Monon Beverage Brokers

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6 Months Running!

So, this month marks 6 months of me being in business for myself!

I felt like a blog was appropriate for that. Especially now that I have had some time to reflect on what I have done to get this far.

What can I say, so much has changed from when I originally was thinking of starting Monon Beverage back in July of 2016. I guess back then I didn’t know much of what would come from this, nor if it would even work, but here I am 6 months and expanding. I never planned to hire someone, but I will be shortly! A separate rep to cover 5 Indiana breweries, its a beautiful thing. That is an adventure in its own not to mention a few other plans for growth within the next 2-4 months.

I work with some very talented producers, several of which I am glad to have as friends, and people whom I trust to bounce ideas off while I am growing Monon. All the producer’s opinions weigh heavy on me, so its great to have people that will shoot me straight and give me even better ideas of how to grow. Warms my heart with some inviting me into their Christmas parties, or even brewing/distilling with them. I get excited being able to work with a product I got to help produce. I originally thought it would just be a work relationship, but its way better than that!

After meeting a college student in a bar who was looking to start his own business, I really had time to reflect on the nights of lost sleep, the long hours, the endless desk work, filing of papers, hearing no (many many times), being turned down after driving hours to meet with a potential client and other heartbreak from starting Monon. Not to mention lost time with the sweetest puppy you will ever meet, or lost time with family and friends, but you know what? I’d go down this same path again because at the end of the day it feels great. I started something in an industry that I love, and it shows when I talk about what I do. There are a few things I might consider doing differently, but I stand by all decisions I have made with Monon Beverage since the idea first came up.

Thanks to everyone who have supported me thus far! So much good to come, keep an eye out for more!!

SPW

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Series 4/4: Non-Alcoholic?

Hey! So wrapping up my series about producers and products I work with, Non-alcoholic seemed a good way to wrap up. Im out of movie puns too :/

Originally I never planned to work with NA producers, but Im thankful I have! These are also the shortest relationships I have thus far, but again, Im thankful for them.

Hoosier Momma just made sense to work with since they are doing cocktail mixers, specifically bloody mary and margarita ones. I love bloody mary’s in general, and I work with spirits producers, so its a match made. We have some cool events going on soon, and lots of opportunity to work with other Monon brands! Look out for Cinco de Mayo events especially!! I think the most interesting thing I can take away from my relationship with KC thus far was her saying to live in the middle. Lots of exciting things have happened, some negative, but being able to keep level headed is important. I think I already knew this, but, something about her saying it resonated with me. Broken Beaker’s Gin and the Blood Orange Mix is a match made in heaven, look out to try this soon!

Circle City Kombucha, now these guys are interesting since this was totally off my radar, I mean like, no where in my mind did I consider this opportunity, and something I knew very little about kombucha when we first started talking. I have had only a sip of foul kombucha prior to meeting them and trying their amazing product. I could go on, but, ask me in person and I will ramble more for you. A mutual friend and restaurant owner hooked us up (shout out to Ross at Rooster’s Kitchen! Grab some food from him, anything with bacon, and a kombucha cocktail too) and the rest is history. These guys are going somewhere big. They have a team of three who are all specialize in different areas with some overlap, but its all for the better. While their product is made to be consumed as an NA beverage, I’m going to get wild an make some cocktails with it. A Moscow Mule using their Ginger Lemon kombucha sounds amazing, and might even be somewhat healthy for you….

Well, thats the last of this series, Im sure I will blog more about misc stuff as it comes up. Trying to do it more regularly, so what do you want to read about? Let me know, and I will do something special based on comments received.

SPW

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Series 3/4: Need for Mead?

These early morning blog posts seem to have the best titles, so I will continue my series a day early and talk mead.

One of the first, if not the first, producers to sign with Monon Beverage was Moonlight Meadery from Londonderry, New Hampshire. It was an awkward call as I was still finding out how to best talk to producers about Monon and I wasn’t entirely sure who was on the phone at the time. I had to pull over and I quickly made notes on a scrap piece of paper as to who I was talking to, and then hurried the call to end it and look them up. Upon getting off the phone I thought I had messed up and would never hear from them again. Then looking them up and finding out that they have several medals from the Mazer Cup and were Meadery of the Year in 2015, I became even more nervous after finding that out but obviously everything worked out as I am still working with them! They are pretty cool people, and also the only producers I havent met face to face yet! That will change in May when Ben comes out here to hang and meet Indiana.

What is mead you may ask? Well I am fortunate that in Indy, New Day Meadery has done an awesome job of answering that question, but, a quick summary: Mead is fermented honey and water. That is the quick and dirty answer, however Moonlight proves it is much more than just a simple fermented honey and water beverage. They take it to a new level by adding fruits, spicy peppers, and even barrel aging their products!

Mead can be many things, and while it does have honey in it, not all of it is as sweet as you would think (There are semi-dry ones like Red Dress). There are even really complex meads like Smolder, which is a raspberry chipotle mead. When drinking this one, flavor comes in waves, somewhat like in Willy Wonka when the girl is chewing gum. First you get the sweetness from the honey, then the tartness from the raspberry, and finally a nice even spicy to finish. Really interesting, worth searching for, or just ask me and I can probably locate some for you.

I suppose I should mention that Moonlight also does ciders. Really awesome ciders, some aged in rye barrels reaching 13.5% ABV too!! Trust me, I know cider. I even passed the Level 1 Cider Certification Program. This is good stuff.

Need for Mead? Yup! We got you covered from canned cider, to bottled mead, and even both on draft.

SPW

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Series 2/4: I ain’t Fraid of no Spirit

That was a Ghostbusters pun, and I probably should stop there as that is a really good title, however, I said I’d do a series, and here we go!

So, spirits, liquor, hooch, booze, whatever you call it, it is interesting!

My history with spirits is limited to just consumption until 2016 when I started looking into them more than just a drink to enjoy. I love a solid Old Fashioned or a Bloody Mary (Try it with Hoosier Mamma Mix) anytime, but I have been getting more adventurous and letting the bartender craft a cocktail for me when I go out, preferably without egg whites as that still bothers me in a drink…. texture maybe? It is because of my strong knowledge in beer that I have started studying for the Certified Specialist of Spirits! I feel this is just something important to better myself and better serve those whom I meet in the market.

I never planned for spirits to be such an important part of my business, but here I am with 3 distilleries that I work with! What’s that you say? I should only have 2? Well while you have been sleeping, I have been working with Indiana Small Batch and they acquired a new spirit so that means I have as well! Indiana Small Batch is working exclusively with local distilleries and is trying to do something no one else is by keeping it to local spirits. I met Toby (the owner) back in September, and because of him, I started off with Indiana Whiskey Co (in addition to Moonlight Meadery which is unrelated to him) He is a good guy and we clicked right away because both of us were doing something different with our business models, so the rest is history and we will be working together for the foreseeable future. Cool, right? But tangent is over, and the new spirit is from Black Diamond Distillery out of Brown County.

Black Diamond is doing cool things, and Im excited to try some of their aged brown liquors. Try their Rye Whiskey, Im leaning towards that one myself.

Broken Beaker is my go to guy for vodka and gin. It is to be noted that we are a week away from launching Coffee Liqueur. Its pretty exciting!

Then there is Indiana Whiskey Co! They have some awesome stuff in R&D, and their ‘Just Whiskey’ has been awesome in the market thus far too!

There are several cool things in the works behind the scenes, but knowing about Black Diamond as well as Broken Beaker launching their Coffee Liqueur is awesome! I think this is it for this post. It is 6am and I am plugging away at my desk already. I truely love what I do so it is perfectly okay!

SPW

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Series 1/4: Beer, Why I love it

So I decided to do a small series of entries over the next month, 1 a week, about beer, spirits, mead, and non-alcoholic. 4 topics, 4 weeks, 4 posts, 4…..Calling birds…?

BEER! So beer was an easy start as I have been around it longer than all the other products I work with. I started drinking at 21, like everyone else, beer was cheaper, and interesting. From Mix-a-six packs at grocery to doing my 100 beer card at The Heorot in Muncie, I was able to experiment and learn so much about beer. After my 8 years in Muncie, with my 4 year beer education at the Heorot, I went off to work at People’s Brewing Co as their first sales guy. I always mention I learned what to do, but also what not to do in sales from them, but never talk about the beer itself. Its great! I think they were the first to show me brewing on a large scale too. They are great and still good friends of mine.

Fast forward to today! Why beer is still so important? Well, it laid the ground work for Monon Beverage Brokers, I was drinking a pint or few when the idea first came up. It was the original concept behind what I do now too. It is funny to mention, as comfortable with beer as I am, I started with Moonlight Meadery and Indiana Whiskey Co, which are two things I knew far less about at the time (though I quickly learned!). I love that I have 4 solid breweries who I work with and all of which have different personalities.

I think it is the product itself that I like. It unifies people and creates a common ground, all alcohol does this too I suppose… It is just a more laid back beverage in my opinion, it isnt intimidating to those who aren’t knowledgeable about it, and there is a beer for everyone. Even those who dont like beer, they just havent found the right one yet. Wine and spirits can be intimidating, especially old world wines as they are named for their region and not the juice in the bottle, so if you dont know what the specific region produces, you may be in for a surprise!

As I started this entry, I think I had more of a direction in mind, and i’m not sure I ended where I thought I would, but Im happy with it. What do you want to know about beer?
SPW

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Insert Witty Title Here

So I have been officially in business since October, that makes a solid 4 months! I also have 4 gray hairs….. coincidence…? Dana is good to point out a small area going gray when she trims my lovely ginger hair. Speaking of… I need a hair cut soon, or I can just keep wearing hats since it is cold out…..

Anyhow, whats new? Whats fun? Tons of stuff!!

As I type this I have 3 agreements on my desk for new brands to work with, which is very exciting! I am happy to make it official and say that I will be working with Deer Creek Brewery and Hoosier Mamma Culinary Cocktail Makers starting now!

Deer Creek is very exciting to me as they are a mile from my house and I have been drinking beers produced by the brewery’s owner since I could at their sister company’s venue; Barley Island. This makes for two local breweries (Deer Creek and Scarlet Lane) and two non-local ones (Arcadia and O’Fallon), pretty much locking me up to not add anymore breweries to my line up. Why you ask? Well I want to give the proper attention to the producers whom I already work with. Too many brands in any category will cannibalize sales, but, I might have room for one more heavy hitter…. No one in sights, and I am rather content with whom I work with already.

Hoosier Mamma is exciting as they are my first non-alcoholic brand. It is also a fact that my favorite mixed drink is a Bloody Mary (Old Fashioned winning 1st choice in all other spirits based categories) Hoosier Mamma is also fun since I can do events around my spirits producers with their mix! Broken Beaker Vodka or even Indiana Whiskey’s Silver Sweet Corn whiskey in one sound great! Their Blood Orange mix is amazing too. So many ways to make cocktails with it too!

Oh, you are right, I did say 3 agreements… Well! I will keep you in suspense, but I can say it is really exciting and I have a bunch to read up on as it is something I am less versed in. March is when the next one gets rolling!

Lastly, Moonlight Meadery is still doing awesome stuff. Some new meads just made it into Indiana, and I need to get my hands on them. Warm & Fuzzy (Peach Ginger Mead) and Destiny (Utopias Barrel Aged Desire-blue berries, black cherries and black currants)

So that is really it for now. I have a ton of irons in the fire and so many other good things in the works! Keep up to date with me on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram (@mononbeverage) to see what else I do to keep busy. There might even be spoilers on Twitter and Instagram as to who the third agreement above is with. Or maybe just memes, news and product highlights… Either way, you are missing out if you dont follow me on these!

SPW

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Hey 2017!

So it is finally 2017, even if we are writing 2016 on checks and other documents.

Whats new with Monon? I have been in business for just over 3 months now, so that’s pretty cool.

I finally feel like I am in a really good groove with how to balance everything and everyone in my life (both professional and personal), but I am sure I can still improve both of these.

I will be making beer and spirits with some of the producers in my portfolio in the coming months, so that is exciting. Mead making will have to wait until I scoot out to New Hampshire later this year. Maybe I will be making a non-alcoholic product with someone else around Indy too. Stay tuned for more on that.

Several cool events are being worked on and looking into putting on a trade show of my own.

Personal life, I am back to the gym and getting back into triathlon training, so healthy body, healthy mind and all that jazz.

Oh, Freya the wolf pup is great too.

What can I put in these blog posts that you want to read? Do you want to see specific posts about producers I work with, or just hear more about Freya (Her birthday is this Friday…). Let me know!

SPW

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Wrapping Up 2016

So, big year for me!

The obvious part, starting a business. This has grown much quicker than I had expected and that is great! Back in July when I was registering the business name with the state, I had no clue it would become what it has already. Needless to say I am very excited moving forward into 2017. I do look back at 2016 and see how there were several speed bumps, but I kept moving. Car was stolen from my driveway, being Director of Operations for a brewery where I wasn’t totally happy, to simply just getting my own business running. Speed bumps are great, they helped me grow.

Im very fortunate for all the producers I’m working with, because without them, I wouldn’t have much of a business. All of them took a leap of faith with me (Starting with Moonlight Meadery and Indiana Whiskey back in late August when we first started talking) I’m even more fortunate for the friendships I have and have developed this year. I have met with so many people and talked about what Monon Beverage is and each time I am grateful for the conversations. It helps me reflect on what I am doing in the first place, how I can better serve current producers, and future ones too. I love that I can have meetings that end in pizza parties with Scarlet Lane to dressing like Dr. Santa and going all over Mass Ave handing out presents with Broken Beaker. Traveling to visit O’Fallon and Arcadia to hear their stories, see their facilities, as well as meet their team has been great too. (New Hampshire in the spring to see Moonlight Meadery and make mead with them, yup, thats a goal.)

Reflection on 2016 is good, but I am also looking to 2017. Im looking to grow my business and grow as an individual. So what does 2017 have? I have my list of goals on my dry erase board, and I am printing a second set to be on my mirror in my bathroom. That way I see my goals while at my desk, and while getting ready in the morning. I have simple goals like more followers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but then goals with more depth like hitting $100,000 in sales for my producers. I want to better my education, so before Q1 is over, I plan to finish my Certified Specialist of Spirits and finish working on my Cicerone and BJCP certifications. I will get back to Sommelier when those 3 are done, and possibly mess with Micro-matic certifications. I want to perfect my craft to better serve all of those I work with.

Most importantly, developing long term relationships with those whom I work along side. Whether it is the producers, buyers, or just others in the beverage industry. I am looking to get to know everyone better.

Cheers to 2016, and here is looking at you 2017. Now to decide what I am going to drink at midnight in a week….
SPW

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December!

Hey Everyone!

So it has been an busy past couple weeks, but I had time to sit down and update my news section again! Between adding new brands to my portfolio and meeting with some other brewery service providers, its been a good busy!

Two New Brands!! Arcadia from Kalamazoo, MI, and Broken Beaker off Mass Ave in Indy!

I had the pleasure of visiting Arcadia last month and they are great. They just celebrated their 20th year and have some unique stuff being made up there. Open fermentation of some beers is probably the most interesting thing I saw, not a common method of fermentation. A few flights and the Mango Surprise won as my favorite

Broken Beaker is a local distillery, one of the younger ones, but there is some cool stuff happening! Between the mass improvement of products over the past 6 months and the products in r&d, I feel really good about these guys. Have you tried their Gin yet? Solid and Im excited for their spiced rum.

Other than signing new brands to represent, I have been fortunate to meet with Kitto Insurance and Catalyst Group Marketing. (I still need to sit down with Jesse from Circle City Fermentation Sciences, we have had beers before, but not as business owners, so Jesse, lets make it happen if you are reading this!!)

Ive known Kitto for about a year now, but never sat down to hear what he was doing with his business. They take care of some of our friends in this industry and they make sure there is legit coverage in the breweries and restaurants.

Scott from the Catalyst Group Marketing is breaking into the brewery support world but has tremendous experience in marketing. His webpages are pretty cool. If I ever pay to have mine reworked, I would go to his team for sure.

Im in St. Louis Tuesday and Wednesday meeting O’Fallon and their team, so I am excited to see what they are getting into. That being said I need to get going so I can have a productive Monday! Thanks for reading!
SPW

Oh, and P.S. Moonlight Meadery just released cans of Little Apples and Them Apples to Indiana. 6.9% and 13.5% whiskey barrel aged ciders!!

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What exactly is Monon Beverage Brokers?

Hey!

So continuing with my informal posts, I felt like addressing one question I get at least once a week. “What exactly is Monon Beverage Brokers?”. There are sub questions that come from it, so answering those will follow.

“What exactly are you?” -The goal of Monon Beverage Brokers is to offer sales, event, and distribution management to beer, wine, liquor, and mead producers. This comes in all shapes and styles. Some producers may be are looking to grow into distribution, some need extra feet on the streets during a launch, or full time representation in the state of Indiana.(the latter being my favorite as I can build long lasting relationships with these producers)

“Where is your warehouse?” -Well, I dont need one. I work with the distribution already in place. Maybe it is a large distributor, or maybe they self distro, whatever the case, I am a producer in the eyes of the ATC. Everyone has a place in the 3 tier system and mine is with the producers for all operation purposes. I also don’t have the logistics experience nor financial backing for such an undertaking. Im fine letting the pros handle this.

“Why do you represent them?” -Everyone who I represent, or will represent, have been vetted and looked into deeply. I will not represent a brand that is not producing quality products. This seems to lead to the next question often

“Didn’t so and so producer bad beer/wine/liquor/mead?” -Everyone has had a bad or even just misunderstood product at one point in time. Even Coors/Miller/Bud have had flops. Two of the producers I work with make a Braggot which is a style I have rarely dealt with, misunderstood for sure.

“Would you ever represent X brand?” -Yeah, there are several brands I have my eyes on, and a few of those are watching me too. There are even a few out of state brands not yet in Indiana that I would love to bring here.

“Do you just do sales and events?” -Most simply, yes. There are several office tasks I do, but I also have offered beer, wine, and spirits training to bars and restaurants. Line cleaning has always been something on the back burner for Monon, but I have been pretty busy already with the sales and events aspect.

“You must drink so much!” -Less a question and more something I hear a lot too. I rarely drink outside of work based meetings or events. I can enjoy a beer here and there, or a cocktail while I read, however I am around it all day, so it becomes less appealing to continue being around it.

“Do you home brew beer or wine?” -This is sort of a part two from above. Accountants dont go home and do more math, so my hobbies differ from my career. I am still looking for a solid hobby, so suggest something and I will give it a shot

“Why did you start your own business?” -This seems the best one to end on. I have been in this industry since 2011, drinking before that and I love it. The people, the community it creates, everything! I’m fortunate that out of school I landed a gig with People’s Brewing Co which helped shape what I do now. I look back on what I did well, and what I didnt do so well. (Brett, you were right about using a CRM system…. Ive said it before, but now it is in print, CRM is the way to go.) Next gig as Director of Operations for a brewery/winery combo I saw where they had past success, but also what not to do. I got the push I needed in July of 2016 to do my own thing, although I wasnt sure what it was exactly. October 2016 Monon Beverage Brokers Launched! It has changed somewhat from its beginnings, and will change more as time goes on.

“What next?” -Okay, I said I was going to end on the last question but this just came up while taking a break from typing. Im not sure. I am playing with ideas on how to provide better customer service as well as add to my team. Being able to talk to people like Kitto Insurance Inc and Bottoms Up Beer gives me ideas on how they have been successful in the service end of this industry vs the production end. There are others I probably should grab a pint with or working with the Brewers Guild in Indiana as their goal is the same as mine in a sense: To promote awareness.

So I will ask a question to you now: Anyone else I should hook up with in this industry or how can I better serve you?

Thanks for reading!
SPW