Should new breweries have a "Dump Fund?"
It's becoming more and more common...
Whether I'm out trying a new brewery in my town or while I'm traveling...
I get excited for the experience, order a pint of whatever sounds good, and take a sip.
My brow furrows and my lips make a disapproving gesture.
Searching For The Perfect Pint
The beer is bad.
Usually there's a huge flaw. Often diacetyl, phenols, or acetaldehyde. Sometimes there's not just one flaw; it's the entire beer that's off - from the recipe, to the ingredients, to how it was stored and served.
If I close my eyes I might think I'm tasting one of the many below-average (we'll say to put it nicely) homebrews I judge in competitions.
Except those are homebrewers. I never say anything insulting on those score sheets and always provide helpful feedback for the brewer.
This brewery's beer, on the other hand, is something I paid for. And it should taste much better than an ill-fated homebrew entry.
Even my most non-beer geeky friends notice the poor quality at new breweries. That's when you know it's a problem.
Look, I get it:
The attitude is one of, "Hey, we know you're new and you're still getting the kinks out. We like you guys and support you, so we'll put up with sub-par beer until you figure things out."
And that's totally cool. It's something I really respect about the craft beer community, and I've been a willing participant myself.
Except that the problem is getting worse, and consumers are getting impatient. Here in Colorado, 64 new breweries opened in 2014. There are over 100 more in planning.
How long will consumers be willing to play guinea pig? Not long is my guess. When there are so many high quality options, why be a beta-tester for bad beer?
Expect Quality In Every Pint
Which leads me to my main point: When you open a brewery, you need to serve good beer from day 1.
The problem is often a lack of skill and experience. A lot of brewery owners jump into it without having worked at a professional brewery, gone to brewing school, or even before becoming a top-notch homebrewer.
But even a highly skilled homebrewer needs to learn how to brew on a professional scale. It's a totally different ballgame and takes time to learn the new equipment and process.
With that in mind, I suggest new breweries have "dump fund." It's for learning your system and dialing in your recipes.
Budget for a certain amount of batches that you're simply going to dump out because they're not ready for serving to the public.
Good Quality Beer Equals A Great Reputation
If batch #1 turns out delicious, great! Serve it. Just consider it a bonus.
Maybe some breweries do this already. I don't know and I'd be interested to hear how often this happens. This is what a pilot system is supposed to be for, except these start up breweries are so small that they are essentially pilot breweries themselves. Or if they are using pilot systems (most likely a homebrew system), something goes massively wrong when it's scaled up to the big system.
All I know is that there are many breweries serving their early batches that are clearly not ready yet.
Yes, this is easy for me to say when it's not my money on the line. A brewery owner is probably groaning right now over the added expense of this idea.
Or is it more expensive?
What about first impressions? What is the long-term cost to your reputation for serving bad beer?
As Will Rodgers said:
"It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute."
Whether it's a dump fund or not, the point is this: The time is coming when a brewery can't open with bad beer and survive in the marketplace. In fact, it may already be here.
It's becoming more and more common...
Whether I'm out trying a new brewery in my town or while I'm traveling...
I get excited for the experience, order a pint of whatever sounds good, and take a sip.
My brow furrows and my lips make a disapproving gesture.
Searching For The Perfect Pint
The beer is bad.
Usually there's a huge flaw. Often diacetyl, phenols, or acetaldehyde. Sometimes there's not just one flaw; it's the entire beer that's off - from the recipe, to the ingredients, to how it was stored and served.
If I close my eyes I might think I'm tasting one of the many below-average (we'll say to put it nicely) homebrews I judge in competitions.
Except those are homebrewers. I never say anything insulting on those score sheets and always provide helpful feedback for the brewer.
This brewery's beer, on the other hand, is something I paid for. And it should taste much better than an ill-fated homebrew entry.
Even my most non-beer geeky friends notice the poor quality at new breweries. That's when you know it's a problem.
Look, I get it:
- Opening a new brewery is crazy expensive (I've never heard of a start up brewery staying under budget).
- Breweries rarely open on time and they have countless people asking when they're going to open their doors. Not to mention restless investors. There is tremendous pressure to start pouring.
- When you invest all that money into equipment, permitting, renovations you need dough. You need to sell beer!
The attitude is one of, "Hey, we know you're new and you're still getting the kinks out. We like you guys and support you, so we'll put up with sub-par beer until you figure things out."
And that's totally cool. It's something I really respect about the craft beer community, and I've been a willing participant myself.
Except that the problem is getting worse, and consumers are getting impatient. Here in Colorado, 64 new breweries opened in 2014. There are over 100 more in planning.
How long will consumers be willing to play guinea pig? Not long is my guess. When there are so many high quality options, why be a beta-tester for bad beer?
Expect Quality In Every Pint
Which leads me to my main point: When you open a brewery, you need to serve good beer from day 1.
The problem is often a lack of skill and experience. A lot of brewery owners jump into it without having worked at a professional brewery, gone to brewing school, or even before becoming a top-notch homebrewer.
But even a highly skilled homebrewer needs to learn how to brew on a professional scale. It's a totally different ballgame and takes time to learn the new equipment and process.
With that in mind, I suggest new breweries have "dump fund." It's for learning your system and dialing in your recipes.
Budget for a certain amount of batches that you're simply going to dump out because they're not ready for serving to the public.
Good Quality Beer Equals A Great Reputation
If batch #1 turns out delicious, great! Serve it. Just consider it a bonus.
Maybe some breweries do this already. I don't know and I'd be interested to hear how often this happens. This is what a pilot system is supposed to be for, except these start up breweries are so small that they are essentially pilot breweries themselves. Or if they are using pilot systems (most likely a homebrew system), something goes massively wrong when it's scaled up to the big system.
All I know is that there are many breweries serving their early batches that are clearly not ready yet.
Yes, this is easy for me to say when it's not my money on the line. A brewery owner is probably groaning right now over the added expense of this idea.
Or is it more expensive?
What about first impressions? What is the long-term cost to your reputation for serving bad beer?
As Will Rodgers said:
"It takes a lifetime to build a good reputation, but you can lose it in a minute."
Whether it's a dump fund or not, the point is this: The time is coming when a brewery can't open with bad beer and survive in the marketplace. In fact, it may already be here.
