Organic relationships are at the heart of so many facets of the San Diego craft-beer community. At the end of the day, beer is a beautifully simple medium. People of all walks of life can approach and appreciate it as well as relate to the beverage and those who enjoy it. O’Brien’s Pub co-owner Tyson Blake has seen pints bring a great many people together over the years, igniting conversations and friendships among strangers. But it was one day while he was chatting with sales staffers from several brewing companies that beer—and the logistics of beer—provided the basis for a business partnership.
“A longtime customer of the pub saw me talking with brewery sales reps and, after they left, he asked me if there was something that would make my life easier as a beer buyer,” says Blake. “I said it sure would be nice to have an online ordering platform with all the breweries’ and distributors’ products on one site, and he said, ‘well, let’s work on that.’”
That O’Brien’s regular was Mahim Ranjan, a Qualcomm vet with 20 years experience designing websites and web-based apps. He and Blake got right to work and, within three months, they had a good-looking, functional site and a name for their newly formed business, Kegseeker. Armed with a trio of beta-test brewery partners—Eppig Brewing, Nickel Beer Co. and Thorn Brewing—and five retail clients, they got going, working out initial kinks and successfully proving their concept to the point where roughly 30 breweries signed up within the following three weeks.
More bars and restaurants took notice of and started using the app as well, excited to finally have a means by which to view the available products of independent, self-distributed breweries and distributor-partnered brewing companies all in one place. It seems simple, but the need to refer to dozens of different catalogs, emails and other beer-product resources has long been a thorn in the side of buyers.
“We wanted Kegseeker to be helpful for buyers who look at hundreds of emails, texts and sales books each week with the hopes of simplifying their day and ordering routine,” says Blake. But he looked well beyond himself when fleshing out the app, aiming to make it something that would help simplify sales for breweries, as well. “And we wanted it to help the producers and sales teams in creating a clean, crisp space for them to highlight their products as well as gain sales, strengthen relationships and continue to add to this amazing beer community.”
Kegseeker launched in February 2020 and, as the name implies, was particularly well suited for facilitating draft sales. Then the pandemic struck, closing bars and restaurants and practically eliminating those venues’ need for kegged beer. Breweries began their migration to canning and bottling their beers, so Blake and Ranjan eased up on the pedal. But rather than hit the brakes, they accelerated their efforts with their app. In retrospect, Blake counts the slower pace of the pandemic as something of a plus in that it allowed them to polish and sharpen the tools of their trade.
The Kegseeker app is now available at Google Play’s and Apple’s app stores. More than 60 beer, cider, hard-seltzer and kombucha companies’ products are included on the platform with well over 50 retail establishments making purchases through it. And not just kegs. Canned and bottled beers are also available from Kegseeker’s producers and can be purchased by liquor stores and grocery outlets as well as hospitality venues.
Now, Blake and Ranjan are ready to press back down on the accelerator and are also preparing to ride into new territories. “We would like to see Kegseeker used in every city in the country. It’s a really small goal, I know,” Blake says with a chuckle. “Once we feel like San Diego is utilizing Kegseeker, we would like to take it to L.A. and Orange County, then keep growing from there. We also plan to eventually add a retail side to the platform so regular Joes and Janes can order from their favorite purveyors, as well.”
Currently, Blake and company are in talks with multiple distribution houses to add their portfolios to Kegseeker. Karl Strauss Distributing added its entire brand book to the platform this week. Additionally, Kegseeker will soon be the only place to order beers from award-winning San Marcos interest, The Lost Abbey, other than direct from the brewery. These developments are based on confidence built through the business’ early successes, and it’s not lost on prospective brewery and distributor partners that Kegseeker was able to accomplish a great deal even in the unfavorable climate presented by COVID-19.
Brewing companies who are interested in joining or trying out Kegseeker can do so for free through May 2021 by clicking here. The site is free for retailers at all times.