Four Firkins' Ales Are Not Ailing

Jason Alvey is a jovial Australian transplant who stands about a beer barrel and a half tall. The decade he's spent living in the States has only slightly taken away his Aussie accent, but those same 10 years have done a great number on his appreciation for craft beer.

"When I lived in Australia, I didn't know anything about good beer," Alvey said from behind his small desk's makeshift location in a swelling beer cooler. "Most people there drink mass produced lagers like Bud, Miller, Coors or the Australian equivalent."

Judging by his uber-successful craft beer store, , Alvey's palate has greatly matured since 2001, when he moved to the U.S. 

There's a lot of ground to cover between Alvey's stateside arrival and when his dream shop became a reality in 2008. To quickly paraphrase: there's a marriage to his own true love—a managing job for Erik's Bike Shop (Alvey is also a mountain and road biking enthusiast)—and an expert/researcher/co-host position on a short-lived but quite popular beer podcast called "What Ales Thee?"

"When my friend approached me to do the podcast, I thought I knew a lot about beer," Alvey said with a laugh, "but when we produced the first show I realized how little I actually knew. That's when I really started to research and actively learn about it. Not just drinking it but studying it." 

"What Ales Thee?" boosted Alvey and his friends to minor industry celebrity status, made them a network of contacts and, most importantly, helped him realize a craft beer store could be successful. 

"From that point it was almost a two-year battle just to get the Firkins' doors open," Alvey explained, "because it's not a teddy bear shop, it's ultimately a liquor store."

After scouting out the right location and going through mounds of paperwork, Alvey decided on his current 900 square-foot shop on Minnetonka Boulevard, though he will soon be moving to a . Alvey is also currently joined by two part-time employees and two full-time employees.

"I was a beer geek and became acquaintances with Alvey over time," said full-timer Michael Wagner. "I really wanted to be in the Twin Cities beer scene, the craft beer scene. Coming to The Four Firkins was absolutely perfect."

Alvey, Wagner and the rest of the crew pride themselves in their customer service. Each one of them is more of an expert than the next, with a sincere love for making friends and leading them to new tastes. 

"I get the most joy out of the novices," Wagner said. "That's the majority of our clientele outside our great regulars. Sort of helping them explore the craft beer world, I mean that's an exciting path."

"I tell my guys that if we ever stop getting invited to people's barbecues and weddings, then we're doing something wrong," Alvey added.

Just as the wedding invitations continue to come, so do the customers from all over the Twin Cities metro. Swing by The Four Firkins to get started on your own craft beer exploration. Just don't make the same mistake I did of asking Alvey about about his favorite beer.

"Well, there is no favorite," he started with a chuckle. "I can tell you I have favorite styles of beer. I enjoy Belgian Saisons, they're often called farmhouse ales. I also like American Double IPAs. I like American Imperial Stouts. I like Belgian Quadruples. I like sour beers. If it's been sitting in a barrel full of lactobacillus, I'll drink it..."

And so he continued, further convincing me that there is a reason why The Four Firkins has become such a reputable beer store in Minnesota.