When a beer hits and your brewery needs to make more, adding a contracting partner can be the best way to quickly get extra product to shelves to help boost your brand’s bottom line.
Colorado Springs’ Goat Patch Brewing has teamed with Denver brewery Sleeping Giant to produce extra amounts of its popular Hazy IPA brand.
Cate Baze, a co-owner along with husband Darren, told Brewer they wanted someone who could brew the beer to their exact specifications and with enough capacity to brew a substantial amount. She said Sleeping Giant was a perfect fit because they were specifically built to do those two things.
“Not only do they have a strong reputation for quality and consistency, we didn’t realize there are so many well-respected breweries here in Colorado that have partnered with them over the years,” Baze said. “From recipe development to meeting on-site at their state-of-the-art facility, we have been nothing but impressed with (founder) Matt [Osterman] and his highly skilled team.”
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While Goat Patch prepares to purchase a production facility of their own closer to the brewery, Sleeping Giant is currently helping to brew their Hazy IPA to support Goat Patch’s wholesale demands throughout the city.
“Our Hazy IPA is one of our foundational flagships and we take patron loyalty seriously,” Baze said. “Similar to brewing at GPB, there are always ways to dial in our processes. With the open communication established with Matt and his team, we know that if any potential issues arise they can be dealt with swiftly.”
Baze said they think the biggest way Goat Patch’s strategy has evolved is by dialing back plans for packaging.
“Our original plan was to be canning by now but, with a lot of the off-premise sales moving to supermarket chains, we don’t feel like we’re big enough to compete with the big guys just yet,” she said. “We’ve found a nice niche selling kegs to bars and restaurants, many of which are locally owned, which allows us to further support our community.
“COVID was a masterclass in pivoting for us. At this time, our biggest goal in the next 12 months is to find a location to build a production facility. We’ve been in the search for the last year but have yet to find the space that meets our needs.”
This new partnership will bring Hazy IPA kegs to market for on-premise consumption this weekend and going forward. With its first batch being delivered recently, Baze said they are very happy with the results and confident that patrons will agree.
Goat Patch relies mostly on word-of-mouth and basic social media platforms to sell its beer.
”We’ve been lucky since inception to have a loyal group of patrons who have grown with us,” Baze said. “Our ’Bleating Heart Nights’ and our ’It Takes a Tribe’ initiatives have allowed us to get to know our community even more in the past few years.
“Our main business strategy always has been and always will be to have something for everyone. I hear some people saying that traditional beer is boring, and others saying that fruited/hazy/pastry/etcetera beers have ruined the industry. We try to bring people together by brewing both traditional styles and fun experimental brews. We don’t try to be everything to everybody, and we don’t jump on every fad, but we do believe that when a patron walks through our doors, they should be able to find at least one beer that they can enjoy.”
As far as new markets go, Baze said that Goat Patch — which produced around 1,900 barrels in 2020 — plans to stay pretty close to home and focus efforts mostly in Colorado Springs and neighboring communities for now.
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