Go Self Distro Collective forms in wake of big beer distributor buyouts
“Some of us want to be 100% local and have the flexibility to make the beers that may not be mass sellers. There is no one path. The problem before GoSelfDistro.com is that us small artisan breweries haven’t come together to unify. Until now.”
With rapidly shrinking options for craft breweries, cideries, and alcohol beverage suppliers seeking distribution for their product a new self-distribution collective is taking shape in Oregon. As mega corporations like Pepsi Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and Monster Energy buy up the competition the alcohol industry becomes increasingly difficult for small craft makers to succeed. To fight this increasingly threatening trend Adam Milne has launched the Go Self Distro collective in Oregon with aspirations to take the concept nationwide.
“There currently doesn’t exist one place for self-distro breweries/cideries to collectively list their offerings. Breweries send emails and sales reps go into establishments where we all separately sell our crafts. This is the first I know of where we have a place we can all come together,” says Go Self Distro visionary Adam Milne. “There isn’t education to retailers on WHY self-distro is important to our local community. I think of how the BA created the “Independent” logo to build recognition and support for independent breweries. Why can’t there be a logo and movement to support self-distributed breweries/cideries? We are trying to keep 100% of sales truly independent.”
There are four key goals of the Go Self Distro collective:
One Place to Find Real-Time Offerings and Sales Contacts for Self-Distro Breweries.
To Keep Independent Craft Beer & Cider 100% Independent.
To Make Sure Dollars Stay Local.
To Show that Who Delivers Your Beer Matters.
Go Self Distro founder Adam Milne
Go Self Distro creator Adam Milne is the owner of Old Town Brewing, Old Town Pizza, and Baby Doll Pizza, and is one of Oregon craft beer’s foremost DIY innovators. Milne, took it up on himself to create the COVID era Drive-Thru Brewers Market in 2020 when no one was allowed to dine or drink-in establishments and earned accolades for the best pandemic pivot. After that, Milne helped pioneer home beer delivery in collaboration with other local brands like Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider. And in 2018 Milne refused to bow to the city of Portland and fought to be able to use the iconic white stag neon in their branding and eventually won that battle in a concession. He is also active in causes like the rejuvenation of Portland through positive action in both communities, charities, policy, and image rehabilitation as actualized in the ‘Believe in Portland IPA’ campaign.
Go Self Distro was actually inspired by The New School’s coverage in the wake of Columbia Distributor’s acquisition of Point Blank Distributing just last week!
“It lit a fire and made me think, ‘why isn’t there a movement in our community to support those that want to be free of big distribution?’” says Milne about New School’s distribution coverage that inspired Go Self Distro. “I think today’s distribution acquisitions show that big distribution can leave small breweries vulnerable. It can leave them at the bottom of a long list. And if the distributor is regional, those dollars leave our community.”
Go Self Distro collective is in its infancy, officially launching TODAY 2/4/26, with a handful of brands (Away Days Brewing, Oregon City Brewing, Montavilla Brew Works, Rosenstadt Brewery, and Old Town) and features. But this is just the start, with the word just beginning to get out about the project and many more brands likely to sign-up in the near future. The GoSelfDistro.com website is more than just a directory of self-distributing breweries, it actually pulls in live inventory data from those who participate so that a bar, restaurant, or individual can see in real-time what each have in stock and all the contact info and/or order forms to complete the process. There also is a “text your rep” link as that option becomes increasingly popular as bars and restaurants develop personal relationships with their brewery sales reps.
“The first step of the collective is to realize we have all been working in our own silos,” adds Milne. “Then together communicate to the public on what makes us special. We have been needing to develop a shared way to stand out in ou"r market. We can also, for the first time, have one place where those bars that believe in our mission, can support us. I see a shared logo that we all use, postcards we drop off at bars and restaurants, and together directly promoting one another.”
Adam Milne (left) and Old Town Brewing head brewer Todd Britt
Tom Field, Old Town’s Director of Sales, also has ideas for a phase 2 of Go Self Distro’s growing collective to have an even more active having an even more active way to promote everyone’s brands together with some kind of incentive for shared sales promos. Growing to include out-of-state breweries is also a distinct possibility now that Washington breweries can self-distribute in Oregon. There could even be beer swaps, “Old Town could meet a Bend brewery at Mt. Hood, do the exchange, and head home. Now both breweries have a new presence in a new market. Even better, they now have new brewery buddy!,” muses Milne.
Old Town Brewing has their own experience with distribution, starting independent and then partnering with one of Oregon’s larger distributors. Like any marriage, sometimes it’s not a great fit and Old Town Brewing bought themselves out of the wholesale agreement and built their own team of two with Tom Bowers and Phoenix Lacque bringing in a similar amount of revenue.
That said, Milne is not against distributors, it’s just that there are not that many fish in the sea for suppliers and polygamous relationships don’t work for everyone.
“Large distributors can offer growth and expansion that self-distribution cannot make possible. However, not every brewery wants to be huge,” says Milne on the supplier/distributor relationship…”Some of us want to be 100% local and have the flexibility to make the beers that may not be mass sellers. There is no one path. The problem before GoSelfDistro.com is that us small artisan breweries haven’t come together to unify. Until now.”
