# Modern Times We'd like to formally invite you to the party. ## Elevator pitch In 2013, we opened a 30bbl production brewery and tasting room in San Diego. Since then, we’ve posted high double-digit growth every year, pulling in $30.5M in revenue in 2018, with $37M projected for 2019. We’re one of the most successful & fastest growing breweries in the nation, with an avid following in 7 states. We currently have 5 tasting rooms in San Diego, LA, and Portland, with 3 more CA locations in construction. This raise will help take us through this next critical stage of growth. - Canonical URL: https://wefunder.com/modern.times.beer - Entity ID: wefunder:company:35197 - Last updated: 2026-04-16T05:00:14Z - Generated at: 2026-06-13T03:55:42Z ## Quick facts - ~$30.5M in revenue in 2018. Up 59% from 2017. - Top-performing beer brand in Stone Distributing portfolio in both dollars and volume. - 30% increase in 2018 wholesale distribution in our home market of Southern California. - Top 1% of craft breweries in the nation by volume. - 30% employee-owned. Now opening our ownership up to fans! - No money spent on advertising. Garnered the 6th-largest social media following in independent craft beer through organic growth. - Currently operate 5 tasting rooms, 3 breweries, 3 kitchens, and 1 coffee roastery. Planning to open 3 new locations in 2019. ## Active fundraises - wefunder:fundraise:25095: 4(a)(6) successful (USD) ## Story Modern Times is an intrepid cadre of brewers, coffee roasters, and culinary wizards that began as a 30bbl production brewery and tasting room in the Point Loma neighborhood of San Diego. It was founded by Jacob McKean, a Stone Brewing alum, who raised $1.25m to open a full-scale production brewery on day one.Since then, we have enormously exceeded our business plan targets. Modern Times has become one of the most successful breweries in the nation, with full distribution on the West Coast and a fervent following in seven states.We've had double-digit growth each of the last four years. This year we're on track for $37 million in revenue.We project our revenues will increase in 2019 via organic growth and the opening of multiple new locations. See our Investor Q&A for more details.We have 5 tasting rooms now. By year's end, we'll have at least 7. We currently operate five tasting rooms: 3 in San Diego, 1 in the L.A. area, and 1 in Portland, OR. This year, we anticipate opening three new locations in Santa Barbara, Oakland, and Anaheim. Tasting rooms allow us to give our customers the full-spectrum Modern Times experience while simultaneously boosting sales for surrounding wholesale accounts, and expanded production facilities will allow us to meet robust and steadily increasing demands for our beer & coffee.Our five current tasting rooms.Floor plan for our Santa Barbara tasting room opening later this year.Our beer & coffee can be found in over 7,000 retail stores and bars around the country.Our beer & coffee can be found in over 7,000 retail stores and bars around the country. Wholesale accounts include the likes of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Costco, Disneyland, Angel Stadium, and Petco Park (the San Diego Padres stadium). Our retail accounts work in concert with our own properties, creating a lift effect for both sides of the business that neither could achieve alone. We are partnered with 25+ distributors, each of whom we work with closely to ensure that our beverages consistently reach our fans at peak radness.This year, we'll release 6 core beers, 10 seasonal beers, and a slew of one-offs and monthly special releases in can & draft formats–we're driven to constantly innovate.Our blended, single-origin, and barrel-aged coffees have garnered high ratings and coveted awards from leading coffee industry publications like Coffee Review.Today, our company is 30% employee-owned. Now we're inviting our customers and fans to be owners too. Our employees are part-owners of Modern Times and currently hold 30% of the company. We hope you'll join us!We’ve accomplished a truly exceptional feat in the brewing world: we're a successful distribution brand and a boutique producer of highly sought-after special releases, all while remaining independently owned. We now have the infrastructure, senior leadership and brewing team, and physical space to take this already-substantial accomplishment to the next level. But it's not just the employees building this company; it's our fans too. The people who drink our beer and coffee have been instrumental in fundamentally shaping us as a company and have played a key role in our success. We’re thrilled to give our fans the opportunity to benefit from the growth they’ve been such an integral part of creating. We hope you'll join us. ## FAQ 1. **what is the minimum amount we can invest?** - Hey, Aaron! The minimum is one share at $253. 2. **What is your net profit on 30.5 Million in sales last year? Can you provide historical profit margin/ revenue growth over the last 5 years? How is the capital going to be deployed?** - Thanks for the question, James! This data is also on our Wefunder homepage, but here’s a quick recap. While generating 30.5m in revenue, we had a Net Loss of 2.95m and EBITDAE of 2.9m. Revenue grew 59% in 2018, 29% in 2017, and 100% in 2016. Gross Margins grew 3% in 2018, 4% in 2017, and 109% in 2016. 2017 and 2018 were building years where we invested in physical infrastructure, information systems, and people to execute on the 5 projects we have under construction today. By leveraging our c... 3. **Could you explain the promisory notes to you and your family members in a little more detail? Are they loans? Deferred compensation?** - Hey, Russell! The Promissory Notes are loans related to the sale of shares to our ESOP trust in order to form the 30% Employee Stock Ownership Plan that was created in June of 2017. 4. **What are the proceeds for and why is this request the best path forward? Do you have an independent valuation agent?** - Regarding use of proceeds: At $50,188: 62.5% towards uncommitted funds to be used for business operations as necessary such as payroll, overhead, production expenses, location acquisitions, and buildouts; 30% towards offering expenses; 7.5% towards platform fees. At $250,000: 20% towards minor efficiency projects/equipment; 66.5% towards uncommitted funds to be used for business operations as necessary such as payroll, overhead, production expenses, location acquisitions, and buildouts; 6% to... 5. **Are you open to getting bought by a macro?** - Selling to a macrobrewery is not currently part of our business plan. Furthermore, structuring our company as employee and fan-owned would likely make such a sale more complicated, thus much less plausible. ## Team - Jacob J McKean (Founder/CEO) - Colleen Mims (Director of People Operations ) - Phil MacNitt (Director of Sales and Marketing) - Timothy Kamolz (Director of Brewing Operations) - Frank Jaime (Director of Finance) - Nic Pelaez (Director of Hospitality) - Amy Krone (Director of Arts & Crafts) - Jeremy Danenhauer (Director of General Operations) - Chris Sarette (Chief Operations Officer) - Jennifer Briggs (CEO) ## Q&A - Q: If our application was not accepted what do we need to do to get a refund? - A: This should be complete now. Please feel free to email us directly if it wasn't resolved for any reason! - Q: Hello if my application was not accepted when will the funds sent to escrow be refunded? - A: This should be all set, but feel free to hit us up if it hasn't been refunded yet. Thanks! - Q: I received the email that my investment would move forward :) What are the next steps? How do we track how that investment is doing? - A: Hey Eric, We'll be sending a more detailed breakdown of your investment by the end of next week, followed by some more info on reporting and updates very soon! - Q: Modern Times was sold at auction on 6/17/22, however even with the sale there is drama. The court appointed receiver in consultation with the creditors decided to accept a lower than highest bid. The high bid was $20,100,00, but a bid of $20,000,000 was determined to be the winner, after the receiver and creditors met to discuss the bids. I am not sure it really matters to us as investors, but the high bidder submitted a complaint to the court challenging their loss. Either way, I do not think we as investors (shareholders) will see any of the proceeds from the sale. - Q: How can I find details about returns on my investment? - Q: Would really like to know what is going on regarding my investment. It is now almost 2 months since the offering and there are little to no updates. Can I get an updated status on my investment please?? - A: Hey IRA, We answered this in your question from 7/31. Our apologies for the delay! - Q: It is now July, what is happening?? Where are the updates? - A: Hey IRA, Please reference our answer to your July 31st question. Sorry for the wait! - Q: What is going on with the investment that was made and is in escrow? You posted about 2 weeks ago that you were going to be informing everyone in the next few days, now it is weeks. What's up?? - A: Hey, IRA! Apologies for the delay! We are currently still waiting on the folks from WeFunder to finish finalizing the list, which we've been told is imminent. We did send out an email to all potential investors a couple weeks back stating we'd have the final word in mid to late June. If you aren't receiving those newsletters, please feel free to shoot an email over to info@moderntimesbeer.com and we'll get that taken care of for you. Thank you, and sorry again for the wait! - Q: Hi, I noticed in another response it was mentioned that the investor could cancel as long as the money is still in escrow. How would one go about doing this? Would one receive their entire investment back upon cancelling? - A: Hey, Richard. I think you're going to want to give support@wefunder.com a shout with this one, as they handle all the payment portal & refund side of things. If that doesn't work, feel free to email us at info@moderntimesbeer.com! - Q: Jacob, thanks for addressing my concerns earlier but I think you are missing the point. I saw on Reddit you said you based the valuation off projected barrels sold in 2021 and used the same multiple as Ballast Point (which was unprecedented and universally considered a rich valuation). First, their valuation was based on the trailing twelve months production while yours is based on projected production. There is risk you won't get to that level of production and also simple time-value of money. Second, the Ballast Point valuation was for a 100% controlling interest in the brewery. This is a tiny sliver. There are necessary discounts for lack of control and liquidity. I'm sure this is well documented in your ESOP valuation. This level of value is absolutely unprecedented and completely unjustified. At this valuation any upside is almost completely non-existent. If you took this valuation to a PE investor (or even to Shark Tank) they would laugh you out of the room. This valuation wouldn't be worth the paper its written on. This is either negligence on your part or intentionally deceptive in an effort to get "free" money. Neither is acceptable. This is not an attack on your product (I just bought some of your Gose beer), but this valuation is simply wrong. The only people who would invest at this valuation would have to be completely financially ignorant. I don't think it is right to take advantage of these people. - A: Hey, Ralph. We appreciate the feedback and your concern for investors. However, we firmly disagree, for reasons previously stated, with both your characterization of the offering as well as your characterization of our investors. We feel that we’ve addressed your concerns in previous questions and would refer you to the Q&A and available materials for any additional questions. Thank you. - Q: Hi Guys, love the beer and the brand, but like others have some questions on how you’ve priced this round, even more so after reading your 2017 audit report. A couple of things I noted: - In June 2017 the ESOP purchased shares off employees at $30.33/share (Note 8) - As at 31 Dec the fair value of shares was $21.95/share I would be interested to know how pricing was determined for both the ESOP transaction, as well as the fair value as per the 2017 audit report. Based on the information above, as well as the financial performance of the company since 2017, I find it hard understand on what basis you would in good faith believe that the shares are now worth more than $250. While I love the story of being an ‘employee and customer owned brewery’, it seems to me that this is disingenuous. Yes, you might be able to raise money from a ’strategic’ or VC, but not at $250/share, not even close. It would have been nice to see you price this round fairly for the little guy, and if you need some serious equity funding in the future, give them a chance to see an increase in share price rather than suffer the significant dilution that’ll inevitably happen with a down round. I’m also not aware of anything with US securities law that prohibit you from giving transparent answers and additional information to questions regarding your current valuation - to me it looks like you’re dodging the question. Unfortunately the best investment for me is keeping the cash in my pocket to buy beers, and not shares. - A: Thanks for the feedback, Peter. For the ESOP transaction on 6/21/17, pricing was determined using enterprise value. Following the transaction and after taking on debt to purchase 30% of the company on notes that amortize and mature over 7 years, the ending 12/31 price was also determined using enterprise value (which immediately includes the additional debt from the ESOP transaction). Again, we can’t legally speak to the specifics of the CF valuation. We used equity value and unit multipliers that we’ve seen historically in our industry for fast growing breweries. We feel this is a fair representation for a company that has grown 833% in the last 5 years with 59% growth in 2018 alone and 5 new projects (already funded) opening in mid 2019. We realize the nature of a long-term investment contains speculation. We have presented a great deal of information that we feel represents our performance and shows execution over the last several years in growing the business. Again, we appreciate the feedback and respect all investment decisions. - Q: Will there be a dividend? - A: It's not out of the question, but it's also not the most likely scenario. The ESOP buying your shares is a much more likely potential mechanism of return. - Q: Did they delete some conversation here? Just received a PDF from Sullivan Hill: 30-2022-01251243-CU-CO-CJC - Zions Bancorporation, N.A. vs. Modern Times Drinks, Inc. Good Afternoon, Attached please find a copy of the following document(s) in the above-referenced case: NOTICE OF HEARING RE MOTION FOR ORDER (1) APPROVING RECEIVER’S FINAL ACCOUNTING AND REPORT; (2) AWARDING FINAL FEES; (3) TERMINATING RECEIVERSHIP; (4) DISCHARGING RECEIVER; AND (5) EXONERATING BOND - Q: The drama continues, Brewery X elected to not go through with the purchase. It appears the sale will now happen at a price point well below $20,000,000 figure, per the recent news. Not sure why the Modern Times CEO does not keep investors updated on the process. Here is link to the latest news as of 7/7/22 from the San Diego Beer News: https://www.sandiegobeer.news/blog/beer-news/mauibrewingtoacquiremoderntimesafterall - Q: Where can I monitor the values of my shares? I haven’t got any emails since that q & a/update vid months ago. Is there a blog or page I can go to?