BRINGING TRADITIONAL BRITISH DISTILLING TO MINNEAPOLIS by Anita Flowers ROYAL FOUNDRY CRAFT SPIRITS H ow did a traditional British distillery end up in Minneapolis, Minnesota? A new craft distillery and event venue is infusing the
“Andy is the design eye behind the whole project, which utilizes his innate ability to translate vision into reality.”
Minneapolis craft cocktail scene with traditional British flavours along with introducing Minneso - tans to pub skittles and cycle speedway track racing. Royal Foundry Craft Spirits are made with in classic British style using grains, botanical and classic recipes. Spotlight on Business sat down with the husband and wife team, Andy McLain, Co-Owner & Chief distiller and Nikki McLain, Co-Owner & Chief Marketing Officer of Royal Foundry Craft Spirits to learn about the British pastimes of pub skittles and cycle speedway as well as the art of crafting traditional British spirits. Andy McLain was born in Minnesota however, he spent the better part of his childhood in Europe and England with his English parents, hanging out with his dad at the cricket club and his uncles at the local pubs, before moving to back Minnesota with his parents. “I’ve always been surrounded by British culture. I was surrounded by beer and spirits. After we finally moved back to Minnesota, my dad was a big beer guy even before people were getting into that kind of thing. Being British, you grew up knowing good beers.”
both in PR and advertising, Nikki McLain has managedglobal corporate business development and events for brands for more than 15 years. In 2006, she began work in the travel and meeting industry, working in an area of the industry that focuses on strategic meeting management. A certified meeting planner, she has worked with global brands including Apple, Starbucks and Johnson and Johnson. At Royal Foundry, she is responsible for brand management, distributor sales and event room sales. “When Andy approached me about this dream of wanting to do this business and when we decided to go with such a big piece of real estate, 15,000 square feet, I saw an opportunity to be involved as well, in the marketing and social media com- ponent. My events background would lend very well to us renting our three private event spaces out to customers every day of the week,” said Nikki. The couple teamed up with a third co-founder,
Kelly Everhart, CEO, who manages the finances, business operations, and personnel. Everhart’s background in the U.S. military, the legal profes- sional and the corporate world has been an asset to the fledgling company.
and brought that more westernized approach to rum production and then started up their own distilleries.” McLain began to be interested in crafting traditional British style spirits using old school stills and recipes. With a background in construction and general contracting, McLain, now chief distiller, was hands on in the design and building of the distillery and the stills. His wife and business partner, Nikki, credits Andy’s love for all things British – including soccer (or football as the rest of the world calls it) and cycling - with the vision for Royal Foundry. “Andy is the design eye behind the whole project, which utilizes his innate ability to translate vision into reality. He is well-connected in the local craft beer and spirits community, and will leverage his connections with local Premier League, Minneso- ta soccer and bicycling enthusiasts to seed a core consumer group for Royal Foundry.” With a degree in journalism and work experience
“I’ve always been surrounded by British culture.”
McLain’s interest was piqued by the craft brewing and distilling industry. “All those intimate connec- tions with British culture and history intrigued me. British admirals took their understanding of how single malt whiskey was produced in Scotland
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JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
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