Olde Main Brewing Company is going public.

Beginning Friday, the Ames brewery’s three most popular beers will be available in convenience and grocery stores in bottled form.

Matt Sinnwell, off-premise sales account manager for Olde Main, said the Ames brews will be sold at both Hy-Vee locations, the Keg Shop, Cyclone Liquors, Southgate Express and Char’s starting Friday – with many more convenience and grocery stores joining the list over the course of the next week.

“We’ve always wanted to go to bottling and we think it’s the right time now,” said Scott Griffen, owner of Olde Main Brewing Company. “It’s a natural progression … ultimately we would like to build a plant just to produce beer.”

Although Friday marks the first time Olde Main’s beer will appear in bottles, the brewery’s beer has been available for purchase in other places. Olde Main sells kegs of its beer, and Welch Ave. Station carries Olde Main’s Off Kilt-er Scottish Ale on tap.

Even with that toehold on Ames bars, Olde Main doesn’t plan to expand its bottle sales to them right away.

“We’re not going to go into the bars right away; we will be in the bars in the next two to three months,” Griffen said. “We don’t know where our production level is going to be … so production may become a problem.”

No matter how big Olde Main may become, Griffen said he would prefer to keep the company in Iowa – preferably central Iowa – because he would like to grow grain specifically for brewing in-state. He also said he would like to take his beer sales to a statewide level within the next.

During the decision-making process to go public, Irwin said the support Griffen has shown him and the rest of the staff involved with the brewing process has been second to none.

“[Griffen] has been amazing as far as giving us not only his confidence, but financial backing to start this endeavor,” Irwin said. “We had to justify our sales keg-wise in justifying … a small package product.”

On Thursday, Olde Main hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony and held brewery tours while distributing their bottles to those who have remained loyal to the Ames product.

“Hopefully, in about a year we’ll be statewide,” Griffen said. “The reason we had an event tonight was because I wanted to say thank you to my employees and everyone else who has put this together, along with our regular customers.”

Ames resident Arlin Branhagen has been visiting Olde Main since it opened on Oct. 4, 2004, and said he “waited and waited” for a successfully brewery to open up in his hometown. In his mind, Olde Main has a good enough product to be successful selling it in bottled form.

“This bottle tastes really good,” Branhagen said as he took a sip of Olde Main’s Scottish Ale. “I think it should sell really well.”

Behind the scenes, the move by Olde Main is a lot more than just pouring a tasty beverage into a large glass container. Griffen called the decision to sell a bottled product a “huge financial undertaking” – a statement Irwin was not hesitant to second.

“Not every day has been rainbow kisses and sunshine – there has been some swearing in making this stuff work,” Irwin said. “For the owners to … justify this … you couldn’t ask for nicer people to work for.”

One event that will undoubtedly play a major role in deciding the success of Olde Main’s future is this summer’s 80/35 music festival located in Des Moines. The Ames brewery is slated to be the primary malt beverage provider for the event, which is anticipated to have an attendance of approximately 17,000 over July 4 and 5.

Irwin said the event will allow Olde Main to tap into a broader state market.

“That 80/35 festival is not only going to be amazing for Des Moines, but it’s really going to be amazing for us,” Irwin win said. “It’s going to give us a chance for us to showcase what we’ve made better over the three-and-a-half years. I would love to see people get excited about it and really demand it down in Des Moines, whether that be the grocery store or the local bar they go into to have a cocktail.”

Sinnwell said the support shown both in Des Moines and Ames has been “amazing, for a local product.”