Not many small companies can claim to be the driving force behind a new state law. But then, not many companies have enjoyed the rapid rise of Surly Brewing.

Brooklyn Center-based craft brewer Surly was the impetus behind the so-called Surly Bill, a 2011 law that would allow the breweries to sell pints of beer on their premises, a crack in previous laws that separated the roles of alcohol manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

Now Surly, which employed fewer than 25 recently, is a year away from opening a $20 million “destination brewery” in southeast Minneapolis — and plans to employ between 150 and 200 by this time in 2014.

The lessons from that ascendance were the main topic Wednesday in a conversation with Surly founder and CEO Omar Ansari held at the University of St. Thomas’s Opus School of Business. As part of the school’s “Intersections in Entrepreneurship” series, professor of entrepreneurship Alec Johnson talked with Ansari about his company’s history and philosophy in front of about 100 students and alumni.

Started in January 2004, Surly opened for business at a time when there was only one other brewery in the Twin Cities, Summit Brewing Co. Ansari, who brewed beer at home then, said he was passionate about good beer but even more so about being a successful businessman. He bought and sold a couple of town homes to finance the company at first.

“Our goals starting out were to make great beer — and make payroll every two weeks,” he said.

Surly set itself apart by zeroing in on a specific market: the dyed-in-the-wool “beer geeks” who populated online forums, attended beer festivals and feverishly traded “firkins” of their favorite brews. The brewery established itself as part of that culture not by working to become a staple in bars and liquor stores, but by attending beer-related events and releasing special, one-time brews for collectors.

“We had been open a month when someone asked us what we would be making next,” Ansari said. “We realized that there was a whole legion of beer geeks who didn’t have someone making beer for them. We engaged the super fans.”

Ansari acknowledged that it would be hard for a new brewer to succeed in Minnesota with that strategy now.

The company also took small chances, going against the grain by putting its brew in cans, traditionally considered a no-no by craft-beer connoisseurs. Now Surly is known as “beer for a glass, from a can,” and Ansari said even bottle-bound Summit is coming out with a line of canned brews.

Working the Capitol

Before the so-called Surly Bill, Minnesota was one of just a handful of states that didn’t allow breweries to sell pints on-site. Ansari and his lobbyists were able to use that as leverage — along with the startling growth in craft brewers in the state. The number of breweries and brewpubs is expected to reach 50 by next year, up from 20 only three years ago.

Surly succeeded at the Capitol by keeping its goals relatively modest — asking only for permission to sell beer as opposed to other drinks and limiting the law to small brewers — and by sticking to its guns.

“We were offered various deals in the Legislature,” Ansari said. “But we knew this one way was the only way that would work for us.”

The tack Surly took at the Legislature also showed it to be a true 21st-century business. Along with going the traditional route of aggressively lobbying legislators, Surly turned to its fans to wave the flag for the Surly Bill via social media. During the company’s 2011 push at the Capitol, the company gained more than 6,000 new Facebook fans.

“We used those media to drive the message,” said Ansari. “Without that presence, we would have gotten crushed.”

The new law dovetailed with rising sales to create the impetus for Surly’s new space, which will include a restaurant, beer garden, bar, events center and rooftop terrace.

The company paid $1.8 million for an 8.3-acre site in the Prospect Park neighborhood of Minneapolis and received $2 million in environmental remediation grants from Hennepin County. Plans call for a 50,000-square-foot structure containing a brewery and beer hall, with adjacent recreation space and festival gardens.

The site is at 3171 Fifth St. SE in Minneapolis and includes an acre in St. Paul. The site is east of the University of Minnesota’s TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis and within walking distance of the Central Corridor Light Rail Transit line’s Prospect Park Station. The station is set to open next year near 29th Avenue and Fourth Street Southeast. Surly will keep its first brewery in Brooklyn Center.

To brace for Surly’s growth spurt, Ansari said he has outsourced the brewery’s distribution for the first time and hired the company’s first chief financial officer. Next up, he hopes: a human resources director.

“Our goal was to bring an experience to Minnesota that wasn’t here before,” he said. “We want to build a destination for people who want to see where beer is brewed.”