Brewvine: The Filling Station

in Traverse City wasn’t going to let COVID-19 derail their business, they just changed the way they conduct it.

For this week’s Brewvine, Whitney Amann and photojournalist Jeremy Erickson tell you how canning has been the silver or perhaps aluminum lining to the pandemic for the brewery, and how some of their cans are even helping out the community.

“We actually started canning in October of 2020 and have just completed the labels and cans for all six of what we’re going to start out with is our kind of flagship beers but one of them is a small batch label that gives us the freedom to can different things throughout the year that we think will be fun for the folks that love beer,” said general manager Todd Klepper.

The Filling Station created the cans as part of their covid response to help fast track their curbside pickup.

While they may not be able to can everything they have on tap, they wanted to make sure they had a variety of beer for customers to choose from.

The Filling Station also has a loco-motive behind some of their beers, to help serve a need in the community.

The brewery used their mango kolsch to raise money for the Grand Traverse Bay Watershed Center, the “T-Bar IPA” helps the folks over at Mount Holiday, and a beer dedicated to TC’s favorite k-9 helps the humane society.

“We’ve been looking at ways to get funds from specific beers and kind of have the best of both worlds,” said Klepper. “Come in and enjoy a pint at the same time, feel like in a small way that you’re giving back to some of the organizations that work so hard around town.”