Distributor changes boosts craft brands in Charleston

A recent shake-up in craft beer distribution for the Charleston-Parkersburg WV market is already showing up as increased visibility for certain brands in local on-premise accounts. 

Mountain State Beverage (MSB) recently started selling the Oskar Blues, Bell’s, DuClaw, Founders, Southern Tier, Blue Mountain, Flying Dog, North American Breweries (Magic Hat and others), and Bridge Brew Works lines in the Charleston and Parkersburg markets. MSB took over the distribution rights when the former distributor, Proud Eagle, was sold.

Recent bar promotions in Charleston show how quickly the lines’ new distributor jumped on an opportunity to showcase its brands. The other night, Oskar Blues had seven beers flowing during a well-promoted tap takeover at Sam’s Uptown Cafe in Charleston.

Leading the fun at Sam’s  during the Oskar Blues promotion and pictured above are (from L to R) John Gartner, regional sales manager for Oskar Blues Brewing; Lynette Stewart, president of KRAZE, the local craft beer club; Todd Moore, on-premise manager for Mountain State Beverage; and Paul “P.G.” Greco, owner of Sam’s Cafe.

John Gartner, Oskar Blues Mid-Atlantic region sales manager, seemed pretty stoked to see the strong commitment he’s getting from MSB for Oskar Blues in Charleston, and he brought lots of promotional giveaways.

“I’m really excited about 2017 in the state,” he said.

Todd Moore, Mountain State Beverage’s on-premise manager for Charleston-Huntington, likes the Oskar Blues line for its strong product quality and promotional support. He says you’ll likely see a few more Oskar Blues brands and sizes than you were used to seeing in the market.

He says it’s unfortunate that we won’t be able to get the Oskar Blues barrel-aged stuff this year due to it high alcohol content.

“I’m sure we’ll be working on that at the Legislature, ” he said.

“We’re also having a conversation with Oskar Blues about getting a rep for West Virginia,” says Moore. “That would be huge.”

Timothy’s does DuClaw

The next night another downtown Charleston bar promotion, this time at Timothy’s, showed that the increasing availability also applies to DuClaw Brewing beers. MSB is bringing in a much wider range of DuClaw products to Charleston than the market saw from Proud Eagle. MSB’s brand manager Matt Meyers was on hand to support the promotion and said that Charleston bars and retailers will see a positive change in the number of beers available throughout the year.

Distributor changes can be a bit disconcerting to retailers as they naturally wonder if they’ll continue to have the same access to the brands they love. MSB getting out and doing some early bar promotions is helping allay those fears.

Timothy’s bar manager Brent Ligon was excited to find MSB wil be carrying more craft in Charleston. He buys into the promotion strategy and likes the good results he gets. He says he’ll try to schedule them often.

Moore gives MSB more

The nine craft lines moving to MSB will definitely benefit from the addition of Todd Moore as on-premise market manager for MSB in Charleston and Huntington. Moore had been a very effective and well-liked on-premise account manager for Proud Eagle. After that distributor was sold, Moore chose to move to the new job with MSB. His market knowledge, skill, and sales ability will definitely be a plus for MSB’s craft beer line up.

Promotions pull in customers

Bar promotions for craft beer continue to pull in customers because they provide such a convenient opportunity to sample new beers. With so many new beers hitting the market each month, brewers, distributors, bar owners, and consumers all get positive benefits from these events. For any bar or tavern owner who wants to sell more craft beer, schedule a few promotions and see the positive results.