New owners plan to relaunch Millstream Brewing brand

AMANA — After their first summer owning and operating a revered local beer brand in Amana, Millstream Brewing’s new owners are pleased, and maybe a bit relieved, as their hometown rebounds from the uncertainties of 2020.

“It’s actually been easier than expected, given the loyalty to the brand, especially in Amana and the rural communities out here,” co-owner Steve Charlier said.

“The biggest challenge for us is attracting the younger audience that’s maybe migrated (away) or never discovered Millstream,” he said. “There are an awful lot of folks in their 20s and 30s who have never heard of it.

“We make sure we serve a lot of the core German beers that have kept this brewery successful for 30-plus years, but we’re expanding to get the younger audience.”

Charlier and Susan Charlier and business partner Justin Cohanim bought Millstream Brewing in March. Previous owners Tom and Teresa Albert retain ownership of the Millstream Brau Haus next door.

The new owners bring some new styles — and style — to the pioneering Midwestern craft-beer label.

“We really needed to relaunch the brand,” Steve Charlier said.

That will mean some new names alongside traditional mainstays such as Schild Brau and Iowa Pale Ale.

Many of those new styles will be offered in cans, also new for Millstream, featuring historic photos provided by the Amana Colonies.

‘Homecoming’

All three owners are Cedar Rapids-area residents. The Charliers met while both worked at KCRG-TV, where Susan was a news anchor in the early 1990s.

“It was a nice chance to have a homecoming,” Steve Charlier said.

“This is the first craft beer I ever drank, and when I was a little kid in Shellsburg I got to watch the beer tanks being made, in 1983,” he said. “They were made at the Shellsburg Welding shop.”

After KCRG, Steve Charlier worked at CBS affiliates around the country, ending up in Chicago. He still operates a digital media company, where he met Cohanim, who works for a management consulting in Cedar Rapids.

“I first talked Justin into partnering with me,” Steve Charlier said. “That was easier than talking Susan into partnering with me. I convinced them both.”

Susan Charlier still maintains her luxury real estate business in Chicago.

“The market is way too good for me to step completely away,” she said. “I have a partner there, and I’m here doing a lot of the media work and being a professional (events) stager.”

The brewer

Chris Priebe, head brewer since 2001, remains at Millstream.

“The quality is fantastic, and Chris maintains that,” Steve Charlier said. “A little bit of that is water in Amana, a little bit is a good German recipe and a little bit of that is the brewer.”

Millstream was Iowa’s only brewery when it opened in 1985.

“The only exotic beers you could get in Iowa were Guinness stout and Millstream,” Charlier said. “The beer industry has evolved so much in Iowa since then.”

Millstream’s early start in the craft beer industry brought one advantage — it’s now distributed across seven Midwest states.

“Minnesota’s a strong market for us, but Iowa’s our main distribution,” Charlier said, noting the brewery shipped 150 kegs to the Minnesota State Fair.

Cans are new

The canning line was installed this summer to supplement Millstream’s bottled six-packs. Product expansion extends to the company’s soft drinks, with new flavors that also will be canned for off-site sales.

“We still want to maintain our shelf space with bottles,” Cohanim said. “A lot of people like the bottles, the locals here especially.

“All of our new beers are coming out in our canning line.”

Canning operations and the new owners’ marketing efforts have added a few new employees, bringing Millstream’s workforce to about a dozen.

Distribution seems to have weathered COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, which caused shortages of cans, cardboard six-pack holders and other supplies, Cohanim said.

“Now we’re in a good spot, so we can distribute in any vessel they want,” he said. “Your bars and your outdoor venues are not adjusted to having glass, so that’s opened up new markets for us.”

Canning allows craft brewers to package smaller runs of specialty beers.

“It’s what’s helped the craft beer industry explode,” Charlier said. “We can run 50 cases and let people buy that versus having to commit to 10 pallets of the mainstay beer.

“That’s the biggest thing we needed to bring into Millstream — the flexibility to bring in a lot of fun new releases that we hadn’t been able to do.”

That flexibility, and those new cans, are key to attracting new Millstream customers.

“It’s going after what I would call the young families, the moms and dads in their late 20s and early 30s who maybe haven’t tried Millstream and are looking for something to take to a party,” Charlier said.

‘Very big year’

Attendance at this year’s traditional Maifest and Oktoberfest and other weekend events as the Wurst Festival and Apple Fest in Amana seem to have started to come back after 2020, Steve said.

“It was a very big year,” he said. “If you can provide a good outdoor space, people were begging for a chance to be outdoors.”

The new Iowa Craft Beer Bash drew about 1,000 in September, the Tour de Brew bicycle tour in July about 300, and this year’s Oktober fest “tens of thousands,” Susan added.

Millstream and neighboring Hotel Millwright alternate to book live music on Saturday nights, drawing hundreds to their outdoor venues.

“We have several hundred people out here every weekend in our front yard,” Susan Charlier said. “The town has been incredibly supportive. It’s been nice to come back.”

Cohanim said Millstream is on track to produce a record 7,000 or so 31-gallon barrels of beer this year. Steve hopes to boost the brand’s visibility with tasting sessions at retailers and a presence at community festivals and beer-related events.

“Look for some specialty brands you might not expect from Millstream on store shelves, and larger events with our name on it,” he said.

“The community’s still going to be a big part, but look for different beers and products you might not expect from the beer your dad bought years ago.”

Millstream Brewing Co.

Co-owners: Steve Charlier, Susan Charlier, Justin Cohanim

Address: 835 48th Ave., Amana

Phone: (319) 622-3672

Website: millstreambrewing.com