Heroes in Business - Sue Rigler, Owner of Hundred Mile Brewing, One of the Top 10 Best New Breweries in the U.S.

Episode Date: March 28, 2025

Join David Cogan as he chats with Sue Rigler, the driving force behind Hundred Mile Brewing Company! Sue's journey is fueled by innovation and passion, offering unique insights into brewing and her impact on the craft beer world. Don't miss this inspiring conversation!

Welcome back to Alliances Heroes. We're heroes in business aligned. To be part of our super community and find out more about Alliances, visit www.alliances.com. That's right. Welcome back to the show. And by the way too,

I so much appreciate all our listeners and viewers. Thank you again for the feedback we continue to have when I interviewed the co-founder of Zillow. Make sure that you go to alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com. As you know, it's the only place where entrepreneurs align and you can click and hear back recordings by going and clicking on radio. And I'm super excited today.

Are you ready for this? It has to do with brewing. And we have with us today, Sue Riggler. She is the founder of 100 Mile Brewing Company. And you can go ahead and reach her and you'll see the website for those of you that are watching too, you can go ahead and see it at 100milebrewing.com.

That's correct, Sue, is that right? That is correct. 100milebrewing.com. I love it. Sharp shirt. So Sue, out of all the things you could have picked, why and what was the passion to go ahead and the amount of work that's involved

to open a brewing company? I mean, that's just, there's so many hurdles. So the question is why? Insanity, David, pure insanity. You know, I ask myself that question quite a bit. And I really think it goes back to my roots. I'm from Iowa and beer is community. It really centers around,

there's a story in every pint, I say, and it brings people together. And growing up in Iowa, we had a lot of potlucks, we had a lot of block parties, we had just and not that I participated in drinking, but it just, I was in a very social neighborhood and family. And as I got older, it just, it really brings people together globally, actually. It's an international language as well. So I think that has a lot to do with it

is my Iowa upbringing and roots and just building community. But not only do you have a brewery there, but you also have a bar, you also have a restaurant, you also have an event section. I mean, these are like all almost independent businesses of their own almost to manage and keep track of. Yes, they are. And you know, I always say go, go big or go home. So being my first rodeo, actually, and being a restaurant tour, I do really indeed have three businesses under one roof, we have a

10,000 square foot building and about 3,500 square feet is a production facility which we brew beer there. We have a 10 barrel brewing system and then about 2,000 square feet is an event space. So we have, we host, oh gosh, business meetings, happy hours, class reunions, wedding, rehearsals, you name it, luncheons happy hours, class reunions, wedding, rehearsals, you name it, luncheons in that section. And then the remainder part of the building is the tap room and the restaurant. So that is a very, a lot of moving parts under one roof and three, you're right. It's, it's three different businesses. And I got to share with people too here. Again, we've got Sue Wrigler with us, hundredmilebrewing.com. You're listening

and watching me, David Kogan, host of the E-Liance's Hero Show. In fact, 100 Mile Brewing was voted by USA Today as one of the top 10 best new breweries in the US, also voted by Phoenix New Times as number one, and many other awards, including 10 best restaurants in Tempe, top 100 bars in Metro Phoenix, and so on and so on. How do you go about, Sue, and these are wonderful awards, but how do you go about approaching the menu and beer selection to appeal to really a diverse range of tastes and preferences?

That's a great question. And those are two different components, but yet they actually, there's a lot of collaboration on that. You know, the food, the restaurant is an entirely separate entity in its own is to formulate that menu is and we've, it's evolved. We've been open since December 2022. So just little over a year and our menu actually has evolved.

So you have to kind of see what sells. But I definitely have a team behind me that helps with that. The culinary team has experience in menu formulation and cross utilizing products and keeping costs down. You know, you have to as a restaurant tour that is above most important. And then also appealing to what your consumers like. We're a brewery, we have elevated food, we do not have bar food. You know, the typical burgers are best sellers,

but we also have salads and salmon and poke, so we have an elevated menu. And then pairing that with beer, we have 24 taps, 18 of them are ours that we kind of rotate in and out from all different types of beer styles from, you know, an entry level light lager, which is our road runner, our light lager. We have a pine top pilsner, which is very popular. Those are the lighter on the lighter spectrum of beers. So kind of your foot in the door, if you will, for the big,

big brain, big brand names, which I will not mention on this. And then we move into our very popular Amber Ale, which is the A Mountain named after the classic A Mountain in Tempe after ASU. And then we go into, we have an Amber and wide range of IPAs. So, I mean, the public loves their IPAs, myself included, West Coast, Hazy.

So there's, and then you have to see what your audience likes. So it's a team effort, it's a collaboration effort, and it's also what the consumer likes. Now, a lot of people think it's very glamorous, again, owning your own brewery company. What can you share with us maybe was something which surprised you the most about opening it up that just you know

we all run into different things that we just don't expect we don't know and that can happen that surprised you. I always said that when I wanted to open a brewery and I said that for this is now my 10th year I had this aha moment in 2014 that I want to open a brewery. And I said that at Nausium. When my youngest graduates from high school, I'm going to move back to Arizona. I lived in California at the time. I'm going to move back to Arizona, my roots at ASU,

and I'm going to open a brewery. I kept saying, I'm going to open a brewery. I'm going to open a brewery. I forgot to mention not restaurant, but I have a restaurant. The restaurant is a challenging, it's a very fast moving, and I would just say one of the biggest challenges of this all is being a restaurateur, definitely having a great team behind me because of that

component. But the building that I'm in is a renovated building from 1974. It's in Tempe, on the north side of Tempe Town Lake. And it was originally a warehouse. So we renovated it. And it screams a brew pub. It's got charm. It's got character. The ceilings are the original ceiling. So it just, it screams brew pub.

And with brew pub, a food component comes in a restaurant. So I had really, it was ultimately the great combination of the brewery and the restaurant. Excellent, excellent. And again, we're interviewing Sue Riggler, owner of 100 Mile Brewing. You can reach her at 100milebrewing.com, Sue Riggler. All right, Sue, I'm gonna, before I share a secret

about you with our audience and that, you're also too part of the alliances community. In fact, you're a member of the community. Why don't you share with the audience here too, just kind of what it's been like for you to be part of the alliances community of entrepreneurs. Right, well, first of all, David, thank you for what you have done for the alliances community

and myself being one of them. I can certainly sing your praises and not only what you've done for me and opening doors and networking opportunities with other members. It's what you do collectively to open up a community for all of us to get to know each other and not only know each other, build our own businesses or build our businesses. So, you know, I've met the chocolate savant and, you know, Mark and Mike, Mike knew with oxygen for life. They have helped me with kind of in the back scenes of some of the restaurant tour stuff and the financial stuff, really. Mark is an attorney, so he has given me some advice along the way. I mean, it is a wonderful community. There's fitness, there's yoga, there's finance, there's real estate, networking opportunities that I, you know,

there's somebody in the whole entire network that you can go to to ask questions. Deborah, a life coach. I mean, she's amazing and wonderful. Deborah Dupree. So just, I've really enjoyed meeting the personalities and all of the different businesses that they're in and enriching kind of what I have as well. Fantastic. Okay, so can I share the secret with everyone? what I have as well. Fantastic. Okay, so can I share the secret with everyone? Tell me, what is it? What's the word chemist mean to you?

Chemist, a lot of science and molecules and as it relates to, I have a degree in microbiology. So I took plenty of chemistry at ASU. But microbiology is actually that was my aha moment when I was in a craft brewery in Montana of all places where Glacier, this is a funny story, Glacier was fogged over the day I went to going to the Sun Road. You get to the top and what can you see? Nothing, because it's foggy. And so what do you do?

You go down going to the Sun Road and you hit a brewery. So I went into the brewery that day and of all places, I was coming out of the ladies room and the door across the hall was open and it was a laboratory. We had a microscope and beakers and me being a microbiologist, I was kind of geeked out and I'm like, oh, look at this. It's a brewery, you know, science. That's so cool. So I went down and met the brewer and this was in 2014 and he said, you know, brewing is, it's pretty much, it's science. It's a big science experiment. And this was in 2014. And he said, you know, brewing is, it's pretty much, it's science. It's a big science experiment.

And at that moment, I just, he started talking about brewing and that was the moment that I got really passionate and aha moment. And I'm like, I'm gonna go back to school. I wanna get in this, it's beer and science. Kind of those two worlds collided. And at that moment, then I applied, I was just 50 years old, I'm telling my age right now,

but I went back to school and UC San Diego in their brewing sciences program and their certification program with the intent of opening a brewery. And here it is, 2024, we opened in the late 22. So, you know, kind of kept my passion and just kept looking forward. And I kept saying when my youngest graduates from college

or high school, I'm gonna move to Arizona and open a brewery. So really it was that seeing that microscope and having the two worlds of science and beer colliding. And you did it in this lifetime. So that's phenomenal. Yes. What are some of maybe the unique challenges of being a female owner in really a male dominated industry? Yes, I'm super proud of

what I've accomplished. I mean in the Brewers Association reports every year, and there's only 2%, which is unbelievable, but 2% of US breweries are owned by women, solely owned by women. So that's obviously quite a low statistic, but I'm in that 2% and I'm super proud of what I've accomplished from finding the real estate, the building and securing the location right there in Tempe on the north side of the lake in a very unique building that was built in 74.

It's the oldest building around there. Securing that building and then also the funding. So I'm funded by an SBA loan, which to you know, to put that whole, all those moving parts together and actually kept, you know, kept going to the finish line. The finish line is opening, but, you know, super proud. And there were a lot of obstacles along the way. And it is a very male dominated industry, obviously the 2% of women owned industries,

but it's, to me, it's not so much being a female in this industry that is the challenge, is that the challenge is just that all of the moving parts of owning three businesses in one has been the most challenging thing for me. It was just, you know, I just kept looking, as I said, to the finish line. The finish line was opening and I just, I never for a second thought that it wasn't going to happen. I mean, it was just like I was going to open this brewer opening and I just, I never for a second thought that it wasn't going to happen. I mean, it was just like, I was going to open this brewery and I just kept moving forward. There's one obstacle after another. It's like, check, check, check.

Absolutely. Truly amazing. And that is one that'll go about like, I mean, again, having not had prior experience having, you know, ever owned like, how ever owned, how do you just, how's the thing of like putting it together? Where do you learn most? Where have you learned most of what you've been able to accomplish? Literally flying by the seat in my pants and surrounding myself with good people. Because you can't, you just don't, if I knew everything right now, I probably wouldn't have done this. It like having your first kid you really don't know going into it right um and then you bird this thing and you have it and you're like now what you know so um you know I knew the having gone to school I I was I'm very comfortable with the brewing side of it um in that part of it

I sold brewing equipment prior to this so I had gone to 500 breweries on the West Coast. So I was kind of entrenched in that business and industry. But, you know, just, it's, it's just kind of all the moving parts and yeah. the moving parts and yeah. Now the thing is this too is, how do you go about finding two employees? How do you find about going about, you know, getting good help, finding reliable, dependable employees? Like how do you build that relationship? Great question. And there's, you know, many, again,

we have front of house, back of house and we're actually conveniently located less than a mile from Arizona State, so ASU. So a lot of our labor pool comes from there, from the front of house and the servers and bartenders. But the management and just the back of house has been a struggle or challenging, I should say. Good leadership is we're, I mean, your first year from what I've heard, this is the first one I've ever gone through is, you know, challenging in that per se. They always say the first year is the most tough and challenging.

So that's behind me. So I'm hoping that's true. But I've got it. I've got a really solid team right now. Um, my front of house is solid. I get compliments all the time. I mean, it's customer experience and that's, you have to have people that have your back and have your vision and your mission.

And I think right now that I am, I've got my team and now, you know, it really works on, you know, retention to works on, you know, retention. I had to keep my employees happy. Wonderful. Well, I got to tell you, Sue, you definitely accomplished a lot. All under one roof too. All of these companies under one roof that these divisions. Sue Riegler, owner of a hundred mile brewing. You can go to hundredmilebrewing.com.

Voted best by USA Today as one of the top 10 best new breweries. You've been listening, watching me, David Cogan, host of the E-Liances Hero Show. Make sure that you go to alliances.com, E-L-I-A-N-C-S.com, and you may have the chance to see Sue live in person at one of our many experiences. Thank you again, Sue, for being on the show. Thank you, David. You gotta dance with me too, a little bit. Oh, there we go. Thank you.