When MFS Brewing opened in Downtown Memphis a year ago, co-founders Bryan Berretta and Scott Kley-Contini thought they were taking the cautious route with their business plan.
They planned for very modest growth, kept their expectations realistic, and focused on getting the basics right.
But the first year at MFS — short for Memphis Filling Station — still brought more hurdles than they could have ever imagined.
Those challenges came from every direction — beer drinkers chasing new trends like hard seltzers and THC drinks, fewer people imbibing at all, rising costs on everything from grain to cheese, and the reality that many Memphians still didn’t know the brewery was even open at 206 GE Patterson.
“None of our planning has lined up. Honestly, we thought we were putting together a conservative plan,” Kley-Contini told Memphis Beer Blog this week.
“And then we realized, we’re not doing anything wrong. Things are just changing, so we have to adapt.”
MFS leaned into innovation, starting a “New Beer Thursday” tradition with a string of creative releases that set MFS apart, like a peach cobbler milkshake IPA and a beer/cider hybrid with pear cider, blackberries, cinnamon and vanilla.
The brewery released nearly 60 different beers in Year One, many of which Berretta described as “off the wall.”
“I mean, they really are… they’re different,” he said.
MFS also expanded their focus on events, programming their taproom with music, trivia, karaoke, and food specials to keep people coming through the door.
This weekend marks Memphis Filling Station’s first birthday, and the celebration is both a thank-you to their regulars and a testament to a year of resilience.
At the center of it is MFS’s first bottled beer release: a very limited, barrel-aged version of Off the Tool Truck in 16.9-ounce bottles.
Off the Tool Truck: A barrel-aged anniversary release
Off the Tool Truck, a 10%-ABV Imperial Porter, was aged for 12 months in a bourbon barrel from O.Z. Tyler Distillery.
MFS added five pounds of toasted coconut, which adds distinct — but not overwhelming — coconut notes. There’s also a blend of Madagascar, Tahitian and Mexican vanilla in the batch.
Finally, MFS added coffee from J. Brooks Coffee Roasters, which helps round out this complex beer.
The result is a rich but smooth anniversary beer that Berretta calls “an easy drinking 10% beer.”
“We needed our first barrel beer to come out of the gate swinging, right? We always joke, ‘we don’t come to play, we come to win.’ And this is a winner,” Berretta said.
“There is nothing better for our first anniversary than this beer.”
The bottle release also feels a bit nostalgic in today’s craft beer world.
Many breweries have shifted entirely to cans, and bottle releases — once a hallmark of special releases — have become rare, especially in Memphis.
Kley-Contini said brewers need to be less complacent and make craft beer unique again, which in turn will give their fans something to get excited about.
“I’m hoping this is a revival,” Kley-Contini said. “This is exciting — limited run, get it while you can.”
Beer that gives back
The team behind MFS has long supported local efforts to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association, including the Ales for Alzheimer’s beer tasting event, which returns on Oct. 24 and will be held at MFS for the first time.
The Off the Tool Truck special release builds on that commitment — the beer was aged in a barrel from the Bourbon BarrALZ program, and 10% of sales will be donated back to the cause.
A year of small wins
One year in, Berretta still marvels at the number of people who walk into the taproom and tell him that they don’t like beer.
“What it comes down to is, they don’t like the beer that they’ve had,” Berretta said.
“It’s not that they don’t like beer, it’s just they don’t like what they’ve typically been buying, whether it be the domestic, mass-produced beer or some extremely hoppy West Coast IPA that’s not for everyone’s palate.”
Customer by customer, MFS is trying to change minds and while continuing to brew their unique takes on craft beer.
“We have had small win over small win over small win this past year, and so that’s what this week is — it’s a celebration of all the small wins,” Berretta said.
“We’ll keep trying to win as long as we can, keep trying to produce unique and creative and fun beers, and whatever we have to do to keep this going.”
More details
- What: MFS Brewing First Anniversary Celebration + Off the Tool Truck Bottle Release
- When: Saturday, Sept. 13
- Where: Memphis Filling Station, 206 GE Patterson Ave.
