Hear a Distro’s Thought Process on Bringing a New Brewery to Market

Last month, Michigan’s Dark Horse Brewing Company arrived in the DC beer market. The DC market is both crowded and competitive, so the decision to come to DC, and the process of finding a distributor, can be tricky. They found such a distributor in Madidus Importers. We had a chance to chat with Bob Gill, Director of Craft Beer for Madidus, about Dark Horse and where they fit into our market. What follows below is a transcript of our email conversation, loosely edited for length and clarity. This is an interesting read given that distributors don’t often go on the record in such a candid way. Thank you to Bob for his time and attention, and welcome to Dark Horse.

Do you think the fact that some of Dark Horse’s contract beers are already in the market (e.g., maple stout from Evil Twin) is pro, con, or neutral to launching in DC?

I feel that this helps us as well as Dark Horse. Most people, if they are not from the midwest,  have a vague recollection of trying some of their beers at one