Cincinnati, Ohio-based MadTree Brewing has changed distribution partners in its home state from Cavalier Distributing to the Molson Coors distribution network of Stagnaro Distributing, Superior Beverage Group, Bonbright Distributors and NWO Beverage Co.
The brewery is maintaining its partnerships with Beer House Distributors in Kentucky and Ajax Turner and Lipman Brothers in Tennessee.
The move is just one aspect of what co-founder Brady Duncan told Brewbound may be the most exciting year in the brewery’s history.
“I’ve told all of our employees, this is the most excited I’ve been for the business since we opened it with the amount of stuff that we have coming down the pipeline,” he said.
MadTree distributed its offerings in Ohio via Cavalier for more than eight years. Duncan said the craft-only distributor’s reputation was critical in making a name for the brewery in its beginning, when “local beer wasn’t necessarily respected.”
“We got to a point frankly as a business where we want to go deeper, and that’s where the MillerCoors network across the state of Ohio makes sense for us,” Duncan said. “Their ability to execute and go deep in the trade is really appealing to us.”
Duncan said the new partnerships will help strengthen its existing distribution network. Specifically, he hopes to expand the availability of MadTree’s offerings in convenience, where he said they are lacking presence. The company will also be evaluating how to better maximize its display effectiveness in retail and grocery, and explore different pack size options.
The brewery also hopes to level out the division of its on- and off-premise sales. MadTree’s distribution network is now 75% package and 25% draft. Duncan said he has an aggressive goal of returning to 60% package, 40% draft, but would like to be at least under 70%/30%.
The brewery has a 2022 production target of 24,000 barrels – a nearly 25% increase compared to 2021.
Sustainability Focus to Continue in 2022
The partnership with Stagnaro – a Cincinnati-based company which donates 2% of its net income to local organizations – is also in-line with MadTree’s mission to “elevate beyond the product they make” and “be a sustainable, purpose-driven company,” Duncan said.
MadTree is part of 1% For The Planet, donating 1% of its sales to local nonprofits that support sustainability. In 2020, the company committed to donating $5 million to support local communities by 2030, and this year hopes to become B-Corp certified.
In March, the brewery will open a second location, Alcove, located in the Over-the-Rhine (OTR) neighborhood of Cincinnati. The two-story facility, delayed from its originally announced fall 2021 opening, has a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification – the second highest sustainability certification from the green certification program.
Developed in a partnership with building-owner 3CDC, the overarching theme of the facility is to have “the look of nature in the heart of OTR,” with “lush living walls and tons of greenery,” Duncan said.
The bar and restaurant includes a 2,500 sq. ft. main space, with an attached four-season greenhouse and additional patio space, as well as two separate 1,200 sq. ft. and 2,000 sq. ft. event spaces. The location will also offer farm-to-table food offerings from chef Stephen Williams, known for “his commitment to sustainability and his commitment to buying local.”
Vodka-Based RTD to Launch in March
This month, MadTree released its first new offering of 2022: Tropical Psychopathy. The 6.9% ABV IPA is a spin on the brewery’s flagship IPA Psychopathy, which now accounts for 30% of MadTree’s sales.
In March, the brewery will also launch its first beyond beer offering, with Sway, a 4.5% ABV ready-to-drink vodka soda in 12 oz. slim cans. Launching with two flavors – Strawberry Guava and Grapefruit Ginger – additional flavors will be released later in the year, with vodka sourced from Cincinnati-based Northside Distilling.
The launch comes in-part due to the success of craft cocktails at MadTree’s taproom. Alternative beverages to beer now make up 20% of taproom sales for the brewery since expanding its portfolio in 2019, Duncan said. He added that craft cocktails account for the majority of that 20%.
Duncan said the offering will also help expand MadTree’s consumer base, reaching beyond “typical craft beer drinkers.”
“There are 9,000 craft breweries all playing for the same, as we like to joke, bearded white guy consumer,” he said. “We need to start thinking broader about – not just in terms of our consumer base, but also in terms of our employee base – how do we make sure that we are representative and proud of the community that we support, and we look like the community that we support? So there’s a bit of a play on that too, about broadening our reach with this product.”
The brewery is also exploring non-alcoholic beer. Leave No Trace, a non-alcoholic pale ale, launched this month, is sold exclusively at MadTree’s taproom.
“We’ve been playing with this for the better part of like a year and a half,” Duncan said. “There’s something culturally strange about sitting in a taproom having a happy hour with people and you’re sitting there drinking water. So the fact that you can have a beer … I’m really psyched about this.
“We just have to figure out where it fits in our priority list.”