Arbeiter Brewing: What can we grow here?

Through Northern Brewer, he would meet Arbeiter cofounders, Garth Blomberg and Josh Voeltz, and though Choi would eventually leave Northern Brewer to become marketing manager for Brewers Supply Group—where he still works full-time today—the seeds had been planted.

“Beer has always been a part of my life, like my interest in nature and forestry. You know, once I kind of got bitten by the bug, I dove in.”

Meeting challenges with grace

Together they hatched a plan, and Arbeiter began leasing space along Minnehaha Avenue in South Minneapolis in 2018. They expected to open within about a year. But starting a brewery—any business—is hard. There are challenges that are expected—like securing funding (in Arbeiter’s case, more than $1 million for the space, equipment, and more)—and there are challenges that are unexpected. A government shutdown in late 2018-19 prevented them from accessing loans. Steel tariffs significantly increased the cost of their equipment. Then came a pandemic. And then came May 25, 2020—the murder of George Floyd.

As mostly peaceful protests formed across the nation, some individuals took advantage. During the worst of it, in Minneapolis, the Police Department’s Third Precinct burned to the ground. It was at 3000 Minnehaha Avenue. Arbeiter is at 3038 Minnehaha Avenue. As the precinct burned, along with dozens of other businesses, some of which they’d planned to partner with on food, Choi and his cofounders sat on the rooftop of their nearly completed brewery and wondered if their building would survive. They didn’t get bitter or resentful.

“We found more focus in what we're doing as a company, as a brewery, because of what we've had to not only endure, but to be a part of—just like everybody else in Minneapolis and the nation,” says Choi. “Through George Floyd, through seeing our neighborhood go through a lot of pain, it's really directed what we do.”

“I think we all found out in 2020 what happens when you don't do extra things… when you don't look out for people,” says Choi. “So it matters to me that we can make some changes in small ways. We can have a business, but we can do some additional things. It takes extra to actually make the world a better place.”

With summer in full swing and many COVID restrictions lifted, the brewery is beginning to hum. Choi doesn’t have much time to reflect on how he got here, but he knows the U of M helped put him on the path.

“The U gave me a very well-rounded education, but it also helped me develop a lot of the skills I still use today,” says Choi. “Whether it is from my biology classes or the chemistry related to the process of brewing, to the public speaking classes that I took for now talking to investors or speaking at events. And one of our investors is a CFANS alum. So even though it seems like that was a faraway part of my life, it's still a part of it.”