WCCO Radio interview with James Beard nominated host Jason DeRusha
After 20 years in the anchor chair, Jason DeRusha decided to trade in his newsroom chair for a radio host chair! Jason is also taking on multiple other projects as he continues to deep dive into his passions surrounding storytelling and connecting with others and took some time to visit with our very own Austin Jevne.
Jason and Austin spoke a lot about the creation of Forager Brewery, our sister brewery located in Rochester, MN which serves made-from-scratch dishes, craft cocktails, and of course craft beer. Because Forager Brewery serves wine and spirits, not just craft beer, they are technically considered a brewpub. So why does that matter? Well, the eyes of Minnesota laws this means that Forager can't distribute craft beers to liquor stores or bottles shops, so in order to get brews into the hands of fabulous craft beer drinkers like yourself, Austin had to create an entirely new business out of state--Humble Forager.
Jason: So Humble Forager explain how you decided to do that?
Austin: We basically kind of had to find a grey area within the laws and that just meant moving out of state. We had a really good facility in Octopi down in Waunakee, Wisconsin just north of where I grew up in Madison. They have a state-of-the-art facility, and we basically kind of just added another word onto the front of Forager to kind of tie the two businesses together, yet make it a separate entity. We had to split up ownership of all of our investors, right down the middle of their families.
During the interview, Austin also talks about how his background in the food and beverage industry help him to create propriety yeast strains, how the Wisconsin and Minnesota beer scenes are different, and 3 of his favorite restaurants in Rochester.
Have listen to the full interview here (Part 11) https://www.audacy.com/stations/wccoradio/shows/drivetime-with-derusha-1c157/episodes/5d5465672ad8