Your browser is old and unsupported. Please upgrade!

Asgard Brewing

Brewing the best of Viking beer with the best local Tennessee ingredients

Columbia Tennessee
main street alcohol recreation food brewery

Asgard Brewing

Brewing the best of Viking beer with the best local Tennessee ingredients

As the only original brewery in our county, we supply Columbia, Tennessee with not only beer made from local produce, but unique beer from around the world. We've brought our Viking theme to a 400 sq. ft. taproom, which does $60K in monthly sales, creating hordes of Icelandic-loving beer fans in the Southern U.S. The only thing more distinct than our location and theme is our beer, which is so unique to our area that we're one of the most popular beers in Nashville, a city 45 miles away.
John Porter Co-Founder and Owner @ Asgard Brewing

Asgard Brewing is on Wefunder Inc. They are not conducting a Regulation Crowdfunding campaign. You can follow them and get notified of their progress.

  • About
  • Updates 2
  • Grapevine 34
  • Ask a Question 16

Why you may want to support us...

1 Revenues of $60K per month in a 400-square-foot taproom.
2 Current margins are 60.5%, which could get as high as 85% when our own brewing space goes operational.
3 Accounts with more than 25 Tennessee bars and restaurants within 40 miles of Nashville.
4 We have a 4.9 rating on Facebook and a 4.5 rating on Yelp.
5 Named one of the best new breweries in Tennessee by Thrillist in 2016.
6 Plans for two new taprooms in Columbia, including a 20-barrel system that allows us to brew our own beer.

Our Team

And Our Major Accomplishments
John Porter
Co-Founder and Owner
Stephen Porter
Co-Founder and CEO
Mike Peters
Taproom Manager + Assistant Brewer
Ryan Whitaker
Brewmaster
Karissa McCartney
Food and Events Coordinator
Lauren Linares
Bartender
Rod McCartney
Bartender and Assistant Brewer

Why people love us

Love going to Asgard! I have not once been disappointed in the beer selection! We have come twice while a food truck was there. Great to grab a bite and enjoy a good beer! The staff is friendly, knowledgeable of the beers, and helpful to make the perfect selection! I see many more evenings here in my future.
Lisa R Roof Cole
Customer

In the news

Columbia Tennessee
main street alcohol recreation food brewery

Highlighting the Best of Tennessee Through Viking Beer

Our city of Columbia, Tennessee, is perfect for a brewery. Our town of 35,000 supports our mission by packing our 400 square foot brewpub every night, plus, we have produce from dozens of local farmers at our disposal. This allows us to grit our grains to order from local farmers, then roll and crush them, which is the way Vikings brewed for 200 years. If this didn't differentiate us from our competition, the fact that we sit on the Duck River, the third most biologically diverse river in the world, does. So we're not just a farm-to-barrel brewery -- we're also a destination for ecotourism.

We Feature 35 Guest Taps + Food Trucks

We love beer. Especially unique beer that tastes how the Vikings of lore would've made it. So we have 35 rotating guest taps in our brewery with beer from all over the world, making us a destination for beer lovers anywhere. We also have 28 (!) food trucks on a rotating basis 7 days a week that serve any kind of food imaginable. In our town, these food trucks are serving food that's impossible to get anywhere else. 

These two factors, combined with our eco-tourism and local ingredients, make the Asgard Brewery one of the more special places in the South, if not the country, to enjoy a cold beer.

At $60K in Monthly Taproom Sales, it's Time to Expand

We're currently in the planning stage for two brand new breweries in Columbia. The first, a 10-barrel system with on-site equipment, is next door to our current location and will allow us to brew our own beers. The second will be across the street and will hold 5X as many customers and have 3X as many taps as our current space. From there, we have plans to expand to Pulaski, a city 30 miles south, allowing us to distribute Asgard beer in Giles County without going through a distributor. Our future plans don't involve selling out to a larger beer conglomerate, but they do involve the strategy of bypassing distributors by opening brewpubs across Tennesee. 

Our Progress So Far

With a successful raise of $500k on Wefunder, we'll spend the majority of the investments on completing the build-out for our new taproom, then be able to hire full-time staff in marketing and production brewing, buy inventory and raw materials, and increase our working capital. If we hit our maximum raise of $1M, we'll also be able to buy all of the interior brewing equipment and significantly more inventory.

Investor Q&A

Expand all
What does your company do?
As the only original brewery in our county, we supply Columbia, Tennessee with not only beer made from local produce, but unique beer from around the world. We've brought our Viking theme to a 400 sq. ft. taproom, which does $60K in monthly sales, creating hordes of Icelandic-loving beer fans in the Southern U.S. The only thing more distinct than our location and theme is our beer, which is so unique to our area that we're one of the most popular beers in Nashville, a city 45 miles away.
Where will your company be in 5 years?
Tennessee's alcohol laws have a regulation that stipulates breweries can only sell their product inside their own county. Instead of expanding by relying on distributors, we're going to build more taprooms, therefore expanding distribution. With 2 more taprooms scheduled to launch, including a local location with a 20-barrel system that lets us brew our own beer, we'll soon have one of the largest brewery footprints in Tennessee. 
What is Asgard Brewing?
We are a brewery in Tennessee. The intent of my co-founder — who is my son, John — was to do something different than a brewery associated with a river. Some 70% of breweries are associated with rivers, which is great because water is vital for brewing, but it’s not that exciting. The theme of having Vikings associated with drinking was interesting to me, and it hadn’t really been done. We focused on the Viking brand because we wanted to differentiate. That extends to our beer. Many breweries around us were starting to differentiate by doing Belgians, or trying lagering, or focusing on sours. We do farm-to-barrel with floral and Nordic flavoring notes. Also, since we’re in a rural community, we are enveloping a large portion of our product line with locally grown products and processes. Those include local honey and local barley. We’re using, and facilitating the institution of, a new grist mill process with five 50-100-year-old grist mills slaved together using a belt and pulley from an old furniture factory in Pulaski. We’re gristing our grains to order from our speciality barley of from local farmers who will be are growing  special two row barley for us. We lack a good malt house in Tennessee.  there are effort to rectify that issue now. We’re trying to make beer the way it the way it was done for 200 years. Finally, we are located on a river called the Duck River. It’s the third most biologically diverse river in the world. The concept is that we are a destination for ecotourism, a farm-to-barrel brewery. We encourage recreating, people driving to see our thematic, and the concept of harvesting locally and developing products locally.
How did Asgard Brewing begin?
My son read Beowulf at age 11 and never left. I took a Norse myths and legends course at the University of Michigan and almost flunked it — it was the hardest course I ever took — but I learned a great appreciation of Viking lore and Norwegian myths and legends of men of yore. While in Michigan, I started brewing beer in my dorm using 55-gallon buckets and a garbage can. When the hydrometer sank, we bottled the beer. A sinking hydrometer means the beer is 15% alcohol, so we were drinking very high-gravity beer before anybody really knew what that term meant. In the summer of 2015, we were going to invest in a brewery in Florida, but they’d raised all the money they needed before we had a chance to get in. My son is quite a beer enthusiast. He’s a cicerone in training. He claims that he’s tasted 2,000-plus beers, and I can prove it with my credit card. We decided, “Well, we’ll do it ourselves.” Since then, we’ve brought on two other staff that have equally high skill sets in a wide variety of beer.
What makes Asgard Brewing unique?
Number one, we have a core series of beers that we’re doing under contract right now. Contracting is great because you don’t have the overhead cost of investing in equipment up front. Some people call it gypsy brewing. Unfortunately, it limits you on varieties and uniqueness. You can’t make it too difficult for the contractor, and it’s sometimes more expensive to try to come up with the primary resources for them. But we started that process and we have several beers that are number-one sellers every single day and they haven’t been off our list since we opened. At the same time, we have 35 guest taps. They rotate four or five new beers every week. What drives a lot of people to our place is not only the quality of our beer, but this tremendous amount of variety for the Millennials who have an attention span of two seconds and want something new every day. We satisfy that attention deficit, if you will, with virtually a new beer every day. The other thing that makes us unique is that we’re in Tennessee. Tennessee hasn’t been known to have the top brewers in the world. They have some good beers, but not the greatest beers in the world. We wanted to measure ourselves against the best, so we've imported some of the best, most unattainable, and rarest beers on the planet and served them to our clients, and then said, “If you like that, what do you think of this?” There appears to be no price sensitivity to buying that beer in our establishment. You can come to Asgard and try the best beers from all over the country and the world. Another unique draw to Asgard is that we have rotating food trucks. We don’t have a restaurant, and as long as I’m alive, we never will. We have 28 food trucks that rotate seven days a week. We have a new truck every day. Three-quarters of them drive in from Nashville, which is 50 miles away, and many of them are literally running out of food when they spend a day with us.
What makes your space special?
My sine qua non for running a brewery is to be near a river or water, to be near a community college or university, to be able to make a local reference to the city, to be associated with a gentrifying town center that’s up and coming, and to be 30 to 40 miles away from the nearest competition. That’s exactly where we are. I developed that thematic sitting in a taproom in Frankenmuth, Michigan, which is next to a bridge, on a body of water, across from a park, close to a university. Frankenmuth brand been there since 1862 and are the oldest name in the state of Michigan. I wanted to transplant that concept down here. The bridge is important to the Viking theme because in lore you have a Bifrost bridge, which is a gateway to the nine realms, where Heimdall guards transport you to the other nine worlds of the Vikings. We sit on a river, at the apex of a bridge. We have two buildings. One is a gas station from 1912 next to a garage from the 1920s or 1930s. Our second building, across the street, opened in 1938 as a Hudson car dealership. The road we’re on was the old national highway, when the only way to get from Michigan to Florida through the middle of Tennessee. There were two gas stations and six car dealerships on the block, so this was the motor city capital of Tennessee. You stopped at that gas station with outdoor lifts to replace the tires and grease the bearings because you had to drive all day long to Nashville, which was 50 miles away on a dirt road. Finally, we’re about 12 minutes from the expressway. We wanted many, many people to pass our place while coming and going in the morning. People from the western suburbs have to drive past our place on a daily basis. We carry the Viking branding throughout the space and will through all our taprooms. In the space we’re building across the street, we’re going to have a taproom and a big open-pit fire area and a porch. Then we’re going to put in the brewhouse. The third stage is to put a full deck on it, which we’ll call Valhalla. In Viking lore, Valhalla is where warriors who died a noble death went. They were hand-picked by Valkyries riding winged horses and taken there. Odin was the master of Valhalla and allowed you to fight and drink all day, every day. Basically, it’s a great place to be. In my Valhalla, you could die a noble death and we’d give you an honorary place. You could buy your way there as a VIP, or you could drink your way up there. We’re also going to have a loyalty card program for getting into the VIP porch of Asgard. To follow the theme, our subsidiary site in Pulaski, Tennessee has already been incorporated. It’s called Jotunheimr, which in Viking lore is the land of the giants. Evidently, there were a few families of giants that lived in Pulaski at the turn of the century — we have evidence of them in newspaper articles and their grave sites.
What are your revenues?
We sell about $4-6,000 in distribution every month. That’s has been limited because I have to go through Lipman Brothers, our out of county distributor. They take 25% of our profits. I sell to Lipman for $112, they sell it to retail outlets for $155 or $175, and the retailer  makes $7-900 per barrel selling it. That’s why we have a taproom. We do $40-60,000 per month in our 400-square-foot space. That has grown from $20,000 in our first month, October 2016.
What’s your plan for expansion?
We plan to have two breweries in Columbia. The 104 brewery, which will be located next to our current taproom, is a small 10-barrel system with all the equipment on site. They’re getting plumbing, trenching, and all that stuff together right now. It’s going to be a brewpub, with the food supplied by food trucks. It will be what I would call experimental, seasonal, small-batch funkatorium, sour beer. If you know how to make a sour beer, you know that you basically infect the beer with Brettanomyces  and lactobacillus pedis to make it taste better. You don’t want those bugs to get into your lager or your Pilsner. I’m not a big fan of sour beers, but it turns out kids love this stuff. The second site, across the street from our current taproom, is going to be a 20-barrel system with a larger taproom. Instead of 35 taps, it’ll have 100 taps. We’ll still have guest taps. We’ll have a large porch over the river that will be able to hold 85 to 100 people instead of the 20 we can cramed into the current space. The larger brewhouse will help with broader distribution and statewide service. And in general, our flavors are going to focus on florals and things the Vikings did, which was to use juniper berries, sage, hemp, pine boughs, all that kind of stuff in their mead making processing. We’re making Biere de Garde, braggots, saisons, and other things with very interesting historic profiles. The next plan, which is accelerating faster than I imagined, is to open a taproom and a small brewhouse with five to seven barrels in Pulaski, a city in Giles County. That would allow ASGARD to distribute Asgard beer in Giles County.  Pulaski is 30 miles south of us. The building we’ve selected at 700 1st Street is 4,500 square feet and is the oldest mercantile building in the town. It’s got a much bigger parking lot, much bigger space for food trucks, and will have a small brewhouse. Most importantly, we’ll be able to transport our beer wholesale to that outlet, which can retail it or wholesale it in Giles County. There are two other opportunities that have arisen in the last month: One in Fayetteville , which is in Lincoln  County, and one on a 1,400-acre farm. The opportunity  would be to put a brewery on a farm and it would be totally self-sustained. That would bring us up to five brewing spaces.
How do you distribute?
Due to Tennessee law, I can’t personally distribute outside the county — I have to go through a distributor. We work with Lipman. Four to six years ago, you might have been able to get placements in two or three counties and several in Chattanooga by working with a distributor like Lipman. But most restaurants have 30 taps. Once you’re done, you may not get that spot back for six months. They’ve got so many other options, and most of it’s corporate, and the corporate guys will only allow one or two guest taps. It’s a monopoly on access, so a distributor is necessary. We do not sell in grocery stores. We have a can line, but we’re selling them at bottle shops, high-end filling stations, and liquor stores.
How do you attract visitors?
Our logo won an International Gold Medal a year ago. The graphics blow minds. When they look at Odin, anybody who’s a comic book fan or knows the history of the Vikings knows exactly who that is. They go nuts when they see it going down the road on our one-ton Mercedes van that has eight tap handles on the side of it. We use that for beer festivals. We can show up at beer festivals and sell $1,000 worth of merch. Also, we were first in the state to do a mobile tap truck delivery wagon that's fully cooled and can deliver a cold beer. A lot of people find us on Google because of beer tourism. There are people that crisscross this country, east and west and north and south, and they hit a brewery every single day. That's what's going on in Nashville. We're on the beer tourism trail because we’re close to I-65. A lot of convention-goers come into Nashville and head our way. One of the more successful programs we’ve run was a Groupon advertisement, where we gave two tasting flights and a growler fill for $30, a 60% reduction in our profits. That drove 6,000 people to our building, 75% from outside of our county. Then, once people get here, they see the food trucks. We’ve had Cousins Maine Lobster, which was on Shark Tank. They sell a pound of lobster on a Connecticut roll, with a half-pound of butter, for $15. He’s completely sold out his truck, on our porch three times. Nobody has the variety of food trucks that we do. Many brewerieshave food trucks, but a lot of them have gone the restaurant direction, and one guy put a food truck inside his taproom. But the Millennials have the patience of a gnat. They come in and go, "What do you have that's new? I already had that last week."  We have Asian, Middle Eastern, Southern soul food, Prince's Hot Chicken, Maine Cousins Lobster, hamburgers Movie Catering tuck. I've got Coney Island hot dogs from Detroit, the 313 area code. We have 40,000 current and retired GM employees in this region. I had a woman call me in tears and say, "Oh, I haven't had a Coney from 313 since 40 years ago. I was in high school." They try everything, and they spread the word. Then there’s a night crowd, We're basically are an Irish-Scottish brewpub family event in the early evenings, but when all the restaurants shut down at 10 p.m., the raging hormone crowd comes and texts everybody to come on down and get an Asgard beer. We stay open until midnight, which frequently means 2 a.m. We’re pretty much the only nightlife in town, except for a few country music venues.
What regulations are you subject to?
Tennessee has the highest tax per gallon of beer in the country which is  $39 per barrel of beer. The price we'd pay in Wyoming or Montana is $1.20. Three years ago, Tennessee had 68 breweries, and today it has 76. For comparison, two years ago, Asheville, N.C. by itself had 28 breweries, and now they have 69. The state of Michigan grew from 150 breweries to 325. How do I compete in that market? I can either go along with a distributor and go down the toilet with everybody else, or I can endgame the whole deal and break what they call the three-tier system, which prevents manufacturers from being retailers and distributors. The way to do that is to build eight more breweries in eight more counties and distribute directly. Most of our revenue comes from sales in the taproom or brewpub. Why should I be depreciating the upside margin from the retail standpoint? My margin right now, because we're  not making the beer in-house and we're selling other people’s beer, is 60.5%. When we're making my own beer, it’ll be 85% in our own taproom.
Who are your competitors?
I’m the only original brewery in the history of the county. We are the only taproom in town, although we’re expecting another to open up late this summer. What are we going to do about the competition? Well, we’ll sell more beer. When more breweries and taprooms open up in Columbia, it’s going to make my life a lot easier, and I’ll tell you why. One, it validates the model. We can only run 30 beers a week in the current facility. We’re working on 50 with the new taproom and porch. The other Taproom in town could run run "White Devil" this week, we could  run it next week. It’s cooperative. We’re helping our soon-to-be competitor design their experiences. The new place coming to town in a few months will be a taproom, not a brewery. I'm not worried about competition in what we currently are doing. Any new player basically validates our model. Any new player gives me a bunch of access to new blood — anybody that doesn't work out with my competition, I'll offer them a job. I worked many, many years in the pharmaceutical research field, and I learned that it is really hard to retain good people. You need to have a steady flow of trained, talented people in the business. Having local competitors just gives you a broader pool of talent. There have been a lot of breweries that have sold out, as you may know — Goose Island, Lagunitas, and recently, Wicked Weed from Asheville. The big boys have been losing market share every single year for the last 20 years. They've done everything they can to slow it down, and it's not slowing down. The social dynamics with this next generation — they would rather walk than drive, they'd rather support local than national, they'd rather support small than big — means the big guys are desperate. The behavior of the big guys has been extremely unethical, if not illegal. For example, two years ago, they were going to pay distributors $2.5 million not to carry craft beer. That lasted a year and was shut down. The second thing is that, when AmBev bought Wicked Weed out of Asheville, they shut off the shipment of South African hops to all U.S. breweries except theirs. Seven businesses got screwed. That's what I call the non-competitive behavior. I am a capitalist, and I'm in business is to make money, but that's not a good way to do business, from my perspective. It's clearly not ethical. That's why I'm doing so much local business. I can't tell you the number of farmers that are gunning up to grow barley in my area. Another example is, Michigan Great Lakes Hops, which was nothing 10 years ago, and is now a huge company in the Midwest because they're servicing 300 breweries. The big guys continue to dominate the retail marketing side. They buy their way into the end cap, the thing at the end of the row at the supermarket. Then they cut their prices so that you have to sell your stuff at $9.99 a six-pack, which means you're making 5% margins. They can keep on going down, and they don't care, because they don't want to lose market share. Market share is a huge part of their valuation. I'm not trying to be in those grocery stores. I really don't see that as a future growth pattern for us. We’re not going to beat the big guys there.
What risks do you face?
Remember the webmasters back in the '90s? These guys were making $200,000 and they hardly knew what they were doing, but no one knew how to design a website so they could demand massive salaries. They moved on to the next job after two years. Think of the brewery growth in this country right now. We’re adding a brewery a week and there just aren’t that many trained brewers. So my concern is simply a personnel issue — how do I get people to show up, how do I get people who want to work, how do I get people who know how to work, and how do I get people who don't steal you blind? Those are always the issues. That said, in retail restaurants, margins are 7%. My margins are high enough that I can weather some speed bumps.
How will you retain good employees?
Our average tip on a bar tab is 20% to 30%. My employees can make $90,000 per year if they work 40 hours per week. By opening up the two porches on the river and having two taprooms, particularly the larger one across the street, I'll be hiring 30 people. They’ll be able to afford a house, a car, maybe start a family. My whole goal is wealth generation for these kids. Also, all my employees get stock options. I learned this the second time I went to the Ypsilanti Beer Festival in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The first time I went in 1997, there were four breweries and 500 total visitors. Last year, there were 12,000 people a day, with 4,500 beers and 150 breweries. In talking to all the brew masters and staff, I learned that one of the big issues with the breweries in that state is that the brewery staff and the brewers were being abused. They were being paid low wages and leveraged against their passion to make beer, but none of them had insurance, they didn't have profit sharing plans, and nobody was getting stock. We’re fixing that. From the inception here, every year, we're granting stock options to every employee. They’re owners, not staff.
What’s your endgame?
I built this business for my son because of his passion, and my passion, for Norwegian myths and legends. My ancestry is Scots-Irish, so I wear a kilt for all the Scottish and Irish events at the taproom. This is a family deal. There is no exit strategy planned. None of the investors are asking for that at this point in time. I plan to build a sustainable business that can last a very long time.
Who’s on your team?
My name is Stephen Porter. I'm the CEO and founder of Asgard Craft Brewery. I’ve traveled all over the world, have been to six continents, and I’ve also been running my own pharmaceutical company since 2000. I’m shutting it down this year, though. I sold my last asset to a Chinese investor in May. I like to tell people, "I'm getting out of drugs into a more noble profession, beer making." Our first employee is my son, who’s got the nose of a bloodhound. He smells and tastes things I can't even imagine. He's got a passion for beer. He likes exotic, expensive beers, and he has a real passion for how beer is made and what's in it. He loves the lambics and the traditional-style beers that are made over there in open, wooden casks with lots of spiders and flies. They've been doing that for 800 years. Our manager and primary bottle sales handler is Mike Peters, who spent years in Southeast Asia and Germany and acquired a great love for beer, then took a year internship virtually unpaid to learn how to make beer. He has an exhausting list of rare bottles of beer that he buys and puts in coolers in our place. We also have Ryan, who started out as a home brewer, became a whiskey distiller at age 20, took a year’s internship in brewing, went back to whiskey, and then we hired him back into brewing. He’s the magic man. Most of these guys — and I say this in kindness — these brewers are essentially trolls. They have poor interpersonal skills and personal hygiene, but they love beer. It's their passion. They wake up in the morning and then figure out how to make better beer. Those guys are rare, so you’ve got to treat them right. We have not had a bad beer. He's upset sometimes because they're not the kind of beers he really wants to make, which are these exotic, rare, unusual beers, but I keep telling him, "It's paying the light bill, my friend. People love what you're making."
Who are your current investors?
About three-quarters of our existing investors are folks in their 70s or 80s who want to provide a future for their grandkids. We have young retirees dipping into their retirement funds to get a better upside. I’m currently offering a convertible promissory note at 8% per year simple interest and a conversion at five years to stock at today’s price. I raised about $600,000 from that with a $25,000 minimum investment. It’s been successful, but I’m in a small town.
What’s your long-term vision for the business?
I want to expand internationally. I’d love to get some international investors, particularly from Northern Europe and Asia. I’ve been traveling to China since 1982 and their craft beer industry is awesome. The problem with China is that you can’t scale big enough. You’ve got to be at, like, 1 million barrels in two years, or people walk away. There are some challenging nuances between government support and private support, and their distribution model is really funky. There’s a lot of gray-market stuff. A number of U.S. brewers have their products being offered over there, which the government hasn’t allowed to happen, but because demand is so great, there’s a whole gray channel

Financials

Asgard Brewing has financial statements ending August 15 2018. Our cash in hand is $58,048.15, as of August 2018. Over the three months prior, revenues averaged $55,969.52/month, cost of goods sold has averaged $30,697/month, and operational expenses have averaged $72,728/month.

At a Glance

January 1 to December 31
$427,365 +452%
Revenue
-$174,433
Net Loss
$244,142 +65%
Short Term Debt
$527,500
Raised in 2018
$58,048
Cash on Hand
As of 08/15/18
Income
Balance
Narrative
A note from Wefunder. Unlike companies on the NASDAQ, early-stage startups have little operating history. Financial analysis is not as useful when there is limited data. It's more important to predict the size of the future market. If the founder achieves their vision, will enough customers pay the company enough money?

It's also common for fast-growing startups to lose money even faster: they are investing in future growth. In these cases, it's often better to check if the Cost of User Acquisition (CAC) is lower than the Lifetime Value (LTV) of that customer. If one spends $1000 today to make $10,000 over the next five years, that may be a smart bet. Amazon is a famous example of re-investing potential profits to maximize growth over 20 years.
Net Margin:
-41%
Gross Margin:
55%
Return on Assets:
-38%
Earnings per Share:
-$1.59
Revenue per Employee:
$42,737
Cash to Assets:
1%
Revenue to Receivables:
~
Debt Ratio:
158%
Asgard Craft Brewery Company Inc 2017 and 2016 reviewed financial statements 1 .pdf

Risks

1

IN MAKING AN INVESTMENT DECISION, YOU MUST RELY ON YOUR OWN EXAMINATION OF THE COMPANY AND THE TERMS OF THE OFFERING, INCLUDING THE MERITS AND RISKS INVOLVED.  YOU SHOULD NOT CONSTRUE THE CONTENTS OF THIS OFFERING PACKAGE OR INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM THE OFFICERS AS LEGAL, TAX, OR INVESTMENT ADVICE, AND YOU SHOULD CONSULT YOUR OWN ATTORNEY, ACCOUNTANT, AND BUSINESS ADVISOR AS TO LEGAL, TAX, AND RELATED MATTERS CONCERNING AN INVESTMENT IN THE NOTES. 
2

Our future success depends on the efforts of a small management team. The loss of services of the members of the management team may have an adverse effect on the company. There can be no assurance that we will be successful in attracting and retaining other personnel we require to successfully grow our business.
3

Investing in the Company involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below and all of the other information set forth in this offering. If any of the events or developments described below occurs, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be negatively affected.

We have 20 months of operating history. A number of uncertainties exist that could have an impact on our future operating results, including general economic conditions, relevant market attitude toward our products, market entry of competitors, and numerous other competitive factors. Moreover, there is no assurance that we will achieve our business plans or meet our financial projections. Our business plans and financial projections, therefore, must be considered in light of the risks, expenses, and difficulties frequently encountered in establishing a new business in the highly competitive craft beer industry.

Limited infrastructure. We presently own all of the equipment needed to brew, but not bottle, package, or the space 104 East 5th Street where we will produce our beer. We have space fully owned by a Subsidiary of Asgard (Allfather Development , LLC) which in turn is owned by related parties Stephen Porter and Tom Ostrander). If we are unable to secure the necessary equipment and/or complete any necessary renovations to our brewery location in line with our business plans, it would likely have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Growth will be challenging. We have been successful in implementing our business plan for the Asgard Taproom and growth exceeds our projections. However, we may experience a period of significant growth that could place a significant strain upon our managerial, financial, and operational resources. If we are unable to manage our anticipated growth effectively, our business, results of operations, and financial condition may suffer.

Common ownership between the Company and the building that will house our taproom presents a potential conflict of interest. The Company leases the 105 East 5th building that will be used for our second Taproom and larger production and warehousing needs an entity (Allfather Development. LLC) partially owned by one of our Founders, Dr. Stephen Porter and Tom Ostrander. There is no lease for this building. It will when fully occupied have a lease compared to similar buildings in the area to ensure rent commensurate with the market and consistent with an arms-length deal. Nonetheless, the common ownership between the Company and its landlord presents a potential conflict of interest for the Company, and this conflict could have an impact on your investment.



Competitive nature of the craft beer industry. We face competition in the craft beer industry. Our beers will compete primarily with beers produced by other local and regional craft brewers and foreign brewers and, to a lesser extent, national domestic brewers. A portion of the craft beer market consists of consumers seeking new and exciting tastes, flavors, and experiences. As our brands mature, it may become more difficult for us to sell these brands to this portion of the craft beer market. Other craft brewers with whom we compete may offer beers that these consumers perceive to be newer, more exciting and unique, and therefore preferable. These factors could lead to declining sales. Such events would cause our future sales, results of operations, and cash flows to be adversely affected.

4

We may experience fluctuations in revenue.  Our future net revenues and operating results may be subject to significant fluctuations due to a variety of factors, many of which are beyond our control.  These factors may include: 

1) the success of our efforts to expand our presence in the marketplace of craft breweries in the Columbia (and surrounding areas), and Middle Tennessee markets; 

2) the success of our ability to attract craft beer drinkers to our tap room, where we can charge retail prices for our beer; 

3) legislation that may hinder our ability to sell or distribute our beer; 

4) introduction of new beer styles by our competitors; 

5) costs of our marketing efforts to build our brands; 

6) patterns of growth in the consumption of craft beer; and  

7) general economic conditions. 

 
5

We may need additional capital in the future.  We believe that the gross proceeds of this Offering, together with the additional financing we are seeking through traditional bank loans, will be sufficient to finance the build out of the production brewery facility and tap room and to provide working capital to operate the business to the point at which we anticipate operating revenue being sufficient for the Company to be profitable.  Our current assumptions and expectations are reflected in the financial projections included in the Business Plan.  However, if capital reserves are insufficient to fund such expansion, we may require additional capital from outside sources to expand our production capacity.  The timing and amount of any such additional capital requirements cannot be predicted with any certainty at this time.  There can be no assurance that any such financing will be available on acceptable terms.  If financing is not available on satisfactory terms, we may not be able to expand our business as projected. 
6

We depend on key vendors and suppliers.  We plan to use multiple vendors and suppliers for the raw ingredients and other materials involved in the production and distribution of our beer. There can be no assurance that our vendors and suppliers will continue to meet our demands, especially if our business grows as projected.  If we are unable to access the raw ingredients necessary to produce our beer, we may experience substantial delays in production, which could have a material adverse effect on our projected revenues.  In addition, fluctuating commodities prices for the necessary raw materials may have a material adverse effect on the Company’s profits.  
7

Distribution of our beers.  We plan to self-distribute our beers to select accounts in the Middle Tennessee market before eventually hiring a distributor.  The success of our distribution strategy is contingent upon the development of relationships with bars, restaurants, liquor stores, and other retailers.  If we are not successful in contracting with a sufficient number retailers to stock our product, then our revenues and brand development may suffer.  Alternatively, our plans to self-distribute may limit our growth if we are unable to regularly deliver sufficient volume to retailers, and we may face challenges with managing a network of retailers that could result in unanticipated costs.  If production and demand for our beer outpaces our distribution capacity, we may need to contract with one or more distributors, creating a risk that we will be unable to find the appropriate distribution partner(s) and/or negotiate favorable terms for the distribution and marketing of our products.  The Company has one Distributor agreement in the Middle Tennessee area or other markets outside the state of Tennessee, it will enter into exclusive agreements for their respective territories. The Company will rely heavily on such distributors to market, promote, and sell the Company’s products to retail accounts in their territories. These distributors will likely carry several competing product lines from other breweries, and there is no guaranty that these distributors will use the same efforts (financial or otherwise) to market, promote, and sell the Company’s products as they will with other competing product lines. It is exceedingly difficult to terminate distribution agreements, presenting a high price for any problems that may arise in the future between the Company and any of its future distributors. 
8

The Founders will effectively control the Company.  The Founders hold the majority of the common shares, with the power to control the appointment of board of directors, and, indirectly, the officers of the Company, who will be responsible for handling and overseeing all day to day operations.

The loss of key personnel might seriously impair our ability to implement our strategy.  For the foreseeable future, we will be dependent upon the continued involvement of the Founders. The loss of the services of any of these individuals would have a material and adverse effect on our operations and ability to achieve our business plans Replacing any of these roles would come at a significant expense to the Company, and may result in reduced performance
9

Hans Seezen is a part-time officer. As such, it is likely that the company will not make the same progress as it would if that were not the case.
10

Hans Seezen is a part-time officer. As such, it is likely that the company will not make the same progress as it would if that were not the case.

Details

The Board of Directors

Director Occupation Joined
Tom Ostrander Financial @ Self Employed 2017
Hans Seezen CPA @ Retired 2016
Stephen Porter Manager CEO @ Asgard Brewing Company 2016
Jonathan Gobble Logistics, Trucking @ Self Employed 2018
John Porter Creative Director @ Asgard Brewing Company 2017

Officers

Officer Title Joined
Stephen Porter CEO   2016

Voting Power

Holder Securities Held Voting Power
Stephen Porter 82,000 Common Stock 74.5%

Past Equity Fundraises

Date Amount Security
$36,551 Revenue Share
06/2018 $75,000 Loan
06/2018 $75,000 Loan
10/2016 $39,625 Loan
08/2018 $377,500 Convertible Note

Convertible Notes Outstanding

Issued Amount Interest Discount Valuation Cap Maturity
08/01/2018 $377,500 8.0% 15.0% None 09/28/2022

Outstanding Debts

Lender Issued Amount Oustanding Interest Maturity Current?
Stephen Porter 10/03/2016 $39,625 $45,679 8.0% 08/03/2020 Yes
Robert Porter 06/14/2018 $75,000 $76,000 8.0% 08/01/2020 Yes
Stephen Porter 06/28/2018 $75,000 $76,000 8.0% Yes

Related Party Transactions

Hunt Properties, GP is partnering with Asgard Brewing Company to combine resources to build a mutually beneficial business partnership. Hunt Properties will provide construction services, steel building solutions which would be used to help ensure growth by Asgard Brewery Inc. in Columbia, TN. New locations for breweries and Taprooms will include Fayetteville, Jackson, Gibson County, Dickson and Pulaski, TN, along with Rocky Mount, NC

NameVDDI Pharmaceuticals
Amount Invested$75,000
Transaction typeLoan
Issued06/14/2018
Outstanding principal plus interest$76,000 as of 08/2018
Interest8.0 per annum
Maturity08/01/2020
OutstandingYes
Current with paymentsYes
RelationshipStephen Porter Owns VDDI Pharmaceuticals

 
NameVDDI Pharmaceuticals
Amount Invested$75,000
Transaction typeLoan
Issued06/28/2018
Outstanding principal plus interest$76,000 as of 08/2018
Interest8.0 per annum
OutstandingYes
RelationshipFounder Owner

No payment required at this time.

 
NameStephen Porter
Amount Invested$39,625
Transaction typeLoan
Issued10/03/2016
Outstanding principal plus interest$45,679 as of 07/2018
Interest8.0 per annum
Maturity08/03/2020
OutstandingYes
Current with paymentsYes
RelationshipOwner Founder
 

Use of Funds

$250,000 Production assistant brewers: $30,000 Brewery Equipment for the 104 building: $20,000 104 Building complete build out: $25,000 Engineers/ architects: $45,000 Inventory and Raw materials: $30,000 Working Capital: $87,500 Wefunder Intermediary fee: $12,500
$500,000 Hire FTE’s,  Marketing and Production brewers: $160,000  Distillery equipment: $75,000 Buildout Brewery for building 105: $150,000  Professional services: $12,500 Engineers/ architects: $50,000Inventory and Raw materials: 27,500 Wefunder Intermediary fee: $25,000

Capital Structure

Class of Security Securities
(or Amount)
Authorized		 Securities
(or Amount)
Outstanding		 Voting
Rights
Common Stock 128,506 110,000 Yes

Form C Filing on EDGAR

The Securities and Exchange Commission hosts the official Form C on their EDGAR web site.


Stephen Porter on Oct 25 2018
Co-Founder and CEO @ Asgard Brewing Founder
David Tanner, Andrew Stewart, Angel Roman, and 8 others

Stephen Porter on Apr 10
Co-Founder and CEO @ Asgard Brewing Founder

What people are saying

Love going to Asgard! I have not once been disappointed in the beer selection! We have come twice while a food truck was there. Great to grab a bite and enjoy a good beer! The staff is friendly, knowledgeable of the beers, and helpful to make the perfect selection! I see many more evenings here in my future.
Lisa R Roof Cole
Customer
Tried several brews and all were excellent. Tremendous selection with a wide variety to suit all tastes. Friendly staff! M & M Food truck was serving up excellent St Patty’s Day fare as well as their usual food.
Bill Smith
Customer
Awesome place! Loved the Pacific Coast Pino :)) Friendly people, both staff and patrons ... and super dog friendly on the front porch. Will definitely visit again soon!
Kathy Croasdale Dikeman
Customer
I love this place. The building is beautiful and the atmosphere is amazing. They play great music, their brews are spectacular, and I love the food trucks. My favorite is Flyboys of Nashville.
Trina Starr
Customer

Notes from investors

I like beer.
Clint Conner on 04/16/2019
The 5% back every quarter, with a business bringing in good cash. Plus the on top of my 5%.
Aaron Mocek on 04/11/2019
I think Asgard brewing company has a lot of personality and i believe it will go very far
Abishek Reddy Mannemala on 04/07/2019
I am a risk analytics manager with 5 YOE in data analytics, Payments, and credit risk. I currently work with ​Facebook's Payments team.
Looking to diversify future investments
David Carrillo on 04/01/2019
Excited to see what your team can do. May invest more as I get more comfortable with the platform.
Billy Engler on 03/28/2019
Paranormal investigator, amateur filmmaker, and entrepreneur looking to expand my portfolio.
Don't have much to invest but can do $100 for Tennessee! Lived here all my life!
Josiah Samuel Stephen Redmond on 02/24/2019
Humble, appreciative, and hopeful
I wish you all the best of luck with your company.
Dylan Howell on 02/13/2019
Hi John and Stephen! I love the concept. You don't see Viking Beer anymore which is unique. I would love some updates on expansion as well! Also, lets crush the competition!
Cole Carner on 02/10/2019
Excited to be involved with this great brewery! I know Nashville is the priority, but have you looked at the Nolensville area for the next steps?
Hugh Ross Wetzel on 01/28/2019
Small business owner in wester TN wo enjoys the art of crafted beers!
Kyle McCord on 01/27/2019
Hello, My name is Angel Roman. I'm happy to invest in your company and wish a lot of success
Angel Roman on 01/18/2019
I'm Mike Clemens, I just retired from the 30 years in the Army and am living in Michigan.
Michael Clemens on 12/16/2018
Thanks for the opportunity. I've been looking for a chance to help a craft brewery grow.
David Sessions on 12/13/2018
I’m an old friend of mike peters from Guam. Still active-duty navy EOD, I’m moving to Destin, FL in a few months. Be happy to help you guys branch out down there if I can. Cheers.
Dan Fro on 12/07/2018
Hello, I am a beer enthusiast and hope to own or partially own my own brewery some day.
Mark Cubillos on 12/06/2018
I work for a major airline and while I am not a beer drinker my son and family are. I love that you opening up this fun investment opportunity . I am wishing all of us a prosperous 2019
Tina Stauber on 12/04/2018
Hello John, Stephen! I live in Knoxville, am a huge fan of my home state (TN) and am producing a beer festival here in February - Knoxville Winter Warmer. While doing research, and looking to get breweries not typically seen in Knoxville/East TN, I came across your website. And I love it! The Nordic theme was parallel to the theme I'm incorporating into KWW. It would be great to discuss the possibility of Asgard Brewing bringing a few beers up this way to show them off to 500 of Knoxville's most keen beer-lovers; or even coming to grab a few 1/6 barrels to share, just to make sure you are a part of the event. I wish you the best and hope all is prosperous down in Columbia. P.S. - Even if you all can't make it to Knoxville's Winter warmer, I'll certainly still support the Asgard cause! -Landon, Foxtrot Events, Knoxville, TN
Landon Linton on 11/19/2018
Howdy! I was in there a while back with my Heathen church group. The place was amazing, and the staff very friendly. I am glad to be a part of this, even if it is a small bit.
Michael Wilson on 11/17/2018
Hello. I like what your team is building, but I currently only have homes in CO and IL. Is there a way for me to sample the beer in one of these states? I could be interested in investing more if I could sample your product. - Mike
Michael J. Rakow on 11/17/2018
A U.S. Army officer with prior infantry enlisted service, Mike enjoys investing in Veteran owned and Veteran supporting businesses.
Besides loving craft beer - I previously lived in Nashville for the good part of about 6 years, so I like to support local businesses when I can. Good Luck and I look forward to having a pint the next time I am in town. Regards, Brian
Brian Wilson on 11/15/2018

In the news

Asgard wins 2018 small business of the year
Crafting beer and creating a favorite gathering spot for locals and brewing enthusiasts has been at the heart of Asgard Brewing Co. & Taproom.In addition to winning the 2018 Best of Maury County awards for best happy hour, best place to buy beer and best place to have a cold beer, Asgard was voted by Daily Herald readers as the Best Small Business of the Year.
August 30, 2018 @ columbiadailyherald.com
Asgard Brewing Company -- Brewbound.com | Craft beer industry news, jobs, and events.
VALHALLA AWAITS Asgard Brewery brings the cool, smooth beers of the Icelandic region to the Middle Tennessee area. Wanna enjoy a truly unique brewing experience? You're in the right place! Over all these long years we have been accumulating only the best brewing traditions and recipes. We keep surprising our customers and ourselves.
August 7, 2018 @ brewbound.com
Downtown Columbia Goes Nordic with the Opening of Asgard Brewery | offtheduck
Asgard Brewery opened the first portion of its facilities on October 1 to a steady stream of curious and thirsty patrons eager to check out the new taproom and get a taste of their specialty beers. The brewery features a Viking theme and logo, and was founded by John Porter (pictured above).
July 26, 2018 @ offtheduck.com
New Brewery Opens in Columbia, New Distillery in Leiper's Fork
Who knows, maybe Oct. 1, 2016, will become an important date in Middle Tennessee drinking history, much like Sept, 6, 2013, which is when both Black Abbey Brewing and Tennessee Brew Works delivered their first kegs to Nashville retail accounts.
July 26, 2018 @ nashvillescene.com
Norse-themed brewery coming
A new brewing company with a Norse mythology theme is coming to Columbia. Steve Porter and his son John Porter plan to open Asgard Brewing Company within the next year. A new brewing company with a Norse mythology theme is coming to Columbia.
July 26, 2018 @ columbiadailyherald.com
The Tiny Town In Tennessee That's Quietly Becoming The Brewery Capital Of The South
Finding a solid brewery in the heart of our big cities isn't too hard, is it? Nashville is veritably exploding, Memphis fills the streets of Beale with the stuff and Knoxville isn't too far behind. But what about our small towns?
November 24, 2017 @ onlyinyourstate.com
The Best New Breweries in Tennessee You Should Be Drinking at Right Now
Time for a road trip through Tennessee to visit the best new breweries in the state.
October 21, 2016 @ thrillist.com
Cilantro Mexican Grill Now Serving in Berry Hill; Melrose Hot Chicken Spot Opens Oct. 27
BERRY HILL - Cilantro Mexican Grill and Tequila Bar opened yesterday in the former home of the Sylvan Park Restaurant. Located at 2330 Franklin Pike, hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
October 21, 2016 @ nashville.eater.com


Ask a Question

Overview
Story
Traction
Investor Q&A
Financials
Risks
Details
← Back
About us
Our Profile
Jobs
Press
Blog
Charter
Investors
Getting Started
Risks
Earning Returns
Funds
Give/Get $1000
Founders
Raise Funding
FAQ
Legal Primer
Deals
Fundraising Playbook
Say Hello
hello@wefunder.com
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
888-546-0325
SF / Boston
Wefunder Inc. runs wefunder.com and is the parent company of Wefunder Advisors LLC and Wefunder Portal LLC. Wefunder Advisors is an exempt reporting adviser that advises SPVs used in Reg D offerings. Wefunder Portal is a funding portal (CRD #283503) that operates sections of wefunder.com where some Reg Crowdfunding offerings are made. Wefunder, Inc. operates sections of wefunder.com where some Reg A offerings are made. Wefunder, Inc. is not regulated as either a broker-dealer or funding portal and is not a member of FINRA. By using wefunder.com, you accept our Terms & Privacy Policy. If investing, you accept our Investor Agreement. You may also view our Privacy Notice.
Wefunder, Inc., Wefunder Advisors LLC, and Wefunder Portal LLC do not review user-generated content beyond what's required by US law. Some user-generated content, including investor biographical information, may not be accurate.

Already have a Wefunder account? Login

Don't have a Wefunder account? Signup

Privacy: We won’t share your data with Facebook without your explicit permission.
— or —
Explore News FAQ Raise Funding
Login Sign Up