(Ann Arbor, MI) – The Wolverine State Brewing Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan, has posted a 500% increase in sales since opening the brewery and Tap Room doors in November of 2010.
The brewery has also purchased two new ten-barrel fermentation vessels and a conditioning tank along with a new six-head “Merlin” bottler from Meheen Manufacturing. The Tap Room staff has been increased to five, has added a live music series, and will be expanding hours once the weather warms.
The company, which specializes in brewing premium and speciality lagers, has been contract brewing one product– Wolverine Beer– since 2006, and had developed a strong local following, with shelf placements in major stores such as Kroger, Meijer and Busch’s (a large Michigan grocery chain), Whole Foods among others. Opening last fall with eight other brews in addition to the flagship Wolverine Premium Lager, the Ann Arbor-based, 10 barrel commercial brewery and 100-person Tap Room on West Stadium, has been so popular many nights are standing room only.
New labels for “WOLVERINE PREMIUM LAGER”, “WOLVERINE DARK LAGER” and “WOLVERINE WINTER LAGER” have been submitted to the TTB for approval. Plans include re-launching Premium Lager in bottles from the Ann Arbor facility in June, Wolverine Dark Lager in September, and Wolverine Winter Lager (a seasonal) in November. Both Premium and Dark Lagers are currently available on draft from the Ann Arbor brewing facility. In the summer of 2012 “BLUE WATER LIGHT” Michigan’s first Premium Light Lager will be released in draft and bottles. The “Brewer’s Choice Series” of experimental lagers (and a few ales) are available in the Ann Arbor area only, some only at the Tap Room.
The company is represented by Arbor Beverage in the Washtenaw and Livingston County areas, Kent Beverage in Grand Rapids and Imperial Beverage in Kalamazoo. Marketing Director, E.T. Crowe (also known in blogging circles as the “A2 Beer Wench”) anticipates re-launching the brand with Kent and Imperial in early summer. Formerly a 150-200 barrel a year producer with just one product, The Wolverine State Brewing Company has set a 800 barrel sales goal for 2011, an increase that company president and founder Matthew Roy anticipates will be “conservative.” Speaking at the company’s first Beer and Food Pairing event, Beer Bellies, in the Tap Room on Sunday, April 3, Roy reminded the sold-out 70 person crowd that the company is almost twelve months ahead of projections already. The company remains committed to steady growth, “staying real” and creating new and better craft brewed lagers for Michigan beer drinkers.