How big should Schlafly be?
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How big should Schlafly be?
The St. Louis Brewery Inc., which does business as “Schlafly,” is riding a big wave of demand. Sales are up about 30 percent this year, and the company is in the middle of a big project at its Bottleworks brewery in Maplewood that will push annual beer-making capacity to 45,000 barrels.
But at the current growth rates, that is not going be enough to outrun local drinkers’ taste for Pale Ale, Hefeweizen and Oak Aged Barleywine. Pretty soon, Schlafly is going to be out of space.
“Right now and through the summer, we have been full,” said Dan Kopman, chief operating officer. “At the same growth rate…we’d run out of capacity next year” even after building up to 45,000 barrels of annual capacity, he said.
Now, St. Louis’ biggest independent brewery is wondering how fast it should grow.
On the table as one possibility is a smallish expansion tacked onto the Bottleworks or the Tap Room in downtown St. Louis. Another would be accessing or purchasing existing capacity outside the region. The company is looking at those options.
The company is not actively looking into building a third location, Kopman said. That’s because of the expense - up to $20 million - and time (perhaps between 3-5 years.)
“To go out and get a whole new site, without knowing how much beer people will drink, there’s too much uncertainty,” Kopman said. “And these projects are expensive.”
Chief among the unanswered questions for Schlafly are, how much beer it should make, and where it should sell it. What is the potential of Schlafly beer outside the St. Louis market, which accounts for 90 percent of the brewer’s sales?
“The consumer will determine how much beer we should make,” Kopman said. “We don’t have a goal like, ‘We want to be 10 percent of the market.’” (The company now has about two percent of local beer market.)
“We are working hard not to change who we are and not to turn our backs on how we reached this point,” he told Lager Heads.
Kopman’s question for consumers is: “Can you tell me how much beer you’re going to buy? Because I’ll make that much.”
We’re talking about you, St. Louis beer drinker! We invite the community’s response about how big Schlafly could - and should - be.
(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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Jeremiah McWilliams is a native Virginian who came to the Post-Dispatch in early 2007 to cover beer and other consumer products. He previously covered manufacturing for the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Va. He is a graduate of Washington and Lee University. 
The sky is the limit on how big they COULD be. It depends on whether or not they are considering expanding their distribution range. Last time I was in the Chicago area, you couldn’t even get Schlafly there, but I could get O’Fallon beers.
The answer to how big they should be is exactly what Dan said. They should make as much beer as people will buy. I will continue to help them out with that one.
Their distribution range could be expanded to help sell more beer if they expand production. Was in Lexington, KY, over the weekend, O’Fallon was there, not Schafly.
Mike
I used to have trouble finding Pale Ale, but it was always fresh and tasty. Now it is everywhere, and not so fresh and tasty with a dated bottle. I don’t know if this is the distributors fault, or the brewers pushing the product. I do know that if it doesn’t have a fresh date, I’m gonna pass. I recently went to a bar and found JANUARY BEER.. HOW FRESH IS THAT. This is just across the Mississippi river, so maybe Schlafly is too big already.
Good for Schlafly. I say grow conservatively but try and branch out to other midwestern cities to get your name out. Smart idea to not build a third site now. A lot of companies get in trouble by trying to expand too fast and taking on too much debt….just look at Trip Straub’s Ellisville location.
I like them about the size they are now. Though I’m sure it would taste the same I’d hate to grab a sixer of APA and know it was brewed out of state somewhere. Of course if the do expand more power to them. I love the Bottleworks and as long as that is around I’ll be there with a pint of APA in my hand.
Ok, Schlafly here me out. Your strategy over the next year should be to develop a lighter beer to sell at a lower cost to the masses in our LOCAL REGION, only where Schlafly is already established. Trust me, I drink Schlafly at ever bar when available, problem is I have friends that would too but they prefer a lighter beer than you offer. Also, work on continuing to market your premium beer outside the region. I was just in NYC at a bar called The Blind Tiger, the locals said this was the place to go to get Micro brews from across the states. Well guess what, Schlafly was not on the menu. You need to hire a good Business Develop Manager to develop these regions. I am sure Inbev probably laid one off that you could pickup in the unemployment line. Then if you grow enough to the point where you need more space, I bet you could move to Lemp Brewery for cheap.
Asking Schlafly to brew a light beer is like asking AC/DC to record an album of Barry Manilow covers.
People who drink light beer don’t actually enjoy beer…they just like to pee a lot.
be careful. if you make too much and in bigger batches you will be no different than a-b or sabmiller. then you will be paying a super-premium price for a mass produced product. oh…those of you that do now are getting ripped off. the micros love you all as you over pay every time you buy and they laugh all the way to the bank.
Correction: People who drink light beer don’t actually enjoy beer…they just like to get drunk for cheap. Otherwise, I agree with you Joe. Also I think Schlafly could expand their market a little outside of MO, but otherwise I say keep it small. Us St. Louisans are greedy after our AB was taken away from us.
And just for my own pleasure, a few more Schlafly stands at Scottrade would be fantastic, and putting in some stands at Busch would be even better!
I’m no beer authority, but I suspect that Schlafly’s stepped-up marketing of Helles as “Summer Lager” and its recent introduction of Kölsch as a year-round option were both designed to appeal to drinkers who usually favor lighter beers.