Written by Sam Harriman, owner of Sisyphus Brewing

My name is Sam and I'm the owner/founder/brewer at Sisyphus Brewing, and we just turned 10 years old. I've been reflecting on what it took to get to this point and thought it would be interesting to share.

I was an MBA student before starting Sisyphus and was always interested in the numbers–something that is hard to find out in the public domain. So I put together a snapshot of three years I think are pretty indicative of the brewery scene:

2015-Our first full year of being open

2019- A full year pre-COVID

2023-A full year post-COVID

You can check out that snapshot here.

I don't want to speak for every taproom/brewery, because we all have our own unique strengths and challenges. But for us, I would say our biggest challenge has been the overall decline of the "Beer Scene." Pre-COVID, we would get way more traffic on weekends, from groups checking out taprooms, especially people from the suburbs. Younger folks are also drinking less. We've done comedy shows where the crowd is mainly 21-25 years old, and it is a noticeable difference from older crowds.

Our location has always been a challenge as well. We are out of the way, not really close to residential areas, so the pool of potential regulars is smaller than one would like.

Our bread and butter is, and will continue to be, stand-up comedy. It was my goal from the start to create the second best comedy room in the Twin Cities. (No one's beating Acme) And that is something I can proudly say we have done. The talent that has been on our stage over the past 10 years continues to blow me away. Geoffrey Asmus was here recently and sold out four shows, on a holiday weekend.

I've always had the approach towards Sisyphus that some folks have towards comedy–if you set out to try and make something for everyone, you end up making something for no one.

Over the years, I have constantly chatted with people who just didn't get what I set out to do. I wasn't trying to be the biggest brewery, I didn't want my beers on tap or in liquor stores. I didn't want to expand or open another location. I was and am happy with the small place I have.

I've shared before (and it's on our website) the reason Sisyphus came to exist was because of my mental health struggles–a quest to find meaning, to want to continue existing. I just wanted to find my place in the world and make a living and a contribution. I've learned, changed, and grown so much in 10 years of working in this place that I love. While it is definitely still work, it is a challenge I choose to embrace, and will continue to for as long as I can.

Infinite thanks to all of the people that have stepped through these doors in the past 10 years. I couldn't have made it this far without you.

Just a few of many highlights of the past 10 years:

-Our mural got tagged and I got to go on WCCO Radio and say the phrase "Ass-Toy"

-14 comedy album recordings and four specials

-Michael Che drop-in on a random Thursday

-100% of ticket sales have been paid directly to the comedians

-National PBS show featured our comedy room in a docuseries

-CityPages wrote a feature story about the origins of the Sisyphus name

-Comedian tricked me into eating 150 mg edible and I tasted time

I'm open to any questions if people have them. Thanks for reading.

Originally posted on Reddit