E-Malt.com News article: 3360

Canada Huber Brewery is well-known locally for its line of Berghoff beers, but the local brewery is also gaining international fame thanks to a Canadian beer it brews. Huber Brewery has been under contract with Alberta, Canada-based Mountain Crest Brewing Co. for the past year and a half to brew its line of beers. This agreement has proved beneficial for both parties involved, The Monroe Times posted on September 29.

After brewing its product for a short period at City Brewery in La Crosse, Mountain Crest reached an agreement with Huber to have its five beers -- Mountain Crest Lager, Mountain Creek Lager (which is sold in the United States), Clear Creek Ice, Perfect 10 and Axe Head -- brewed in Monroe. In fact, approximately 60 to 70 percent of the beer brewed at Huber is for Mountain Crest.

The decision to brew at Huber was based on the facility's size, according to Manjit Minhas, who along with her brother, Ravinder, owns Mountain Crest.

"We spent a fair amount of time looking for a (smaller) brewery to do craft brewing," Minhas said. Craft breweries are distinguished from the larger breweries in that the beers made here are known to have more flavor because more ingredients are added on a per-batch basis.

Finding such a brewer was crucial to Mountain Crest's success, according to Minhas. "We take a lot of pride in our product. We've always been very picky because we are on the value end of things," Minhas said. "We sell our beer cheap ($6 for a six-pack in Canada or nearly half the cost of other Canadian beers) but we have to make sure our brew is of top quality. They brew really good beer," Minhas said of Huber.

Another reason Mountain Crest chose Huber as its brewer is because of a significant tax break the company received. Minhas said the tax involved is based on the size of the brewery. By brewing at Huber, Minhas said her company saved about 40 percent compared to if it had continued brewing at City Brewery.

These factors has helped lead to a profitable venture for Mountain Crest. Though the company sells its products only in Alberta, with exception of Mountain Creek Lager which is sold in the Midwest, it managed to sell about 2 million cases last year, equaling a $14 million profit.

Minhas says there are plans to expand its sales to Manitoba and Alberta. And eventually, Minhas wants to see Mountain Crest's products in all 50 states in the U.S. Not only has the contractual agreement been beneficial for Mountain Crest, but for Huber as well.

Since it began brewing Mountain Crest, Huber has added an additional work shift which doubled its staff from about 21 employees to 42, according to Huber brewmaster Kristopher Kalav. "It has enabled us to brew almost full time," Kalav said.

And because Mountain Crest needed its product packaged here in Monroe, they donated packaging equipment to Huber Brewery. Huber now packages all of Mountain Crest's products, and also packages some of its own -- Huber Light, Huber Premium and Berghoff Lager.

Not only has the contractual agreement with Mountain Crest meant a larger workforce at Huber and new packaging equipment, but more income for Huber.

"We don't have to worry quite so much about our own sales," Kalav said. "Contracts are usually quite fruitful for both parties. To date, we have had an absolutely wonderful relationship with Manjit and her brother."

The agreement between Mountain Crest and Huber has worked well for everyone involved, even for Canadian beer drinkers, particularly hockey fans, according to Kalav. Mountain Crest's Axe Head beer has an 11 percent alcohol-by-volume rating, more than three times the alcohol amount in an average American beer. In commenting on this beer, Kalav said it's much too strong for his tastes, but "it would certainly keep you warm through the coldest winters."


01 October, 2004