Fresh off RAGBRAI, Big Grove Brewery began fielding messages from beer distributors in Oregon, Colorado, Washington and elsewhere who believed their customers would embrace the product.
Thousands of people from around Iowa and the country had just been exposed for the first time to a handful of Big Grove's brews during the Register's Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa. Big Grove signed a five-year agreement as the main beer sponsor of the statewide bicycle ride at the end of each July, meaning its beers were in virtually every official beer garden and many local bars and gas stations along the route.
But for now, Big Grove is saying no to anywhere not in Iowa.
"We are taking the philosophy of going deeper rather than wider," explained Matt Swift, co-founder of Big Grove. "As far as our distribution goes, we want to make sure Iowa is completely saturated with beer before we take a leap to go to another state."