Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

drinks.seriouseats.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

151–160 of 303 posts

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#151

Post by schnevets »

every wrote: post #134

OK, add brewery to the list of bed and breakfast, bar, restaurant, movie theater and book store. All things people fantasize about owning yet know nothing of how grindingly difficult and prone to failure they are. Dream on...

They're all "Richard Scarry" jobs where you can still make a living being the "best" in a small area. Few people aspire to become a butcher or carpenter or farmer any more because different aspects of modern living have removed the ownership of these roles (or rendered them completely obsolete).

Brewing (alongside baking) is one of a few jobs to actually resurrect itself as a luxury good where it is lucrative to stay small.

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#152

Post by 01100011 »

From what I've read and from talking to friends in the industry, there isn't a ton of money to be made making suds unless you get bought out for your brand. That said, I think it's a fun business for the right kind of person.

Running a brewery is generally far easier than running any other kind of alcoholic establishment. The permits are often easier and the hours are limited. One successful approach I've seen is to locate cheap light industrial space around well paying businesses in areas with horrible traffic. You'll capture a well behaved, affluent clientele and only need to open from 4-9pm. Even in towns with a saturated brewery market (San Diego...), there are areas which still need breweries because of the effects of traffic. Many folks would much rather wait for traffic to die down with a beer in their hands, and maybe grab a quick food truck dinner.

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#153

Post by apr »

starpilot wrote: post #142
munificent wrote: post #32

I live in Seattle where the IPA thing is just out of hand. My uncharitable pet theory is this: A certain class of men (sometimes women, but it's almost always men) get interested in something and then desire to make it part of their identity. That in turn means they want to convey that they are more into it than other people. Their passion expresses itself as competition. Most people that aren't really into beer don'…

https://brokeassstuart.com/2018/01/29/stop-pretending-like-i... Taste is a weird thing. People hate bitter coffee, but seem to worship bitter beers.

That's a broad and unsubstantiated statement about coffee. Personally I love bitter coffee.

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#154

Post by fizwhiz »

mumblemumble wrote: post #81
walrus01 wrote: post #2

My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…

Former home brewer and, for a short time, amateur beer judge here. You've got it right. It's not that more hops = better beer. It's that more hops = easier beer. Malt-forward beers are much more difficult to get right, and require a lot of very careful attention to detail. Hops are easy: Just throw them into the batch and set a timer. Their strong flavor is also useful for masking a lot of consistency problems and of…

These are the kind of insightful comments I come to HN for! What a stark contrast against another comment lamenting that men get overly competitive/nerdy about their hobbies thus engaging in "mentrification" or whatever tf that is.

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#155

Post by gregkerzhner »

walrus01 wrote: post #2

My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…

Pretty much the opposite here, I only drink IPA - hoppier the better! Having traveled and sampled IPAs all over the world, I can say that for the most part, its a style that people can't really get right. Not really sure why, but my general experience has been that the further your IPA is from the west coast, the worse its going to be. My world ranking would be

1st tier - California, Oregon, Washington - if its from a smallish brewery, it will be a good, hoppy IPA

2nd tier - Colorado / Idaho / Nevada / Montana - has some good IPAs, but could be hit or miss

3rd tier - Rest of USA - very hit or miss. At best it will be as good as a good west coast beer and at worst it will be strange and malty

4th tier - Australia / New Zeland - maybe best non USA IPAs ive ever had was from Pirate Brewing in Australia. This might be because of the high quality of new zeland hops.

5th tier Europe - Good luck! Had some pretty good IPAs in Ireland, and maybe some half decent ones from Britain, but overall the stuff they market as "IPA" tastes wrong, malty and flat.

6th tier Asia - Had a good ipa (on tap!) from Demo Pizza bar in Yangshuo China. Also some good ones in Hong Kong 7th tier: Africa - had one or two good IPAs in South Africa but for the most part its not really IPA

Overall, I think a good predictive equation for the quality of your IPA would be

quality = 1 / (distance_from_usa_west_coast * distance_from_a_city_with_brew_scene).

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#156

Post by AareyBaba »

munificent wrote: post #32

I live in Seattle where the IPA thing is just out of hand. My uncharitable pet theory is this: A certain class of men (sometimes women, but it's almost always men) get interested in something and then desire to make it part of their identity. That in turn means they want to convey that they are more into it than other people. Their passion expresses itself as competition. Most people that aren't really into beer don'…

  ABV = Alcohol by Volume
  IBU = International Bitterness Units

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#157

Post by tomatotomato37 »

munificent wrote: post #32

I live in Seattle where the IPA thing is just out of hand. My uncharitable pet theory is this: A certain class of men (sometimes women, but it's almost always men) get interested in something and then desire to make it part of their identity. That in turn means they want to convey that they are more into it than other people. Their passion expresses itself as competition. Most people that aren't really into beer don'…

A very similar theory to geek/mop evolution of subcultures:

https://meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#158

Post by munificent »

ljm wrote: post #78
munificent wrote: post #32

I live in Seattle where the IPA thing is just out of hand. My uncharitable pet theory is this: A certain class of men (sometimes women, but it's almost always men) get interested in something and then desire to make it part of their identity. That in turn means they want to convey that they are more into it than other people. Their passion expresses itself as competition. Most people that aren't really into beer don'…

It feels a little cynical. You can enjoy beer and music and stuff without getting into a dick measuring contest. If all they want to do is one-up you then they’re not your friend. Find someone who listens to you. If that’s their way of enjoying things, then what’s so bad about it? They presumably dislike a lot of the hobbies you enjoy, they’re not out there to ‘mentrify’ them. (Why this gendered insulting is okay whe…

> You can enjoy beer and music and stuff without getting into a dick measuring contest.

Sure, and most do, across genders.

> If that’s their way of enjoying things, then what’s so bad about it?

Every act tends to have social/economic implications that affect how others participate, even if unintentional. Walk into a bar now, and often eight out of the ten taps are high IBU IPAs. Fewer choices for people that aren't into the hops competition.

Some people will be rude to others who don't want to play the competitive game.

> (Why this gendered insulting is okay when it’s aimed against men, I don’t know.)

Men collectively have enough power to handle a funny critical term without risk of being marginalized.

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#159

Post by munificent »

Enginerrrd wrote: post #49
munificent wrote: post #32

I live in Seattle where the IPA thing is just out of hand. My uncharitable pet theory is this: A certain class of men (sometimes women, but it's almost always men) get interested in something and then desire to make it part of their identity. That in turn means they want to convey that they are more into it than other people. Their passion expresses itself as competition. Most people that aren't really into beer don'…

I feel like this is reading into it a bit much. I'm not that into beer, but I really like hoppy IPA's and always have. Even in high school / college, if the only option was cheap beer, I just wouldn't drink it because I didn't enjoy it. I preferred microbrew beers, and found that I didn't really like belgians/red ales/porters/etc. But I loved my first sip of a fresh Lagunitas IPA. I noticed that not all batches were…

Sure, I didn't mean to imply that all people who like hoppy beers do this. (I like IPAs too sometimes.) Just that some do, and they are loud and vocal enough that they influence the entire scene in ways that are a negative for others.

Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)

#160

Post by munificent »

lordgrenville wrote: post #143
munificent wrote: post #32

I live in Seattle where the IPA thing is just out of hand. My uncharitable pet theory is this: A certain class of men (sometimes women, but it's almost always men) get interested in something and then desire to make it part of their identity. That in turn means they want to convey that they are more into it than other people. Their passion expresses itself as competition. Most people that aren't really into beer don'…

I have a theory that every subculture attracts two types of adherents: people who are genuinely enthusiastic about it and love introducing their passion to new people, and those looking for a way to set themselves apart, who primarily want to gatekeep and condescend to those not "in the know". It's easy to tell the two groups apart by their reaction when meeting a curious outsider. It sounds like your description wou…

> I have a theory that every subculture attracts two types of adherents: people who are genuinely enthusiastic about it and love introducing their passion to new people, and those looking for a way to set themselves apart, who primarily want to gatekeep and condescend to those not "in the know".

Yes, definitely.

There are some who feel that their membership in the group is all they have and thus the more people in the group, the relatively less they are. Insecurity is the root of gatekeeping.

Post reply on HN