Surly Brewing Partners With Johnson Brothers For Minnesota Beer Distribution
St. Paul, MN – Surly Brewing Company today announced Johnson Brothers as its newest Minnesota beer distributor.
Surly Brewing has been distributing its own beer since its inception in January 2006. It now supplies beer to more than 500 bars, restaurants and liquor stores throughout the Twin Cities and at various locations across the state.
As consumer demand continues to grow, Surly will work with Johnson Brothers to expand its network of on and off-premise accounts, enhance its brand reach, and find a more efficient way to distribute its beer. Surly Brewing will maintain its relationships with beer distributors in the northwest Twin Cities suburbs, Duluth and Rochester.
Omar Ansari, Founder and President of Surly Brewing said: “We wanted to partner with someone who understood our company. Johnson Brothers was the ideal partner. We’re both growing, family-owned Minnesota companies and it was clear that they understood the Surly Way. Surly couldn’t take its next steps without a partnership like this.”
By late 2014, Surly Brewing will be significantly increasing annual beer production when it moves into its new destination brewery. Once the brewery is fully operational, Johnson Brothers, through its Artisan Beer Company, will help Surly distribute significantly more beer to bars, restaurants, and liquor stores across Minnesota and eventually to customers in other states.
“We are extremely proud and excited to be partnering with Surly, one of this region’s truly great craft breweries,” said Todd Johnson, Chief Operating Officer of Johnson Brothers. “We look forward to working closely with Surly and helping make these fantastic beers available to even more beer lovers throughout Minnesota. They can’t build that new brewery soon enough.”
About Surly Brewing
It all started in Omar Ansari’s garage in 1994. He liked beer, felt it should be brewed a certain way, and had expectations of what defined good beer. The motivation for the big idea was the fact that Ansari, along with current (and soon to be) beer lovers were growing “surly” because they couldn’t find enough good beer. A space was procured in 2005, previously the home of his parents’ abrasives manufacturing business – the very building used by Omar’s Pakistani father and German mother to build their own business 40 years before. By the end of 2005, Ansari and head brewer Todd Haug put the finishing touches on their big idea and all systems were finally ‘go’: Surly sold its first keg on February 2, 2006, and has never looked back. Now, seven years later, after unbelievable growth and an expanding family of beers, Surly is served at more than 500 Minnesota bars and restaurants and has received several national beer awards. www.SurlyBrewing.com – @SurlyBrewing – facebook
About Johnson Brothers
Johnson Brothers is a family-owned wine, spirits, beer and non-alcoholic beverages distributor with headquarters in St Paul, Minnesota. JohnsonBrothers has been providing world-class service to customers throughout theUnited States since 1953. More information can be found at www.johnsonbrothers.com and at www.artisanbeercompany.com
