Milwaukee brewer: Randall Sprecher's pioneering microbrewery thrives in the shadow of the giants.
When a traveller enters Milwaukee via its modern gateway (the airport) the first brewery to be seen is not the vast Miller Brewery, nor even the stately Pabst plant. It is the tiny Sprecher Brewing Co., announcing itself with a towering smokestack emblazoned with its logo, a heraldic shield with gryphon rampant.Some brewers might have felt trepidation at the prospect of opening in the shadow of the Milwaukee giants, but apparently not Randall Sprecher, founder of the microbrewery that bears his name. "We're like a mouse running between the feet of elephants," he says, "We're too quick to get crushed, but they are certainly becoming aware of our presence."
Randall Sprecher boasts a convoluted resume, but the first step towards his microbrewing career can be traced to 1967, when he was serving in the U.S. Army. He had completed training in jungle warfare, but the army dispatched him to a more temperate clime--Germany. "By the time my enlistment was up I was hooked on good beer," he recalls, "and when I came back I started to brew at home."
After stints as a social-security administrator and home-builder, Sprecher found his true calling at the University of California-Davis, where he began graduate studies in chemistry and fermentation.
Pabst Stint
The Pabst Brewing Co. recruited Sprecher directly from UC-Davis, and he began a four-year stint as a brewing supervisor at Pabst Milwaukee. In 1984, cutbacks forced the brewer to ask for voluntary layoffs--and Sprecher jumped at the opportunity.
In point of fact, Sprecher recalls, he had been toying with the idea of starting a brewery for years. His Pabst stint, where he worked everywhere from the malt house to the packaging department, gave him the necessary experience.
He started the Sprecher Brewing Co. in 1985 with $40,000, a lot of old dairy tanks, and a good bit of hard work. "There is a lot of sweat equity in this building," he says. "We tried to do everything ourselves, and although it was tougher that way, we saved a ton of money."
The company shipped the first beer out the door in January 1986. Today the Sprecher Brewing Co. is one of the Midwest's largest small breweries, with 1992 production of 8,140 barrels. Sprecher fields a full range of Germanic specialty beers, including Sprecher Special Amber, Milwaukee Weiss, Hefe Weiss, Winter Brew, Octoberfest and Mai Bock. The company also produces an Irish Stout.
The beer is sold throughout the Milwaukee area, and in some accounts farther afield. The state border is as far as it goes, however. "We won't let it out of Wisconsin," Sprecher says, "and we actually keep most of it right around here. I'd say that 75 percent of our beer is sold within a 10-mile radius of the brewery."
Beer Nuts
Milwaukee, with its strong German immigrant heritage, would seem an ideal microbrewery market. Sprecher concurs, with some reservations. Although the town is rich in Germanic tradition, he says consumer awareness of microbrewed beer lags behind other regions. "I don't think we have that many beer nuts in this town," he says, "they seem to be concentrated on the coasts.
"Despite that," Sprecher says, "we have a small, but growing customer base. It's people who have a little extra money to spend, and they want a couple of good bottles of beer with a meal."
Many of Milwaukee's taverns serve brands imported from Germany, Sprecher says, and they have welcomed the chance to serve local German-style beer, particularly when the price point is attractive. "As the dollar fluctuates," he says, "some of the imports have been forced to peg their prices pretty high. That has allowed us to make inroads."
Sprecherfest
Sprecher has had less luck in getting his beer served at Milwaukee outdoor festivals, where the competition is domestic. "The large brewers had a lock on the big festivals," he says, "and they pushed people around. As a result we developed our own festival, the Sprecherfest."
Sprecher says that the fest, held on Labor Day, has attracted growing crowds since its inception four years ago. "We also do very well at festivals held outside Milwaukee," Sprecher says. "At one recent county festival we outsold Miller."
In addition to festival exposure, Sprecher says the company broadened its public contact through Saturday tours. Once tours are complete, consumers are free to purchase beer or Sprecher promotional items. "A lot of people have started to come down here on Saturdays," he says. "They fill the place up and buy a lot of stuff."
Children who join their parents for the tour can also end their visit swigging a Sprecher product--the company's Root Beer. Sprecher branched into soft drink production several years ago, when he sensed a budding market for high quality soft drinks. "I decided to make a root beer because it's something I like to drink," he says, "and I knew I could sell it in this town. I guess I was right. It's been up every year since we started doing it, and we sold 8000 barrels last year."
Whether root beer or the real stuff, Sprecher is confident that the market for his products is expanding. "We don't do much in the way of promotion," he says, "but business just keeps growing. It's gotten pretty crazy around here, but we'll just keep rolling with it."
Sprecher is considering his course for the future, and reports the possibility of a stock offering to finance expansion. The brewery is currently at 85 percent capacity, and he is contracting additional draught production at the Capital Brewery in Middleton, WI. "We'll have to do something soon," he says of the necessary expansion, "but I'm not too worried. There are all kinds of possibilities out there."
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| Author: | Reid, Peter V.K. |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Modern Brewery Age |
| Article Type: | Company overview |
| Date: | May 10, 1993 |
| Words: | 954 |
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