benefits a lot of people,” Myhram said, “That’s why it doesn’t change. The distributors don’t want it to change. But thanks to the Brewer’s Guild, they’re lobbying legislators to say, ‘But what if you’re a tiny brewery? Why can’t they deliver to a bar? What sense does it make?’

“A lot of businesses wouldn’t be able to exist if they’re giving out 40% of their margin to a distributor. And this state has actually been pretty fair about that. There’s a barrelage so that if your annual income meets a certain number each year, then you can’t do it. I think it’s 15,000, but we make about 1,500. And that poses some challenges when you’re a small business because either me or Steve are filling every keg.”

Because the brewery stopped outsourcing distribution within the last few months, they’re now self-distributing. This means Megan Johnston, their sales manager, is working to contact restaurants and builds relationships with new clients.

Previously Bernicks had been the distributor for 612 Brew, but after they were bought out by J. J. Taylor, 612 Brew wrapped up their contract and now are self-distributing, which Austin says is “a major blessing. We get to keep the profits from our beer. It’s cutting out the middle-man. It also builds a more direct relationship with our retailors, too.

“And with a large distributor, it shrinks your catalogue of what you’re able to do because they have so many brands they’re trying to keep track of and meet the sales goals that they need to. They need to compete with all the other people trying to sell beer that it whittles your portfolio down to just a hand-full of brands that people can become familiar with and get the repeat buying, the fixed line, that shelf at the store. That’s tough because there’s so much good beer out there, and customer’s attention span is really short.

“Self-distribution makes things a lot easier because instead of relying on a sales rep to tell your story, you’re doing it yourself. And also… we release two new beers every month. So now we can sell those to you. It’s not just the core brands. We can sell whatever we want.”

"So that opens it up... We have our main-line beers. Our staples. But we’re also doing this other cool stuff that maybe people didn’t know about, which drums up business for the taproom. It’s ‘well, I wasn’t expecting this from these guys. This is something different

Challenges

“Brand loyalty doesn’t exist. Big breweries will always exist—I’ll always carry Summit Extra Pale Ale because I know it’s good.” Otherwise, Myhram keeps a variety of beer on hand, “like a 12-pack of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and a 4-pack of something else.

"The hard part is having too much variety that—if it doesn’t move—you have all this inventory, and you’re stuck with it. But self-distribution makes it a lot easier because instead of relying on a sales rep to tell your story or to sell your beer, you’re doing it yourself.

“And then there’s the reality of the hyper-localization of the beer industry. For so long, there’s been so many breweries popping up, and now the rate of increase has sort of slowed. As a consequence, the customer tends more and more towards local stuff. Localization.

“So a lot of the larger, regional brands are drawing back because people aren’t as interested in the beers from Colorado. You can get the same beers down the street. You don’t necessarily need to buy New Belgium or Stone or Dogfish Head. You can buy Fair State or 612 or Indeed.

“So that trend is continuing.”

Future

A lot has changed since the Coronavirus scare set in, and the future is uncertain for this new brewery operating on a shoe-string budget.

But 612 anticipates a new brew coming out mid-May, named Jagattar.

“It’s a white ale inspired by an Isakia lunch," Myhram said. "It’s brewed with buckwheat and nori, which is the sushi wrap, and features all-real ingredients. It’s then cold-fermented with ale yeast and sake yeast. So it’s traditional in the sense that it’s all real ingredients. You know, it’s not like candy or donuts, the glitter. It’s all real stuff. My goal is that it always tastes like beer.

“When I say ‘gimmicky’, I don’t mean experimenting, trying new stuff. It just doesn’t taste like funnel cake; it tastes like beer. Beer inspired by these things and utilizing real ingredients. That really is the direction I’m trying to drive us in. And then just having the staples, like a good Honey Blonde. At the same time,” Austin emphasized again, “It must still taste like beer.”

“Our goals for the future? Really gaining control of how we’re operating, how we’re doing business and making our own beer. Continuing to refine our own identity. Separating ourselves from what everybody else is trying to do.

“What it boils down to is that we want to make this the destination for craft beers. We want to make this the spot.”

[i] Lussenhop, Jessica. “Surl Bill is Now Law.” City Pages: Food & Drink. CityPages.com. 25, May 2011.