Indeed Celebrates 10 Years of Cheers

Minneapolis-headquartered Indeed Brewing Company celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year. The brewery, founded in 2010, has grown alongside the rising popularity of craft beer and has a deep history of innovation. Indeed was founded with a brewing capacity of 3,000 barrels per year, and today its brewery in Minneapolis and pilot brewery in Milwaukee produce 20,000 barrels per year. 

“The popularity of craft beer in Minnesota was increasing in the early 2010s, and the demand, especially for packaged beer, was being met primarily by out of state craft breweries,” said Indeed Brewing Company co-founder and CEO Tom Whisenand. “Our initial vision was to build a brewery that focused on delicious beer, self distribution and great branding. From the beginning we set out to intentionally create a business that didn’t cut corners and had a long-term vision for being a fun place to work and to do good for the community.” 

Indeed began developing recipes on a garage homebrew system in 2010, and several of these initial beers are still on tap at the brewery, including Indeed’s flagship Day Tripper Pale Ale. In 2011, the Minnesota legislature passed a new law that allowed craft breweries to open taprooms, and Indeed was positioned to be one of the first breweries to open an in-person space in the Twin Cities. The brewery served its first pint of beer in the Minneapolis taproom on August 10, 2012. 

Throughout the late 2010s, Indeed continued to invest in distribution, growing its footprint at retail to cover the entire state of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and most of North Dakota. The brewery also experimented with exporting some beer to Spain, South Korea, and Japan. With its increasing production, Indeed grew to the sixth largest craft brewery in the state. 

The Milwaukee pilot brewery and taproom opened in 2019 and hosted its first Wisconsin-made bottle release in 2020. “We weren’t interested in just sending beer off to Wisconsin. We consider Milwaukee our second home,” said Whisenand. 

Then in 2020, when the world was navigating the pandemic, the brewing industry and Indeed were hit with unprecedented challenges. Indeed’s taprooms and self-distribution in the Twin Cities enabled the brewery to adapt to the changing landscape by selling large quantities of beer to go. “It was our team and our coworkers who kept the brewery going with their personal sacrifices, ingenuity, and determination,” said Whisenand. 

Today, Indeed stays true to its roots and its intention to make delicious craft beer and give back to the community. Through its Indeed We Can charitable giving program, Indeed has donated more than $700,000, supporting 283 nonprofit and charitable partners. 

In 2022, Indeed released its latest innovation, a low-dosage Sparkling THC seltzer called Two Good that is delicious as well as responsible and safe for consumption. “As one of the first craft breweries to open in Minnesota, we have a nearly decade-long history of innovation in Minneapolis. We’ve always experimented with non-traditional ingredients in beer, and have been experimenting with Beyond Beer products for a few years,” said Whisenand. 

“We are excited to continue growing our existing footprint in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin, especially our focus on providing great experiences in our taprooms and giving back to our home cities of Minneapolis and Milwaukee,” said Whisenand. “By 2030, we plan to be producing around 30,000 barrels of beer a year.”