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MindThatMoves

It’s Tailgate Time!

An ‘idea’ will forever be an ‘idea’ if you do not pursue it, and there are very few people who actually make those ideas become a reality. Twenty-five year old entrepreneur, Wesley Keegan is one that pursued an idea that his late father once had.

A hobby brewer at first, Wesley felt the idea of TailGate Beer filled a market need and when supported by a background in finance, it was a realistic market opportunity to pursue. TailGate Beer crosses two fast growing markets: craft beer and tailgating. Beginning operations just before the economic crisis, the company learned to react quickly and operate on tight budgets with healthy returns.

The path to success for any entrepreneur is never smooth sailing and there are many day-to-day struggles that you have to deal with. When the company first launched, Wesley was delivering kegs in his VW Hatchback and hand-carried them himself into the bars. Fast forward a couple years and TailGate Beer is now being distributed by John Lenore and Co, the largest beverage distributor in San Diego. You can find their beers at various bars, restaurants, liquor stores, and even chain markets across San Diego County. If you don’t see it somewhere, request them to carry it!

TailGate Beer is excited to announce the shifting from glass bottles to aluminum cans by the New Year (first beer company based out of Southern California to do so), which will now enable local tailgaters and craft beer fans to take a quality, award winning beer with them everywhere.

Meet the mind that moves behind TailGate Beer, Wesley Keegan.

Current Residence: Mission Valley
Favorite Happy Hour: Coaster Saloon in Mission Beach
Best Bar to take an out-of-towner to: There are some iconic beach bars like Sunshine Company, South Beach and Lahaina’s, but we also have Hamilton’s, O’Briens, San Diego Brewing Company and Churchill’s which are phenomenal craft beer bars.

What’s your favorite TailGate Beer and non-TailGate Beer?
I love all our beers! I make the recipes accordingly to what I like to drink. So, they’re really tailored to my taste buds; it’s hard to name only one.

What I really enjoy is our limited release beers - one time we released a Bavarian Hefeweizen that isn’t exactly true to our American theme, but I love being able to experiment. We just released our first ever lager, a Vienna Lager named Mr. Octoberfest; it’s a cool beer and very true to our identity - crisp, clean, easy to drink and very, very refreshing.

In terms of other breweries, I really admire a lot of beers out there. We try to mold our beers after an American style and traditional, easy drinking Ales - I go after a Belgian Ale when I see it on draft. Brother Levonian, a limited release by Ballast Point to this day is one of my favorite beers ever. Brooklyn Brewery is a story that inspired me to launch TailGate, their Local 1 is fantastic and as a company I really respect Oskar Blues Brewery. They were the pioneers of craft beer in a can, and they’ve paved the way for a lot of us to make product enjoyable wherever you are. I could really go on all day about beers I love.

What is something only a local would know about San Diego?
We have some of the best chefs in the country. I’ve been fortunate to travel a little bit and enjoy some really quality cuisine in San Francisco, LA, and New York City. Some of the best meals in town are at privately owned locations - two of my personal favorites are Kous Kous and Urban Solace.

What separates TailGate Beer from other craft beers?
There are so many talented brewers out there - I’m not one of them. I’m lucky and blessed to design our recipes with our talented brewers, but you can find great beer almost everywhere. What sets TailGate aside is our identity, people everywhere tailgate and they like to tailgate with something that complements their setting. Having a cold one and dinner before going to your daughters dance recital is tailgating and the afternoon before a big holiday meal is tailgating. People get that, and for that reason we’re not just another beer on the shelf.

We’re also price competitive; we’re less expensive than some national brands. The issue about rising materials costs I feel is sort of blown out of proportion. Brewers do work on smaller margins than a bar or restaurant, but some of the price hikes are crazy. We haven’t changed our average price since day one and you should never spend $8 for a pint of TailGate. If you do, tell me and I’ll fix it.

What makes for a good beer?
It complements you; not necessarily in an existential sense, but more that it complements your mood, your food, and your setting. I’m a situational drinker, so if I’m having a nice rack of barbeque, I love a smooth TailGate Amber Wave. If it’s hot and I’m sitting at the beach – TailGate Blacktop Blonde does the trick.

How much beer are you expecting to sell in 2010?
More than last year! We have our goals set and have been outperforming them consistently. This next calendar year is going to be a big one for us. We’re really going to push the envelope and step outside of our comfort zone.

What bars and restaurants sell the most TailGate Beer?
We’ve got some great relationships with some of San Diego’s most respected establishments, and they sell a lot of TailGate, but it’s the little places that consistently impress me. The bartenders are always pushing for us and helping new customers learn about our brews. Two of my favorite little shops are the Ruby Room in Hillcrest and Gilly’s in North Park. Believe it or not, those places sell as much of our beer as any big shop in town.

Is your beer distributed outside of San Diego? If so, where?
We did a strong push up into LA, but have since scaled back to focus on our new expansion of canning our beers. We will be debuting cans exclusively in San Diego, it’s where everything started and it’s where TailGate Beer calls home.

What is your most popular beer?
Blacktop Blonde. It started as a seasonal release for summer of 2009 and it did so well that restaurants went ahead and placed it on their new menus for the fall. We had no choice but to keep brewing- it’s light colored, easy drinking golden ale. Brewed with cascade hops, the same hops we use in our IPA, to add a little bit of a spice characteristic up front. It finishes very clean and does not have the typical heavy malt odor common in blonde ales.

Your best-selling beer is named Jay’s Blacktop Blonde. Who’s Jay?
Jay is a good friend of mine and the company. He’s a professional tailgater - I know, I didn’t understand either. I’m pretty sure the Buddha referred to his occupation when he was explaining nirvana. The guy is one of the nicest dudes you will ever meet and is a true ambassador of the blacktop. He’s written books, a judge on Guy Fieri’s new TV series “Tailgate Warriors”, tailgated every major stadium in the country and loves beer! We joked when we did a radio interview together two to three years ago that one day I would name a beer after him. He thought of Blacktop Blonde; life-debt honored. As we move forward to cans, we’ll scale it back to simply Blacktop Blonde, but the man will get his well earned dap.

Where do you brew the beer?
When I decided to brew commercially I was dead set on brewing in San Diego - I love the history and growing legend of San Diego brewers. I’m far from a Brewmaster, but to be part of their community was the dream.

Well, this was early 2007, banks were shutting down lending and I don’t come from much and was on my own. I knocked on doors all over town to see if there was any excess space we could brew out of. They heard me out and were very respectful in telling me, “Good luck out there.”

Eventually I made some really good relationships with some talented brewers in Orange County. Right now we coordinate brews out of two facilities; one in Irvine and another in El Monte. It helps us keep up with demand and maintain steady brew schedules until one day we’re big enough to build our own place.

What made you launch your own beer?
My late father thought of the name in 2004; he was an incredibly gifted salesman, but always an idea guy and didn’t have the patience to do paperwork. He sat on the trademark to TailGate Beer until early 2007 and one day he approached me and said, “hey boy, (he always called me boy) I’ve got this idea, it’s ready to go. You’ve been brewing right? Let’s take a swing.”

I thought he was nuts. I was an ocean lifeguard in PB at the time and ran a popular bar by SDSU - life didn’t get much better in my opinion. I told him I was skeptical, but I’d put something together.

We did a couple of pilot brews and went to the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. We found out we had something real; the buyer from Yard House came up and told us we were one of the most talked about products of the festival - even asking to place an order. We don’t have the distribution network for Yard House yet, but we will! I even met the founder of the Brewers Association who echoed the same sentiment and the rest is as they say history.

How did you fund the start-up?
Smoke and mirrors [laughing]. I was fortunate to have some great paying jobs that put me through school and funded the big startup expenses. Starting a company is incredibly expensive and way more so than I thought. As a Finance major, I learned the value of strong credit and I watch my score tirelessly. I was lucky to have some high available balances on some cards and my business partner, a man named Visa, helped us get under way; it wasn’t long until monthly operations paid for expenses.

What are you day to day duties?
It’s cliché, but I wear a lot of hats. I get up early, get some emails done, read the news, catch up on the books; that sort of thing. I try to devote my day to sales and customer service, visiting accounts and doing the door-to-door thing has become my favorite part of the day- I love talking shop! I’ll work with the sales team and go chase new business, thank old business and put out any fires if necessary. The beer industry is quickly saturating, and we have to keep up with what we’ve got to be better than 200 other brands every day. I’ll wrap up my evening with some more computer work and try to spend as much time as possible with my amazing girlfriend and our two pugs.

How rapid is the company growing?
I’m a numbers guy, so I could go into growth rates but that’s boring. I would say fast though! We don’t really suffer a down season- Football, NASCAR, Baseball, NBA, and NHL are all great reasons to grab a TailGate. The weather doesn’t really affect us like most brands in Southern California.

What has been your biggest accomplishment or all-time high as a company?
I was at a random grocery store one day and someone I had never met was wearing one of our T-Shirts- that was the coolest thing ever. It’s such an inexpensive way to support our company and we’ll have a new lineup done soon. We’re working with our design team now for a new shirt style. People laugh, but stuff like that is the most exciting part of my day.

What has been the all-time low as a company?
When my father passed away last spring - it was so sudden and unexpected. I never had a chance to grieve properly and I think it hurt the company. My father was my best friend and instead of discovering myself like I should have, I floundered. I was blessed with an outpour of support sympathy from family, friends and business contacts throughout the city. It’s not a hurt that goes away and I wish more than anything he was here to experience all the great stuff we’re doing by making his dream come true.

What has been your biggest challenge?
Accounting. Because my family grew up poor, I promised myself to never make the same mistakes. With so many expenses every single day, you really have to judicious about every penny otherwise those mistakes become very simple.

Best business decision to date:
To commit seriously to my girlfriend, Dee Dee. I’m a big believer that this company is still in its most infant stages and needs my undivided attention. Also, that I am too immature for a serious relationship. Dee Dee has been there for me since day one and rode all the ups and downs and for some reason every night when I come home to get back to work, she’s there waiting for me. I don’t think I could have kept this company running through so many lows if she wasn’t there for me.

Worst business decision to date:
Not celebrating the small victories. It was a big philosophy when I started this company, but things get in the way. Expenses, bar bills, 5am alarm clocks; every time I overlook a small victory it’s a terrible decision. We as a company have to maintain that joy in success.

What is your ultimate goal for your company?
As the The Official Beer of Tailgating™; we have a lot of room to grow. Immediately it’s to expand distribution along the West Coast and into the Midwest. Eventually we will become a national recognized brand and solution for tailgaters everywhere.

What retail stores can someone buy TailGate Beer?
Any independent market in San Diego can get TailGate Beer. If you’re there looking and don’t see us, ask! But one of my favorite little shops is B’s Kegs in El Cajon; they have a beer list of over 100 beers and we’re the best selling craft beer in that shop. That’s pretty freakin’ cool.

Lastly, what is something personally that many do not know about you?
I’m a huge nerd - I love video games, comic books, and nerd humor. If I wasn’t in the beer business I’d probably be working in sports or technology; I would have loved to have had the opportunity to work for Blizzard.

Anything else we missed or you would like to add?
Ask for us everywhere! We’re a competitively priced, award winning, local, craft beer. Most bars pass our inexpensive price tag down to the consumer and that’s why you’ll see us on special or paired with sports games. It makes our job of getting beer to you so much easier when we say we’re from TailGate Beer and their immediate answer is, “Good! People have been asking for you.”

Website: TailGateBeer.com
Twitter: @TailGateBeer