Any money in balanced beers?

[two_hearted]

If its well made beer, you have variety and there is something new to try every few weeks you should be just fine.

There is a great bar in town that features 15 or so different german beers (franzi, erdinger, paulaner, lowen, spaten, kostrizer, etc) They haven't had anything new (other than BMCPBR) in 10 years. It got boring, I stopped going.

 

[gr8shandini]

Thanks for all the replies. I've been pretty busy for the last couple of days so I'm just now catching up with this thread. I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in my view that quality beer will always be appreciated. In response to some of the common themes, let me start by saying that I'm several years from actually making this happen. The company I'm currently working for will pay for me to get an MBA so I figure I'll take advantage of that to bone up on the business side of things since even the best beer won't actually sell itself. Of course that will also mean that I'll owe them two years upon completion of the degree, so I'm at least 3 1/2 years from even thinking of making the jump.

As for the business model, I'm looking to return to PA (I'm originally from Pittsburgh and currently living in MD) and their licensing system doesn't seem to distinguish between a brewery and a brew pub. So I'd probably start off as a "brew pub plus" with kegs and growlers available to take home as well as the on site sales. And, of course, the lineup I listed would be my "dream" setup. I'd love to offer lagers, but I'm afraid that the cold storage costs and long turn around time would probably sink a startup.

I'm with ya, I like balanced beers and am in the process of setting up a brewpub. I will however make an IPA for the hop heads.
Would you be willing to share your pecan nut brown recipe, it sounds delicious ?

I'd love to share, but as with the brewpub idea, this is still mostly a thought experiment at this point. I've been meaning to give it a go for some time, but the near impossibility of obtaining pecan wood North of the Carolinas is holding me back.

 

[KozHops]

I am a big fan of this idea. I think extreme beers have their place but I personally like the idea of having them on the menu as a seasonal option and brewing traditional beers year round. I think that being labeled as a brewpub or microbrewery will initially get people into the door, it's the variety and (forgive me) the drinkability that will keep them coming back.

As someone posted earlier, I think a lot of what goes into creating a marketable, local product is getting out in the community and becoming a recognizable brand. People want to support local, so buying into a quality product that gets out and gives back to the local community is a great place to start.

Good luck with this, I think you have the right idea.

 

[cyraxx]

I love all styles of beer, and I wish that there were more places that could brew Bitters, etc. properly. I personally think that good beer will out. If the beer is good, those that know enough will seek it out and drink it, with or without gimmicks.

 

[thisjrp4]

I agree with keeping it simple and brewing drinkable classic styles. I tasted a new start-ups brown ale that has chili peppers, brown sugar, cinamon, and something else in it. What's the point in that, can't they just brew a good brown ale without all the crap in it. THey have another horseradish beer. Beers like that are a novelty that are fun when you have a 2 oz tasting at a show, but who really goes out and buys that stuff? Most people - even non beer geeks like local brews, so make something people want to have a few of.

 

[cfonnes]

Permanent features:
Very traditional English best bitter
An ever so slightly over-hopped Irish red ale
Rye APA
Classic Pilsner

Seasonals:
Dry stout and/or porter
Wit or Hefe
Marzen/Oktoberfest
Schwarzbier (I don't know if anyone would buy it, but I love the hell out of them)
A specialty beer to subtly showcase just ONE non-standard ingredient (e.g. a Pecan smoked nut brown)

If you can make that lineup at 4%, you would be like every brew pub in Utah.

 

[bovineblitz]

I agree with keeping it simple and brewing drinkable classic styles. I tasted a new start-ups brown ale that has chili peppers, brown sugar, cinamon, and something else in it. What's the point in that, can't they just brew a good brown ale without all the crap in it. THey have another horseradish beer. Beers like that are a novelty that are fun when you have a 2 oz tasting at a show, but who really goes out and buys that stuff? Most people - even non beer geeks like local brews, so make something people want to have a few of.

The Extreme Beer Fest in Boston is kinda like that. Short's especially, they bring all sorts of off the wall stuff like carrot cake beer, key lime pie, peanut butter and jelly... and they're seriously awesome for the festival and I love that they do it. A few days later I was talking to a bartender about the festival and her bar had a bunch of the extreme beers on tap, she said that she thought they were all pretty gross and customers weren't too thrilled about half the time.

Really extreme beers like that are just not very marketable, people will order it once for novelty but they won't be coming back.

On topic... what about IIPA's? I find that they tend to be a lot more balanced than your typical American IPA. In my experience people tend to work towards liking hoppiness through trying imperials first because they're just not as extreme despite being higher in alcohol.