E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: Fargo brewery to release its first beer

The owners of the Fargo Brewery are hoping that the name recognition generated from the 15-year-old Coen brothers flick will help launch their fledgling brewing company in North Dakota's largest city, Bloomberg Businessweek reported on September, 29.

Their first beer is called Wood Chipper, a whimsical reference to the famous prop from the movie.

"We probably won't go with that sort of tongue-in-cheek movie reference for all of our beers," said Chris Anderson, brew master of the Fargo Beer Co. "We just thought it was just a great way to start out."

“The name Wood Chipper also rolls off the tongue”, Anderson noted, “so it's easy to order.”

The official first tap of the India Pale Ale came during a party on September, 28 at the popular HoDo bar in downtown Fargo, about a block from a 19-story hotel that on September, 29 was scheduled to serve as a giant screen for the movie "Fargo" during a celebration known as Fargo Fest. To top it off, the second annual Fargo Beer Festival was scheduled on September, 30.

"It's a crazy week in Fargo. We didn't plan it but it worked out well for us," Hardy said.

The company has 17 investors, mostly friends and family, who came up with $40,000 for start-up costs. The beer is currently being brewed in Wisconsin because the group wanted to quickly get the beer to market, but the owners hope to eventually set up shop in a Fargo industrial district.

Wood Chipper is believed to be the first locally produced craft beer in six years, and the initial shipment of 85 kegs arrived last week. Previous brewpubs in Fargo have not survived, and Chris Anderson believes it's partly because of licensing rules that require 50 percent of profits to come from food. He said there are no plans to expand beyond a brewery.

Wood Chipper is available at about a dozen local establishments. The company plans to have four beers on its menu within the next year, but decided that the India Pale Ale, or IPA, was the best choice to play lead.

"The IPA is ubiquitous," said John Anderson, Chris' younger brother. "It is the No. 1 selling style of craft beer in the United States. It made sense to start with that, because people are fanatical about it. They can't get enough."


30 September, 2011