From Reality TV Show Contestants to Craft Beer Pioneers

In all walks of life, there are those who walk in the footsteps of giants, and there are others who choose to blaze their own trails. This holds true in the craft beer industry, where there are now over 6,000 breweries in the U.S. alone. Under these circumstances, many breweries continue to falter as they churn out the same old tired IPAs and lagers. One brewery, however, has gone out on a limb and is now changing the game and spreading its wings at Cardinal Liquor Depot Joliet.

MobCraft Presenting Their Business on Reality TV hit show "Shark Tank"

Changing The Game: 

As I was flipping through channels one boring night, I decided to check out "Shark Tank," a reality show where business owners present their plans and goals to a group of successful wealthy business moguls in hopes of receiving their blessing in the form of an investment in their companies. On this night, MobCraft Brewing of Milwaukee was on the show, pitching their idea to the "Sharks." Their concept, even to a beer junkie like me, was revolutionary. Specifically, MobCraft is the first brewery to directly crowd-source their beers, meaning that they brew beers based entirely on the ideas and votes of their customers. This method allows beer lovers from all over the U.S. to craft any beer they can possibly think of, and place it onto a ballot for voting. Each month, the brewery places the consumer-conceived beers on their website, where customers are able to vote in the form of pre-ordering the beers. The beer that receives the most pre-orders is packaged and shipped directly to the customers who order it. On this night, unfortunately, none of the sharks were familiar or comfortable with the craft beer industry, which left the MobCraft crew with no investors. 

Bringing Excitement to Our Shelves!

After watching Shark Tank that night, I shared the story of MobCraft with my co-workers, who insisted that we contact the brewery and bring their beer to our store. This process was not easy, however, as the Milwaukee-based brewery delivers to only a handful of stores in Illinois. After exchanging a few emails, we established a pact with the brewery to order a fresh shipment of their beers to Joliet. 

               

Our Latest Shipment of MobCraft Beers

December's Crowd-Sourced Winners

What's In Stock:

Since its debut, MobCraft has been one of our top-selling breweries. Leading the way, "Vanilla Wafer Porter" has won over dozens of our customers, who love the beer's balance of vanilla and essence of chocolate. Other favorites have been "Dudeism" a White Russian-inspired stout brewed with lactose and cacao nibs, and "Pivot-Ale" a Black Ale with vanilla. 

What's Next

MobCraft is brewing up many more crowd-sourced beverages this month, with a slate of new brews scheduled to hit our shelves in time for Super Bowl Sunday. The brewery's most highly-anticipated release of the month is "Ahopalypse," a hazy IPA, which will hit our shelves in late January. Brewery staff will also be joining us in late February for a tasting event. Stay tuned to our Facebook page for an official announcement.

Ahopalypse Hazy IPA-Arriving Late January