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What do you do when you love all things beer-related, but you don't have enough cash to start your own brewery?

Maxwell Arndt, Brett Bartley and Colin McSteen are the three young men behind 

, which is devoted to making t-shirts, jewelry and soap, all about beer.

Arndt (whose favorite beer of the moment is Fitger's Apricot Wheat) says he and his schoolmate Colin (current beer: Lucid Camo) knew they wanted to do something involving beer after graduating from the Carlson School of Management in the spring of 2011.

Arndt says at that point the guys started drinking more coffee than beer, and Swag Brewery began to take shape. Brett Bartley (current beer of choice: Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barleywine) came on board as the resident web guru, and the team was complete.

Swag Brewery got its launch at the Cloud Craft Beer Expo in late January. Arndt says the business' main focus is to outfit consumers (often self-identified as "beer geeks") of the homebrewing and craft beer industries. But the guys have also started to dabble in supplying breweries with branded and private label products for their gift shops and online stores.

But with shopping considered a generally female pastime, and beer-drinking generally considered a primarily male pastime, will Swag Brewery find enough customers for its wares? Arndt thinks so.

While the guys behind Swag Brewery seem to have found a great niche for their creative energies, Arndt says they haven't ruled out opening a brewery some day down the road.

Arts and Culture

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Marianne Combs

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Three guys combine their love of beer with their marketing and graphic design skills.

Brewing a love for beer… through swag

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