By Keegan Cantrell
(Saint Archer debuts in CSB Boise Markets this week!)
Saint Archer Brewing Company has a great bootstraps story and there is probably no better way to get off the ground and selling beer, than with a great story.
Craft brewing is sort of En Vogue right now, so it’s understandable that breweries would continue to pop up left and right. Which in my opinion is a wholly positive net gain for everyone.
The craft beer renaissance has been nothing but good for beer, and it shows no signs of slowing down.
``There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern or inn.`` – Dr. Samuel Johnson
Saint Archer isn’t just a brewery with a story though, they have excellent beers. Award winning beers in fact.
But why mention it in the first place?
Because like many modern craft breweries, the founders often have nothing more than a love of beer and a drive to succeed. No brewing experience needed.
For a craft that is such a labor of love, how can you start a brewery without any knowledge of brewing beer?
Easy. “Brew it and they will come.”
People love beer, so that’s where you start. You know you just need one good beer and you’re in business.
I’ve always been a bit of a hipster when it comes to authenticity. I used to believe that if you didn’t already play music, why start a band? (Which happens a lot)
So, when I hear a grassroots story about a filmmaker starting a brewery using small investments from skaters, surfers, and likeminded videographers, I was undoubtedly skeptical that it had anything to do with the beer.
“That’s a hell of a story but clearly they’re just doing it because it’s trendy.”
Fortunately, I am older now and recognize this as myopic thinking.
Of course they’re doing it because it’s trendy. Who doesn’t want to own a craft brewery?
What’s more important is that your heart is in the right place.
With the team at Saint Archer there is no doubt that it is.
Saint Archer Brewing Company was started by Josh Landan and Mikey Taylor.
The idea came about one night, after riffing on different entrepreneurial dreams they had.
Mikey Taylor had recently been approached about a hard alcohol sponsorship, having turned it down, he mentioned to Josh Landan that the whole idea just didn’t make sense to him.
That’s when the light bulb came on.
“Why hasn’t anyone in action sports, ever tried to make a craft beer?
After a rain out the next day, they drove home called and called Paul Rodriquez (pro skateboarder) and set in motion the plans to start Saint Archer Brewing Company.
And like that, 4 years ago the brewery came to life next to a Starbucks in Agora California, with the help of a handful of Josh Landan’s friends.
As Landan points out:
People have this misconception about these action sports athletes swimming in money, but most of the time that’s just not the case. A lot of them are living paycheck to paycheck and trying to figure out how to get by. Just because you seem them in magazines, and clothing ads doesn’t mean they have a ton of money, that’s just not the reality. So, when we were going to them to help build this business for a lot of guys it was hard. They believed what we were telling them and they wanted to be a part of it but guys were giving me their whole life savings even if that was 10 thousand dollars they were giving me every penny that they had and that was hard. I quit making films and moved my family. I had two little kids at the time. I went home and told my wife I was quitting movies, and we were moving to San Diego and we’re going to make this company happen and we’re going to build it and keep our fingers crossed.
For the first year, things for Saint Archer were very difficult. It took much longer to do the beer than they thought and that meant money was running out.
But despite initial setbacks, many of those who were there at the beginning continued to believe in Josh Landan and support him through the struggle.
Initially they had planned on contracting out different breweries in the area to provide beer for them.
Months were spent travelling from brewery to brewery sampling beers and talking about options. Finding nothing but disappointment they decided it was time to double down. If they were going to produce the beer they wanted to make, they were going to have to do it themselves. That meant need raising enough capital to build their own full scale brewery in the process.
Landan: “We put everything we had into it, so we could say we had something real. And that’s when it becomes real, when you build something from the ground up. Which is exactly what we did.”
After a successful secondary fundraising period, they had what they needed to build the dream brewery. Now all they needed was someone to brew it.
The goal with Saint Archer was always to have it be in San Diego, one of the craft beer mecha’s of the world and home to many of the original trend setters of the ongoing 20 year craft beer trend.
Landan felt if you can make something special and succeed in one of the toughest beer markets in the country, you must really be on to something, and it was that sink or swim scenario that was going to push them to the finish line.
Why not go where all the best beers are? Surround yourself with greatness, and make yourself a better company by being around some of the best competitors in your profession.
Stone and Ballast Point were huge influences on Landan and were often used as a blueprint for putting together a great beer company.
Having finally established things in San Diego, they were now surrounded by craft beer culture, it was everywhere.
In that thriving culture Josh Landan met Kim Lutz who at the time was the head brewer at Maui Brewing Company.
Her best friend, Yiga Miyashiro had been working at the craft beer veterans Pizza Port at the time and was already the recipient of an incredible number of awards for his brewing recipes. Including an impressive 10+ GABF (Great American Beer Festival) medals.
At the recommendation of their new head brewer they asked him to come on as the Director of Brewing Operations.
After recruiting Greg Peters from the now legendary Lost Abbey/Port City Brewing, their dream team was complete and has paved the way ever since.
They took Gold at the GABF after being established only 16 months, as well as 4 San Diego Beer festival medals where they took home two Gold Medals, a Silver, and a Bronze.
This bear in mind, having launched with only a blonde, a pale ale, and an IPA.
Josh Landan was smart enough to know that you don’t need gimmicks. You just need good beer. Beer people want to drink.
He was right and long before the brewery even had it’s first product the hype was being generated by their action sports crusaders, tweeting and blogging about Saint Archer.
When that first beer showed up, it was like a bomb went off.
The rise was meteoric.
35,000 Barrels is what Saint archer was producing by the tender age of 2 and a half years.
A goal which originally awaited them 8 years out.
That was 2015 and since then we’ve seen an acquisition by Millercoors as their first craft beer to their Tenth and Blake portfolio as well as an expansion out of their home state into Vegas, Arizona and to us in the beautiful Pacific Northwest aided by the guiding hand, Millercoors juggernaut.
A move that has in fact brought great criticism. Cries of “Sell out!” “Corporate Shill!” were heard echoing from the blogosphere shortly after the announcement.
A feeling I certainly don’t echo. In fact, I reserve my hipster moral high ground for places where it makes more sense. People are always mad when companies (and bands for that matter) grow up. They can’t stay small forever.
And should they? An acquisition from one of the oldest and most successful breweries in the world is a good thing and it’s what helps bring good beer to the rest of the U.S.
The crusty social media-lites and their “I heard of them first” dissidence can deal with it.
Saint Archer is a great brand with great beers, and were excited they have the resources to expand.
After all, had they not, we might never had a chance to partner with them as a distributor and bring their much loved beers to the Vancouver metro and Boise metro areas. What a shame that would be.
Beer is good, and it deserves to be shared.
(Recent reports show them nearly doubling their capacity to 65,000 barrels last year.)
With the launch this week of Saint Archer in CSB Boise, (Having had it in Vancouver for some time) we add a great beer to our list of excellent suppliers and they add one more market to the Saint Archer legacy.
We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Saint Archer and are excited to continue our partnership with them moving onwards to Idaho.
