E-Malt.com News article: 3542

USA: Based in Webberville Michigan Brewing Co., one of the five largest in Michigan, plans to move into a nearby building that will quadruple its space for the brewery, pub and beer-accessories store. The move is scheduled to take place by March. Up to a dozen new workers will be hired. Besides the Michigan Brewing Co.'s pub, more than 160 local sites carry MBC beer such as Michigan Golden Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Petoskey Pilsner and Peninsula Porter, according to its largest distributor, M & M Distributors Inc. of Lansing, Lansing State Journal revealed on October 27. Buoyed by sales of its Celis brand beer, Webberville-based Michigan Brewing Co. is planning a $4 million expansion that will quadruple the size of its business.

The firm plans to move its brewery, pub and beer-accessories store by March into the 76,000-square-foot former GT USA stamping plant off Highview Drive.
That's just a couple of hundred feet behind the brewery's current facility, three buildings comprising 18,000 square feet off of North M-52. "We're brewing more often, and we're selling more beer," President Bobby Mason said. "People are spending money on better beer and drinking less of it."

The brewery - one of the five largest in Michigan - will be capable of producing 24,000 barrels next year without adding new equipment, Mason said. At an average wholesale price of $200 a barrel, that could bring in at least $4.8 million in sales. This year, the company, which employs 14, will make 5,800 barrels. Sales so far are up 25 % compared with 2003, Mason said.

The move will streamline Michigan Brewing's offices and add a high-tech beer analyzing lab and banquet hall. It will more than double the size of the company's store - Things Beer - and its brewpub, which will offer a larger menu. Up to a dozen new workers will be hired. John Leonard, Webberville village president, said the expansion would help grow the village's fledgling 300-acre industrial park, where both the new and old sites are located. "Any time you hire more employees, it's going to have a positive effect on the local economy," Leonard said.

For the company, the expansion was financially feasible mostly due to the popularity of the Celis brand, a brew originating in Belgium. Mason bought the rights and equipment for the beer in 2002. Previously, the brand and its brewing equipment were owned by Miller Brewing Co. Celis had been made in Texas but was out of production for more than a year when Mason acquired it. "I always wanted to go national," Mason said. "I knew it was quicker to buy an existing brand."

The beauty of purchasing Celis, Mason said, was the built-in market. Not only is there demand for the four Celis-brand beers in Texas, but his distributor in the Lone Star state sells beer in 12 other states - which could provide a future platform for other brews. Mason's Celis White beer - brewed with coriander and orange peel - took home a gold medal from the 2003 Great American Beer Festival in Denver.

Today, Michigan Brewing Co.'s beer is sold to stores, bars and restaurants by 30 different distributors in Michigan, Texas, Illinois, Oregon and Massachusetts. The beer will be sold in Virginia and Pennsylvania by early 2005, Mason said. Rex Halfpenny, publisher of the Michigan Beer Guide, says the brewery's success can mostly be attributed to smart business moves. Statewide, one out of every five new breweries fails. "Michigan breweries are doing well as a whole, however," Halfpenny said. "In bad times, in recessionary times, Americans continue to drink beer."


30 October, 2004