James Krams at Bissell Brothers Brewing in Portland, Maine sense of pride and passion was radiated through the phone during our conversation. Bissell Brothers Brewing was conceived in 2011 by brothers Noah and Peter Bissell. Noah had a passion for brewing while Peter came from a background in marketing and entrepreneurship. Bissell Brothers Brewing is producing close to 10,000 barrels of beer annually.
· Prior to Covid- 19, 85% of sales at Bissell Brothers were coming through their taproom. This is an amazing feat due to their size and is a wave that James mentioned they were trying to ride for as long as they could. Their taproom has been closed since March. James estimates post-pandemic these numbers will come down to a more 70/30 model.
· During the early days of Covid, Bissell Brothers would have 500 or 600 customers lining up outside their taproom on new releases of beer or to purchase products. Something that James admired from their customer base and that he mentioned was wonderful. They understood that their customer's time was valuable as well. So recently, Bissell Brothers purchased Square, a point of sale service in order to help manage the traffic of customers and inventory. Square allowed customers to choose a date and a pickup time for their purchases along with tracking inventory for the Bissell Brothers. Notifying them if they were to go out of stock. Specifically, with their ‘Swish’ double IPA. Sales were limited to online through Square as it would go out of stock online overnight. All other beer customers are welcome to purchase either online or coming to the taproom where Bissell Brothers have an intel Square system they use.
· Josh mentioned during the summer months from June until the end of September that they had no issues getting people into the brewery as Portland is a summer vacation location with the streets packed with tourists. The time when the brewery needs to get creative is during the offseason. An area where they have had success in promoting educational nights at the brewery for hobbies or interests of people in the community. The brewery played off the hand of a large demographic of Maine are outdoorsmen/women. Bissell Brothers would bring in a surfboard designer, or an avalanche awareness guide. Customers who may not have been to Bissell Brothers before would come to listen to these educational speakers and have their questions answered. On a Tuesday night, they were managing upwards of 150 people to learn, relax, and have a beer.
· From James, I learned that every state has a cap on self-distribution. The state of Maine’s was extremely low at 1600 barrels. Bissell Brothers did not want to hire a distribution company to manage their distribution. They wanted to have a more personal experience where they had one of their own interacting with bartenders and owners. An individual who was excited about their product and brand who was going to provide excellent service. In order to coincide with state law, they fired one of their 8 employees and had him start a distribution company where his only account was Bissell Brothers. Recently, the laws have changed where brewers are allowed to self-distribute up to 30,000 barrels. That employee has sold the rights to the distribution company and returned to Bissell Brothers as an employee. They still do their own self-distribution.
· Bissell Brothers believe in selling and drinking fresh beer. To coincide with this belief, only 5-10 percent of their sales are out of state. They have also hired an employee who is a qualified scientist to help in this area.
Bissell Brothers Brewing is a passionate crew and Josh made me want to pack up the car and head on a road trip to Portland, Maine. To learn more about Bissell Brothers Brewing check out the link below!
https://bissellbrothers.com/
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