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HBHoss said:
The state is taking its sweet time approving my new license so I won't be starting until I have approval from them.
I agree with the economics of this. I have 5 interested parties ready to taste my brew to see if they want to carry it in their establishments. I don't mind waiting, it gives the beer longer to age.
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Like a fine wine Hoss things will get better hang in there bro as 2010 has to be a better year for all. Once past the paperwork it sounds like your in business, best of luck with 2010 with your grand opening. BTW, any more snow in your area lately?
 
Sorry, couldn't figure out how to subscribe without posting, so while I am I have to say that this is freaking AMAZING! Congrats man, good luck and stay with it.

I would love to do it, but the laws and permits up here in Ontario, Canada are crazy difficult.

I opened just a coffee shop (w/o beer or liquor licence) and it took us about four months to jump through all the hoops.

:mug:
 
klyph said:
How much reserve do you have on hand?
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BrewBeemer said:
Like a fine wine Hoss things will get better hang in there bro as 2010 has to be a better year for all. Once past the paperwork it sounds like your in business, best of luck with 2010 with your grand opening. BTW, any more snow in your area lately?
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I have 7 beers ready to serve in my 4 tap system and 10 more gallons fermenting right now.

We just had some rain but no snow at my level.
 
Got a call yesterday from the poshest restaurant in town inviting me to an official beer tasting. About 140 invited guests will be there and she has myself, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and one or two more beers slated to be there. If it goes well then they will want to sell my beer. Not only that but the guests are usually upper crust local business types which may further increase my sales.
:eek: It should be interesting to see how I stack up against Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. I figure the big guys will bring in either something new or their most popular, or both. I should counter that with something different like a Hazelnut Brown Ale I just kegged and a mild Raspberry Wheat then I could go higher with a Scottish Wee Heavy and a Brown Ale. What do you all think?
 
First...wow, that is awesome. A homebrewer agains one of the best breweries I know (debateable, I know).

In my opinion, I would bring them all as a just in case. Wouldn't want to bring just the hazelnut and raspberry in case they aren't looking for that kind of flavored beer. Or if you can only bring two, bring one of those and the brown or wee heavy. I don't know, I am just so excited for you. Think of all that exposure!!!!

No pressure though. ;)
 
I can see the advantage of bringing something different, but if you have the resources, I would personally bring something different as well as something similar to New Belgium and Sierra Nevada's flagship beers. You'll show them that they can get the same or better quality from a local source.
 
Be like a good pirate, come with all your cannons fully loaded with the maximum amount of black powder in them, come to win not a fizzle of defeat.
Go for it with your large variety of samples. Congrats, seems that larger brewery that's in storage will be in action sooner than you think once you get the bier flowing after all the legal paperwork is finally blessed. I see a road trip with the wifey in your direction. You go Hoss.
 
That's awesome! I can see how you're torn on what too bring. On one hand, it can be pretty intimidating putting a pale ale against SNPA (arguably, the gold standard) but at the same time, it would be awesome if you can hold your own which I'm sure you can.

In a tasting like this, it's probably some random sales person bringing the kegs for 'the big boys' while the owner himself will be selecting kegs from your brewery. You might try getting the contacts of those folks and asking what they are bringing.

Of course, you could also just come out swinging and bring everything you got.
 
HBHoss said:
Got a call yesterday from the poshest restaurant in town inviting me to an official beer tasting. About 140 invited guests will be there and she has myself, Sierra Nevada, New Belgium and one or two more beers slated to be there. If it goes well then they will want to sell my beer. Not only that but the guests are usually upper crust local business types which may further increase my sales.
:eek: It should be interesting to see how I stack up against Sierra Nevada and New Belgium. I figure the big guys will bring in either something new or their most popular, or both. I should counter that with something different like a Hazelnut Brown Ale I just kegged and a mild Raspberry Wheat then I could go higher with a Scottish Wee Heavy and a Brown Ale. What do you all think?
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That sounds awesome boss, what event is that? I may be interested if it is open.
 
well I dont want to sound like a parrot but yeah you might as well bring everything you can. Though I guess I would make sure to bring along your best Brown as they tend to do good just about anywhere. The Raspberry Wheat sounds interesting too and personally I would choose that over the Scottish brew if you have a limited choice , but once again thats just me.

Since its New Belgium you can reasonably guess whats going to be there, probably Fat tire and 2 below will most likely.Though I wouldnt be suprised if they had their "Mothership wit white" beer or 1554 dark ale there also
 
For starters, bring a crowd pleaser, something that you know everyone likes. Then for those more "enthusiastic" about beer, bring a hoppy beer like an IPA. Finally, bring a specialty...your Hazelnut Brown or the Raspberry Wheat sounds perfect. Something for everyone!
 
County Health is trying to piss on my parade here. They rejected my plans as not being detailed enough. I told him I don't prepare food, all I do is fill a small glass and hand it to the customer. Seems if you sell bottles of beer you are a food handling establishment. WTF???? Now they are having my brother get a food permit to sell his wine, something he's never had to do in the past. State is obviously hungry for money. :mad:
This time I'll give them all the detail they need just like he wants.
 
Hang in there Hoss.

It's a sad reality that one clown can hang up the entire process.

Probably a neo-Prohibitionist!


Of all the horror stories that I have heard about the feds, they ended up being the easiest/nicest to work with, and it's the local guys that can be a pain.
 
Vinic said:
Hang in there Hoss.

It's a sad reality that one clown can hang up the entire process.

Probably a neo-Prohibitionist!


Of all the horror stories that I have heard about the feds, they ended up being the easiest/nicest to work with, and it's the local guys that can be a pain.
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Totally agree. All the Feds want is your tax money so they were the easiest to work with.
 
I was talking to a wine vendor at my local farmer's market this past weekend and she echoed similar sentiments. Basically the feds couldn't give a damn. They are even letting a guy out in Purcellville build a distillery. However, the locals are a different beast altogether. Basically, if they don’t really have that much to monitor (rural Virginia) then they have more time to spend nitpicking. Best of luck!
 
A little antidote while you're waiting:

After the homeland security act was inacted, we came under the watch of the FDA for the first time. They sent an agent out to our place (note that up until that date I had not yet seen a TTB agent after 7 years in business). But the FDA guy was apologetic from the moment he walked through our doorway, "I have no idea why they sent me to such a small facility. I just go where they tell me to."

The guy was extremely nice and soon disclosed that he was a home brewer, to which I told him that I'm a home brewer too. Suddenly we had a common cord and hit it off quite well from the start.

I found it important to have a few obvious hits. Looks good for them if they find something. They write you up, you correct it, everyone is happy.​
 
Vinic said:
A little antidote while you're waiting:

After the homeland security act was inacted, we came under the watch of the FDA for the first time. They sent an agent out to our place (note that up until that date I had not yet seen a TTB agent after 7 years in business). But the FDA guy was apologetic from the moment he walked through our doorway, "I have no idea why they sent me to such a small facility. I just go where they tell me to."

The guy was extremely nice and soon disclosed that he was a home brewer, to which I told him that I'm a home brewer too. Suddenly we had a common cord and hit it off quite well from the start.

I found it important to have a few obvious hits. Looks good for them if they find something. They write you up, you correct it, everyone is happy.​
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So true. Let them find something to justify their job.
The guy at the Health dept. told me that the Beer people need to get a better lobbyist. The Wine lobbyists have made it so none of the same rules apply to them.
I used to work with radioactive materials and expected the inspectors to be tough but some of these things they require just to sell beer is beyond that.
 
Kilted Brewer said:
So these inspections have just been for the tasting room, correct? How about your brewery itself. Do they have to inspect that?
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So far it has just been involving the tasting room. As far as I know, no inspections for the Brewery. The brewery would fail if it had to meet the same standards as the tasting room. Perhaps since it's not a public place and I'm not dealing with the public at the brewery, it doesn't have to meet the same standards.
Makes me think that perhaps I should just go wholesale and forget the public side of the business.
 
California? Hungry for money? But why? Oh... crap, that is right. $20B budget deficit.

One of my FAs last week who lives in Cali said that she STILL has not recieved her tax refund from 2008?

Hope they get what they want, so you can get what you want Hoss.
 
The Pol said:
California? Hungry for money? But why? Oh... crap, that is right. $20B budget deficit.

One of my FAs last week who lives in Cali said that she STILL has not recieved her tax refund from 2008?

Hope they get what they want, so you can get what you want Hoss.
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Perhaps Ahnold should legalize weed and leave us little guys alone.
 
HBHoss said:
Perhaps Ahnold should legalize weed and leave us little guys alone.
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I hear it is the largest cash crop in CA...

This is the crappy side of too much spending, the only people that pay for it are the people working and trying to eek out a living man. They need to throw you a bone, you are trying to do something, you are trying to pay taxes.
 
The Pol said:
I hear it is the largest cash crop in CA...

This is the crappy side of too much spending, the only people that pay for it are the people working and trying to eek out a living man. They need to throw you a bone, you are trying to do something, you are trying to pay taxes.
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I'll take some of that stimulus money. I wonder where it is???? :D
Thankfully they haven't stopped me from brewing beer so I'll just keep washing out kegs and brewing beer. I mean, hell, someone's got to do it might as well be me. :D
 
HBHoss said:
The guy at the Health dept. told me that the Beer people need to get a better lobbyist. The Wine lobbyists have made it so none of the same rules apply to them.
I used to work with radioactive materials and expected the inspectors to be tough but some of these things they require just to sell beer is beyond that.
Click to expand...


I think they do have good lobbyists...that is the large brewers and distributors. Their interests are protected quite well.
 
Had a very successful first beer tasting event last night. A lot of people kept coming back for more and a lot of compliments. The 4 that I served were a Raspberry Wheat (a hit with the ladies), Boston Red Ale (2nd most popular), Brown Ale and a Scottish Wee Heavy which was the most popular and most talked about beer that evening. There was a rep from Sierra Nevada, who didn't even try my beer, and beers, but no reps, from New Belgium and Anderson Valley breweries. Also there was another local brewery called Mariposa Brewery and they even liked my beer. Quite a few local homebrewers were there so I told them about HBT and how great a site it is.
Now I just have to wait for state approval and I can start selling to an anticipatory crowd. :ban:
 

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