News
Shamrocks MDA Against Dystrophy
J.J. Taylor Minnesota is helping raise money for the MDA this year! We have a total of 129 on and off premise accounts that signed up to participate, that’s 29 more than last year! Shamrocks will be sold for $1.00 and $5.00 a piece at each participating location February 12-March 17th. All money raised will stay local to support the services MDA provides to individuals and families living with a neuromuscular disease.
JJ Taylor, MillerCoors and Metro Transit to provide Free Rides on St. Patrick’s Day
No fares. No blarney. Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day responsibly and get a free ride on any Metro Transit bus or light-rail train. More Info >
Minnesota Family Creates Buzz Over Beer
A Minnesota family, who's name means beer, has created a lot of local buzz in the southwestern part of the state with their own brand of beer. Jason Davis went on the road to the tiny town of Lucan to meet the Brau brothers. More Info >
Leinie's Classic Amber top new craft beer
Leinenkugel Brewing Company’s newest craft beer has already become a classic - in more than just name. Leinenkugel’s Classic Amber, has been named the number one new craft item in the U.S. in 2009 based on sales by The Nielsen Company, a leading monitor of supermarket data. More Info >
Who the Firkin are you? Read this and you’ll Firkin know!
Beer Magazine – When the Firkin Flows–Why cask ale is like Heidi Klum, chicken wings, and not at your pub
Other than, say, an aquarium full of lobsters, most restaurants don’t carry live products. Makes sense. One could imagine the potential problems that could arise if chefs had to chase down Foghorn Leghorn during the dinner rush. It would create an awful lot of extra work, and of course the potential for an ever-looming worker’s comp lawsuit, what with chefs running and hacking at a chicken’s neck and all. More Info >
Just in Time for Ice Fishing Season: New Lakemaid Beer, Winter Edition Because great (ice) fishermen need a great beer.
MINNEAPOLIS – The cold north winds from the Great North have finally arrived, temperatures are plunging, and ice is finally coating the lakes and rivers of the North Country.
That means only one thing: ice fishing season has finally arrived. And to help ice fishermen truly appreciate their time on the ice, Lakemaid Beer has introduced a special, limited-time only Winter Edition of Lakemaid Beer (www.lakemaidbeer.com). With a mild malt flavor, a Lakemaid Beer Winter Edition goes down as smooth as a crisp winter day on the ice.
Available only during ice fishing season – December through early March – Lakemaid Beer Winter Edition is a refreshing, smooth, classic American lager inspired by freshwater mermaids, known as lakemaids, who live in the lakes and rivers of North Country. Long ago, these beautiful creatures of the deep found their way inland from the oceans, down tributaries such as the St. Lawrence Seaway, into the Great Lakes and then, to cool, clear freshwater lakes and rivers throughout fishing country.
The introduction of Lakemaid Beer Winter Edition is in direct response to the success of the summer or open water edition of Lakemaid Beer, which was introduced two years ago by the August Schell Brewery, the second oldest family owned brewery in the United States, and Rapala, manufacturer of legendary Rapala fishing lures and knives. The response was so overwhelming to the summer edition of Lakemaid Beer that Schell’s and Rapala decided to offer a winter brew especially for ice fishermen. Same great beer, only colder! More Info >
9/26/09 – The 2009 Great American Beer Festival Winners Announced
The Great American Beer Festival, held in Denver September 24-26, boasted more than 3,300 different beers from 495 U.S. breweries and was attended by almost 50,000 people. The awards presented at GABF are among the most coveted in the industry and are recognized around the world as symbols of brewing excellence.JJ Taylor is proud to represent the following award winning breweries and brands:
Mid-Size Brewing Company and Mid-Size Brewing Company Brewer of the Year
Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Category: 1 American-Style Cream Ale or Lager, 24 Entries
Gold: Milwaukee's Best, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Silver: Hamm's, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Bronze: Red Dog, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Category: 18 Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Beer, 110 Entries
Silver: Barrel Aged Gonzo, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Category: 20 Aged Beer, 32 Entries
Gold: Horn Dog Vintage 2007, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Category: 23 International-Style Pilsener, 13 Entries
Silver: OE800, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Category: 29 American-Style Lager or Premium Lager, 34 Entries
Silver: Miller High Life, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Category: 30 American Style Specialty Lager, 23 Entries
Bronze: Steel Reserve, Miller Brewing Co., Golden, CO
Category: 32 German Style Marzen, 45 Entries
Gold: Dogtoberfest, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
Category: 66 Belgian-Style Abbey Ale, 58 Entries
Gold: Signature Dubbel, Choc Beer Co., Krebs, OK
Category: 75 Imperial Stout, 56 Entries
Gold: Gonzo Imperial Porter, Flying Dog Brewery, Frederick, MD
8/22/2009 - JJ Taylor and MillerCoors teamed up to support a donation based car wash at Woody’s Bar & Grill on Saturday, August 22nd, from 1pm-4pm. We had a great turn out and wonderful weather!
The Woody’s Bikini Team volunteered their time to help raise money for the Animal Humane Society (AHS) by washing cars and playing games with consumers! The AHS is a private, non-profit organization operated by 222 full and part time employees. More Info >
7/12/2009 - J.J Taylor MN Participated in the Third Annual Minnehaha Creek Clean up Sponsored by Leinenkugel’s
On Sunday, July 12, approximately 150 volunteers from across the metro area together with the MCWD and Leinenkugel’s, cleaned up Minnehaha Creek. The Creek received a facelift from litter and invasive plant life starting at Lake Hiawatha moving upstream.
Throughout the morning, volunteers dispersed along the banks of the creek. Before they began, they fueled up on a complimentary pancake breakfast and learned more about the creek from Citizens for Minnehaha Creek Corridor. Once all the trash was collected, the celebration continued with a lakeside barbeque complete with a Leinie’s brew compliments of Leinenkugel’s.
7/7/09 - A major congrats to Specher and August Schells breweries! Both finished in the top 10 Overall Breweries
Atlanta, GA – Breweries and home brewers worldwide have another reason to say "cheers!" with the establishment of the first annual United States Open Beer Championships*, the first competition to include professional brewers and award winning home brewers.
Fifty categories were judged. Winners will receive a medal in the shape of a beer stein for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. Beers placing in the top 10 of each category and top 10 breweries overall will be featured in America’s Best and Top 10 as well as BeerInfo.com. Along with the medals awarded, A Grand National Champion will be awarded based on a point system for beers(5 minimum) entered in the competition.
Deschutes Brewing Wins the 1st United States Beer Championship
Top Ten Breweries
1. Deschutes Brewing
2. Sprecher Brewing
3. Boston Beer Company
4. August Schell Brewing
5. Maui Brewing
6. Anderson Valley Brewing
7. Terrapin Beer Company
8. Tallgrass Brewing
9. Atlanta Brewing
10. Sweetwater Brewing
If you want to read more and see individual category winners Read Entire Article >
6/29/09 - Jacquie Berglund and Finnegans Inc are in the news.
There's an old business rule of thumb that says as soon as the CEO moves into a Taj Mahal-like headquarters, business heads for the basement. Read Entire Article >
6/10/09 - Lifetime members will Slip into Summer with MGD 64 at six EXCLUSIVE poolside acoustic shows featuring emerging rock artist Tim Mahoney. Work Out Rock Out with MGD 64!
Recap of EP Life Time Fitness Event Tonight’s event went over great, despite the poor weather! I can only imagine what it will be like on a warm Summer night. The turnout almost tripled from the first event. There was around 250 consumers in attendance, a mix of male and female. Overall everyone was very positive towards MGD64. Many stating they had previ ously tried or purchased the product.
Enhancements At this event I had brought some MGD 64 POS including roll up banners, buckets, coasters and table tents. This really helped announce that MGD 64 was one of the sponsors of the event. One idea for enhancements would be to provide a extra “gift” for those who participated in the concert pre run. Possibly an extra drink ticket, a 64 t-shirt or sweat band. If approved Minneapolis 64 AM can provide some items. If anything was avail to order “fitness” type giveaways would be best, like water bottles, pedometers or towels.
4/27/09 - JJ Taylor 2nd Annual Trade Show
On April 27th, JJ Taylor MN hosted its 2nd annual tradeshow and again we had an excellent showing from our suppliers and our retailers. The event was again tagged “Best of Show” by our retailers who annually attend events like ours put on by other Liquor, Wine, and Beer Wholesalers. The event was held at the Marriott Mall of America.
The immediate impact of the show was felt with added distribution in our liquor and wine sales where we have accounts still discovering that we now carry spirits. Our ever growing selection of craft beers also impressed the retailers at this year’s event; our craft segment continues to show growth even in the slumping economic times. Our major domestic brands had a strong showing of creative ideas to help promote increased sales and increased traffic at both on and off premise accounts.
This year we added booths for JJ Taylor’s Sign shop, Draft Service, and Space Management departments, this gave us the opportunity to show our retailers that we are their First Choice for Graphic needs, service and installation of draft equipment, and our category management people showed the crowd where to find the free money hiding in their beer coolers just by have us come in and reorganize their selection to take advantage of the trade up and add on flow sets we are currently executing at retail.
To show how important safety and responsibility is to us, we had the Ramsey County Sherriff’s Department, MN State Patrol, and the Bloomington Police Department on hand to interact with the crowd.
