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Craft Brewery

presented — and still presents — some challenges imum versatility. Annual production is 2,000 barrels
in operating as both a brewery and distillery. “Yes, of beer and 2,000 gallons of liquor. Beer is sold in
there are some parallels,” he said, “but it isn’t quite the taproom by the glass, pint, growler and crowl-
as complimentary as I’d hoped it would be. You er. Whiskey is sold straight or in cocktails. Besides
have to do all the work you need to do for a distill- offering products in the taproom, Bent Brewstillery
ery and all the work you need to do for a brewery.” distributes 16-ounce cans and liquor bottles to
liquor stores and kegs to bars and restaurants. The
Specifically, Blume explained that he has to rely brewstillery has 450 accounts in Minnesota, the
on different ingredients, bottle suppliers, distrib- south side of North Dakota and the west side of
utors, and even different marketing strategies for Wisconsin.
each entity because the audiences are different.
“It’s really twice the amount of work, which is why Invent, Innovate and Inspire
most people haven’t decided to bite this off.”
With Blume at the helm as distiller and England
According to Blume, there are currently only sev- as head brewer, Bent Brewstillery continues to
eral dozen brewstilleries in the country. “It’s good invent, innovate and inspire. Since the beginning,
for me because I’m a workaholic,” he said. “It’s a it’s brewed over 200 beers. “When we started,
we made lots of sour beers,
reawakening old-style beers
that no one had made
until recently,” Blume told
Beverage Master Magazine.
“Now we have a whole line of
sours, including barrel-aged
sours and straight-up kettle
sours.”

One of their most unique
products is a Chilean Stout,
made in collaboration with
a local brewery in Santiago
and created from ingredients
that England brings back after
judging an annual beer com-
petition there. Next on the
agenda is a cold-fermented
IPA. “Fermenting an IPA cold
as opposed to fermenting
it warm is extremely rare,”
true family thing. My wife is the bookkeeper and Blume said. “The process makes it more crisp, clean
CFO. Even the dog comes to work.” and clear. It’s the opposite of the hazys.”

Despite the work, or maybe because of it, for In the spirits category, Bent Brewstillery offers a
a brewer who started with a two-and-a-half gal- traditional vodka and a nontraditional gin with 14
lon Mr. Beer Kit, Blume has seen his vision sur- different botanicals. Blume prefers to use fresh
pass expectations. Now in its eighth year, Bent botanicals when he can get them, which means the
Brewstillery has grown into a 20-barrel brewhouse gins will vary from batch to batch. Some products
with four 40-barrel fermenters, plus three-, five- are especially distinctive: Flame Bringer, a bourbon
and ten-gallon fermenters that allow for the pro- barrel sriracha-infused rum, and Tropical Whiskey,
duction of small-batch brews. The distillery features brewed and distilled like any other whiskey, but
a column reflux still with four plates. The still can includes passion fruit, guava, coconut and citrus,
be converted to a pot still with a restrictor plate on added during distillation. “These are the little fun
the bottom, designed specifically by Blume for max- things that make us distinctive in what we create,”

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