Boozy Brotherly Angst

Reading the Mondavi Winery case, my jaw actually dropped when I read that in fighting over moving toward a new way of making wine, Peter accused Robert of stealing money from the company, and after being denied the apology he sought, Robert struck his brother and was barred from the business.

It immediately reminded me of an article I had read about a pair of twin brothers who both brewed beers and could not stand each other.

Their story is an interesting one - they grew up in Denmark, and until 2010 they worked together, not always harmoniously. Jeppe Jarnit-Bjergso, on the left, started a beer club and in 2005, opened a speciality beer store called Olbutikken. Mikkel Borg Bjergso, on the right, was the tinkerer who started creating craft beers, founding Mikkeller and becoming the marquee beer at his brother's store. It all fell apart when Mikkel opened his own bar in 2010, not far from the bottle shop, and began competing. Jeppe then decided to create his own brewery; he first decamped to Brooklyn, then cheekily named it Evil Twin. Legend has it they've hardly spoken since.

Evil Twin is all over the New York beer scene; Covenhoven, my local and wonderfully loved beer bar in Brooklyn, used to stock it all the time, and I've had a number of their generously high abv imperial stouts. Jeppe and his wife also operate a Danish restaurant and bar called Tørst that pairs their foods with his beers. I never saw Mikkeller beers as often in New York, but it turns out the Danish brand has physical presence on the west coast, with beer bars in both LA and San Francisco.

Until last year, both brothers were "gypsy" or phantom brewers - they borrowed space from other brewers to make their beers, rather than owning breweries of their own. As if to add another chapter to their rivalry, they both decided to expand operations at the same time, opening breweries and taprooms in 2018, and both doing so in Queens. Coincidence?

I find it striking (and disappointing on this side of the country) that they both plan to lean into making some New York themed beers that are only available in the state. How much of that has to do with developing a local brand and mystique, and how much of it is due to issues with distribution for a niche beer in the 3 tier system? I had never really thought about how beers make themselves available around the country before this quarter, and I'm looking forward to figuring out the answers to that question.