Hey all!

So I have been doing a weekly video series via Facebook called Monday’s with Monon.

I felt like this blog was out of date as not many read blogs, am I wrong in that? Let me know, very curious here!

So the Monday’s with Monon videos feature products from our producers, and/or our producers themselves! Its been fun chatting about the things I love and work with day to day, and even more fun hearing stories from the producers themselves.

What sorts of things would you want to see on our videos? Are there good questions we should be asking?

The goal is to best serve you, so let us know what we can do to make your viewing more enjoyable 🙂

Cheers!

SPW

Soooooooo it’s been a while since I last made an entry…

Whats fun about this one is exactly a year ago I did a Q&A from things people had asked me in the 2 months I had been publicly operating as Monon. I say publicly as there was a decent amount of behind the scenes things I did while still with my former employer, and my actual first sales day was 10/01/2016.

“What exactly are you?” I still get this question from time to time, or more interestingly people trying to convince me that I have my business name wrong and that I am really Monarch Beverage… I am pretty sure I know the name of my business, but oh well. To answer this in it’s most true form, I am a man. Bah-dum-tshhh. What people really are asking is “What is Monon Beverage?” The most simple answer that has changed slightly since the beginning is that “Monon Beverage provides sales, events, and distribution management” My focus is local, however, I have the incredible pleasure of working with an out of state producer (Moonlight Meadery) who is just doing some awesome stuff!

Sub question that comes from the above: “Would you represent someone who isn’t local?”: Well, there are 140 active Indiana breweries, 91 active Indiana wineries, and over 20 Indiana distilleries, so I have some pretty decent opportunity to represent people who are also local business owners such as myself. That being said, I have chatted with regional brands in the past, and there are a few regional brands I have talked with recently whom are of interest. At the end of the day, quality will answer this question.
“Where is your warehouse?” Im not a distributor, but a broker. My producers already have established distributors, Monon just helps them grow through existing channels, or helps find a channel that will best help them grow. This is a common one, but understandable since few are doing what Monon does, and I’d argue that no one does it on my level of customer service (yet).
“Why do you represent X producer?” Monon exists because there are awesome producers out there who just need a bit of love and legs to grow, but could allocate funds more efficiently than a solo sales rep. As mentioned in the post a year ago, the following question is still typically asked after this one.

“Didn’t X produce a bad product at one point in time?” Sure, but you weren’t good during your first day of work, or when you first played a sport. People learn and grow, it’s the nature of life. Let breweries get their sea legs then judge their beer. There have been breweries I tried when they are 6 months old, didn’t care for them too much, then tried their beer a year later and was blown away. Good things take time, don’t be a dick and hold a grudge.
“Would you ever represent X brand?” I stick with my original answer, but in addition, I am very picky about who I choose to work with now. I have always had a standard, but as I grow and Monon becomes better (with Scott’s help of course) we as a unit have deep talks about producers prior to even meeting with them. If either of us aren’t sure, typically the conversation ends there, or we explore their beer to see where they are at.

“Do you just do sales and events?” Monon is focused on our three core activities: sales, events, and distribution management. I could break it into sub-categories and say marketing and education as those are also daily tasks of Monon.

“You must drink so much!” Less a question, but still something I encounter weekly. My answer is the same. Rarely do I drink outside work based activities. Im around it so much, so its nice to drink water or tea opposed to beer, wine, or spirits. Nothing wrong with unwinding with a drink, just few and far between. I will unwind with Freya walks.
“Do you home brew beer or make wine?” Nope. I view it the same as an accountant who goes home from a busy day of crunching numbers to do his/her taxes for fun… Nothing wrong with it, just not my thing.

“Why did you start this business?” The answer is the same as the original, but in fewer words, I wanted to work for myself and provide a unique service that I felt was valuable for this industry.
“What next?” This one is fun since a year ago I touched on providing better customer service, as well as adding to my team. Ive done both! Adding Scott to my team helped with customer service, and keeps me on my toes. What will change in another year…? Im not sure, I am always working to better serve the bars, restaurants, and stores who support Monon. Between myself and Scott, the biggest task now is growing our footprint. The central 9 counties is our sweet spot, however there are several other markets we are growing into like Ft Wayne. Tons of opportunity, but taking care of those who already support us is most important.

So that is the long blog post to make up for a lack of posts recently. Also due to a poll on social media, it looks like live videos will be returning!

Get ready for those, follow Monon Beverage on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: @mononbeverage
SPW

So it has been about 2 months since my last blog post… Ooops. Things have been busy, but that is good!

Since my last entry, we have added Tin Man Brewing Co, Burn Em Brewing Co, and Moonlight Meadery is back in Indiana with a new distributor!

Tin Man, from Evansville, has been making solid beers for a while now. They might be most known for their kettle sours, especially Damascene (Apricot Sour). What you might not know is they have a rotating sour series called Weld. Be on the look out for Strawberry Weld coming in a short few weeks. Sours not your style? There is Ingot, their IPL (India Pale Lager) which is appealing to the biggest craft beer buff, to the new drinker.

Burn Em, from Michigan City, is very new to us, so new that we havent even updated our price sheets to include them yet! That is next on the list of things to do this morning while at my desk. They always have a new beer being brewed and have a few classics that you can look forward to like Hop Parade. Dry hopped with Citra and Nugget hops, you know you are in for a good time.

Moonlight Meadery is back too! So that is exciting as they were our first producer that we started working with a whole 11 months ago (Thats right, Monon is almost a year old!) What is more exciting is there are now rotating session meads like Mangoberry coming out. Want to try this one? Come on out to Meadful Things on 9/2 and grab some mead with Michael Fairbrother, Moonlight Meadery’s owner, and myself! It will be a good time.

Thats pretty much the quick and dirty of what has been going on. We have tons of new events coming up including a murder mystery dinner in October, and a few beer dinners in the works.

Trying to get your hands on Tin Man, Burn Em, and/or Moonlight? Let myself or Scott know, we can help you purchase it for your venue, or find a venue so you can take it home with you.

Thanks for reading!

SPW

So I was watching Lord of the Rings and Gandalf the Grey (not to be confused with Gandalf the White) said something that I had heard many a time before but stuck with me this time.

“All we have to do is decide what to do with the time given to us”

This was the thought that got me started on this blog post reflecting on the past year of Monon.

So as you may or may not know, By state records, my business is now a year old. It was at this point last year that I started getting Monon Beverage going. It wasn’t until October 1st that I did my first sales day, but, Monon has been alive for a year now. I guess October would be when Monon started crawling…? There is some metaphor to be made I’m sure…

“There’s some good (beer) in this world Mr. Frodo, and it’s worth fighting for” -Samwise Gamgee, sorta.

Anyway, I started reflecting on all the people I have met and relationships I have made over the past year, and I love it. There are producers that I work with that not only support Monon, but they support what I do in my personal life, like triathlons. To most, if someone told you to “Do good like John Goodman in 10 Cloverfield Ln, or do bad like John Goodman in Transformers, Kisses” that would be meaningless, but to me it meant a lot. I know I can also send memes or have good discussions with those I work with about their personal life happenings, not just what beer or spirits are in the pipeline. I guess I never expected that starting out. Even starting out and being invited into a producer’s home for their Christmas party when the relationship was new, it was a welcomed surprise. Anddddddd being able to share pints with Scott during a work meeting has been fun. He has been with Monon for almost 2 months now… Crazy, right?

“It comes in pints?!”- Peregrin “Pippin” Took

So that leads to where I am going I guess. Monon Ohio was announced recently. That is still being planned, but should be going by the end of the year if all goes as planned. There will be a big celebration in October for Monon turning 1 officially. I feel it is best to celebrate Monon during the month that the first sales was made. I will do a week of events at venues around central Indy, then I will do a week of events with the producers I work with! So you can celebrate with me for 2 long weeks! I guess you could celebrate my birthday too as I will turn a year older as my business turns a year older as well. A few gray hairs since last year, but, thats okay.

To end this post, I will leave with a Bilbo Baggins quote:
“It is no bad thing to celebrate a simple life”

Starting a business has been the most complicated thing I have ever done, but it has made the most sense. I am fortunate to still be operational through hard work and solid products that I work with. More fun things to come and more news to be announced in the near future!

Cheers!
SPW

So its the middle of May, things are busy, and all is well!

Scott has been rolling with my team for 2 weeks now, 1 week totally solo, and he is sturdy. If ever there was a chance to start a basketball team, I think we would be covered as I am 6’3 and Scott is 6’something-more-than-me.

We have teamed up with Danny Boy Beer Works, and have a few others in the works to be added soon as well! All good things moving forward. They had press in The Star recently, did you see that? Speaking of press, Scarlet Lane, Moonlight Meadery, and Circle City Kombucha all had some press recently celebrating their successes and growth. We are really fortunate to work with some amazing people.

I think its interesting adding someone to my team since I have been solo for 8 months, and now I have a teammate to push me to be better. I was always competing against myself whether it be placements in accounts or going above and beyond for accounts, but, now I have more competition! This drives me to be better for you guys, and better for my team! I will admit seeing that Scott saw more accounts than I did last week means I have to try harder this week to beat him, but thats a good thing! Ideally he and I push each other to be better for all we meet, that is why I hired him to help serve our accounts better!

We are small in the grand scheme of things, but, our service is by far the best. That is something I pride Monon with, is our ability to go above and beyond for our accounts. I try to do little things like just making sure cans are facing the right way, to remembering the names of pets.

Im not really sure of the point of this blog other than a few random ramblings, but, it is a small update on my team. If you made it to this point in the blog, I want to offer the first 3 people who read this (and email me using the form on my webpage) a chance to sit down and enjoy a flight of beer with me sometime. This can be for anyone. Old friends, new friends, new people to become friends, accounts that are friends, accounts to be friends, stranger-dangers, or whomever. This goes back to trying to serve everyone better. Sometimes just having a beer and getting to know someone creates new opportunities that werent expected.

So thanks for reading my ramblings, let me know if there is something you are interesting in me writing about and I will give it a go!

So it is now May, race season, and a big time for Monon!

I had mentioned it a bit, but Monon is growing, so I hired someone! Scott is a solid dude, dont let the height, tattoos and grumpy face scare you, he is a teddy bear. A teddy bear who knows beer! Im pretty excited, especially as I type this knowing that his first sales day starts in an hour and ten minutes! Still so much to do before we meet up, but, I know he is ready to do good work!

His role is primarily going to focus on Indiana breweries. The goal is specialization. There is something to be said when one person focuses on a like unit. Thats his goal at least. Growing love for local brands, like Brew Link! That is the first brand on his plate, and more are being added soon.

Brew Link is a unique brewery, and they have some unique beers. Have you seen the Ivory Stout from them? If not, we have work to do, and you have drinking to do!

All is well, and everything is moving forward. I will blog more when I have more time. Now only an hour and seven minutes until our first sales day! (Im pretty efficient at typing)
SPW

I will just get right into it today!

I started Monon Beverage only wanting it to be me working solo, but opportunity came knocking and I am not one to look away from a good opportunity.

So comes growth. The Brewers of Indiana Guild and I met up as we had the same mission plan of creating awareness, and phase two of Monon Beverage was born! The guild was looking for someone to help grow their festival sponsorship game, and grow their affiliate members, so I have teamed up with them to do that, but to also create a new sales position for a rep to work with 5 Indiana breweries, and 1 meadery (all to be announced as we move forward)

With this new development, I couldnt be more excited/nervous/excited! I have a really solid guy who I gave an offer to and he accepted already, and he will be announced as part of the team officially soon!

I have a few breweries in the final stages, and one (Brew Link out of Plainfield) totally ready for May 1st’s first sales day for my guy!

This was something I never planned on back in July when I was getting this business developed, and definitely wasn’t considering when I did my first sales day in October, but, when all the right pieces are there, it makes this an easy choice to move forward. Great things coming in Indiana for Monon’s team.

Oh, and the featured image? It was a good attempt at an April Fools joke…. I think…

And thats all she wrote… all he wrote…. 6 am to write out my thoughts is a tough one, but all good nevertheless.  More desk work then off I go to sell all the beer, spirits, mead and non-alcoholic products!

SPW

Hey! So wrapping up my series about producers and products I work with, Non-alcoholic seemed a good way to wrap up. Im out of movie puns too :/

Originally I never planned to work with NA producers, but Im thankful I have! These are also the shortest relationships I have thus far, but again, Im thankful for them.

Hoosier Momma just made sense to work with since they are doing cocktail mixers, specifically bloody mary and margarita ones. I love bloody mary’s in general, and I work with spirits producers, so its a match made. We have some cool events going on soon, and lots of opportunity to work with other Monon brands! Look out for Cinco de Mayo events especially!! I think the most interesting thing I can take away from my relationship with KC thus far was her saying to live in the middle. Lots of exciting things have happened, some negative, but being able to keep level headed is important. I think I already knew this, but, something about her saying it resonated with me. Broken Beaker’s Gin and the Blood Orange Mix is a match made in heaven, look out to try this soon!

Circle City Kombucha, now these guys are interesting since this was totally off my radar, I mean like, no where in my mind did I consider this opportunity, and something I knew very little about kombucha when we first started talking. I have had only a sip of foul kombucha prior to meeting them and trying their amazing product. I could go on, but, ask me in person and I will ramble more for you. A mutual friend and restaurant owner hooked us up (shout out to Ross at Rooster’s Kitchen! Grab some food from him, anything with bacon, and a kombucha cocktail too) and the rest is history. These guys are going somewhere big. They have a team of three who are all specialize in different areas with some overlap, but its all for the better. While their product is made to be consumed as an NA beverage, I’m going to get wild an make some cocktails with it. A Moscow Mule using their Ginger Lemon kombucha sounds amazing, and might even be somewhat healthy for you….

Well, thats the last of this series, Im sure I will blog more about misc stuff as it comes up. Trying to do it more regularly, so what do you want to read about? Let me know, and I will do something special based on comments received.

SPW

These early morning blog posts seem to have the best titles, so I will continue my series a day early and talk mead.

One of the first, if not the first, producers to sign with Monon Beverage was Moonlight Meadery from Londonderry, New Hampshire. It was an awkward call as I was still finding out how to best talk to producers about Monon and I wasn’t entirely sure who was on the phone at the time. I had to pull over and I quickly made notes on a scrap piece of paper as to who I was talking to, and then hurried the call to end it and look them up. Upon getting off the phone I thought I had messed up and would never hear from them again. Then looking them up and finding out that they have several medals from the Mazer Cup and were Meadery of the Year in 2015, I became even more nervous after finding that out but obviously everything worked out as I am still working with them! They are pretty cool people, and also the only producers I havent met face to face yet! That will change in May when Ben comes out here to hang and meet Indiana.

What is mead you may ask? Well I am fortunate that in Indy, New Day Meadery has done an awesome job of answering that question, but, a quick summary: Mead is fermented honey and water. That is the quick and dirty answer, however Moonlight proves it is much more than just a simple fermented honey and water beverage. They take it to a new level by adding fruits, spicy peppers, and even barrel aging their products!

Mead can be many things, and while it does have honey in it, not all of it is as sweet as you would think (There are semi-dry ones like Red Dress). There are even really complex meads like Smolder, which is a raspberry chipotle mead. When drinking this one, flavor comes in waves, somewhat like in Willy Wonka when the girl is chewing gum. First you get the sweetness from the honey, then the tartness from the raspberry, and finally a nice even spicy to finish. Really interesting, worth searching for, or just ask me and I can probably locate some for you.

I suppose I should mention that Moonlight also does ciders. Really awesome ciders, some aged in rye barrels reaching 13.5% ABV too!! Trust me, I know cider. I even passed the Level 1 Cider Certification Program. This is good stuff.

Need for Mead? Yup! We got you covered from canned cider, to bottled mead, and even both on draft.

SPW