Mother’s Brewing to enter St. Louis

Photo courtesy Mother’s Brewing Co.

Mother’s Brewing Co. is bringing its portfolio of beers to St. Louis.

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Mother’s Brewing Co. LLC announced its planned entry into what owner Jeff Schrag considers the “largest beer market in Missouri.”

Schrag this morning told Springfield Business Journal the company signed on with Krey Distributing Co., Grey Eagle Distributors and Lohr Distributing Co. Inc. to deliver beer to the St. Louis metropolitan area starting Feb. 20.

“We interviewed all the distributors in St. Louis. They were the best fit for us,” he said.

Noting it’s still early in the process, Schrag said he’s unsure sure how many stores will sell Mother’s beer in the St. Louis area. He declined to estimate how many barrels the company would sell annually in the market.

“The distributors will figure out the right accounts,” he said. “We hope it’s a really strong metropolitan market for us. We’re hoping our sales per person are on par with other metro markets.”

In 2016, St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch ranked first on the top 50 brewing companies list released by the Brewers Association. According to data at BrewersAssociation.org, Missouri’s 78 craft breweries in 2016 produced more than 368,000 barrels and created an economic impact of $1.05 billion. Industry data indicates craft breweries made up 12.3 percent of the total in 2016.

Declining to disclose revenue, Schrag said Mother’s produced nearly 10,000 barrels of beer in 2017, which was on par with each of the last three years.

St. Louis represents Mother’s first new market since Lawrence, Kansas, in February 2015. The company that does business in Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas won’t enter the Illinois side of the St. Louis metro area in February, though Schrag hinted at the prospect.

“We’re looking diligently at Illinois,” he said.

Schrag added Mother’s is focusing on St. Louis and has no immediate plans for other new markets.

“We’ve never wanted to be one of those breweries that just grows for the sake of growth. We always want to take our time and choose the right markets,” he said. “That’s what St. Louis is for us.”