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

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

#51

Post by petra »

tempsy wrote: post #9

I wish there was a "Stripe Atlas" for brick and mortar businesses. 90% of the work to start a restaurant, cafe, shop, etc., must be the near identical to others colocated in the same city/state. The rise of "ghost kitchens" tries to solve this in some way but I think there's opportunity to go further.

1. I wonder why we are not seeing "cloud brewing"? The process, as they describe it, seems very standard.

2. For restaurants, it's either "ghost/cloud kitchens" or franchises. If you go outside those, it's possible that restaurants require too much uniqueness and too much risk to fit a standardized model.

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

#52

Post by WarDores »

jerrysievert wrote: post #19

I've done a bit of consulting work for breweries and beer bars over the last couple of decades, nothing in the brewing process directly (mostly bespoke hardware and software solutions), but have had a great view into craft brewing. it seems like there hasn't been any real technological progress in craft brewing since the 90's. in the 90's, there were unix based control systems, with X11 interfaces, for larger craft b…

I'd love to hear more about this. I've thought a lot about this space, given that the business side is what seems to trip a lot of these enterprises up. And the business is connected with trends, COGS, seasonality, etc., the same as others in the space. There just aren't targeted ways of tracking/measuring these specific to the beer industry.

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

#53

Post by ehnto »

justinator wrote: post #45
walrus01 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As an enthusiastic road cyclist I don't think there has ever been a time in modern history when the cohort of people who ride 10,000km+ a year for general conditioning/cardio/training, and spend $2,000+ on road bikes, wasn't gender ratio skewed by at least 85:15 towards men. It is kind of unfortunate because there should really be nothing gender specific about cycling.

I think it's more about conventional gender roles, the gender pay gap, the fact that many women are scared to do things outside alone, than anything specifically manly about it.

Funnily enough I see lots of women on mountain bikes. I think mountain biking has a really clear delineation between fun and competition. Most mountain bikers have pretty relaxed attitudes, and very few compete. The goal is usually fun foremost. Compared to road cycling where it is more common to lean toward competition, personal performance and comparing to peers.

That said, I see it happening there too. Once bike prices started skyrocketing and it became quite a bit more popular, you can occasionally come across a bad personality on the trails. Still fairly rare though.

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

#54

Post by victor9000 »

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'…

The abundance of hops in beer is a west coast thing, as east coast beers tend to be more mild. So that's something to look into if west coast beers don't appeal to your palate. However, assigning a regional flavor to some sort of bravado seems odd. Do people say the same thing about a dry wine, a strong flavored cheese, or an Islay scotch? Of course not, so this seems more like a personal issue than anything else.

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

#55

Post by smogcutter »

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…

100% agreed. I think a few things go into it:

- Americans don’t really get exposed to good lagers and pilseners. We get Bud[1], not Budvar. So there’s no expectation that beers in those categories could possibly be “good”. IPAs don’t have the same baggage.

- For the same reason, it’s easier to differentiate from the big brands on a supermarket shelf. You get to be your own category, not just the more expensive version of what people think of as regular beer.

- Maximalist American food culture. It’s like when bacon became a meme and suddenly everything was covered in bacon. Fatty ramen became a trend for the same reason: it’s a simple, super-saturated flavor that’s easy to crank up to 11.

- Like you mention, it’s easier to brew.

The worst is when you’re given a menu of 40 indistinguishable IPAs all called like “HOPULATOR 9000” or whatever. Sometimes I just want to go out for a brewski, why did that have to get complicated?

[1]You know what? Bud on draft is fine. It’s not the best, but I like it, and I’ll certainly take a $3 pint of bud over a $9 snifter of “gnarly Steve’s surfs up mango hop smasher” or whatever.

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

#56

Post by mturmon »

seiferteric wrote: post #28
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…

Same here, but for me I swear overly hopped beers are a migraine trigger for me. I have had some beers that will give me a headache before I have even finished them! The bad association was enough for me to no longer like the taste of these beers. I only go for lighter ales/loggers or dark porters/stouts now but the stores are overloaded with extremely hoppy IPAs, but I guess that's what sells unfortunately.

This has been my experience also with hoppy beers. Sometimes the migraine will start after only a couple of ounces. I mostly drink lagers and wheat beers now.

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

#57

Post by legitster »

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…

I love me a good IPA, but there is a certain type of person I call the "IPA bro" who goes out of their way to order whatever has the highest ABV or IBU every time. I think it's like how hot sauce guys must have the hottest thing.

I've talked to many brewers and they said they would love to make more pales and lagers and sessions but that they don't sell.

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

#58

Post by jerrysievert »

WarDores wrote: post #52
jerrysievert wrote: post #19

I've done a bit of consulting work for breweries and beer bars over the last couple of decades, nothing in the brewing process directly (mostly bespoke hardware and software solutions), but have had a great view into craft brewing. it seems like there hasn't been any real technological progress in craft brewing since the 90's. in the 90's, there were unix based control systems, with X11 interfaces, for larger craft b…

I'd love to hear more about this. I've thought a lot about this space, given that the business side is what seems to trip a lot of these enterprises up. And the business is connected with trends, COGS, seasonality, etc., the same as others in the space. There just aren't targeted ways of tracking/measuring these specific to the beer industry.

> There just aren't targeted ways of tracking/measuring these specific to the beer industry.

there are, actually. if you're near Portland I'd discuss over a pint.

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

#59

Post by dsfyu404ed »

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…

>I have a personal theory that the overwhelming aroma and taste of hops in a beer can be used to mask many errors and missteps in the brewing process, which might be more easily tasted by the customer if it were, for example, a weissbier.

This is exactly it. An IPA is much more forgiving to lackluster consistency of material inputs and process control making it a perfect match for small operators that don't have those things dialed in yet (or can't afford to dial them in)

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

#60

Post by catbird »

petra wrote: post #51
tempsy wrote: post #9

I wish there was a "Stripe Atlas" for brick and mortar businesses. 90% of the work to start a restaurant, cafe, shop, etc., must be the near identical to others colocated in the same city/state. The rise of "ghost kitchens" tries to solve this in some way but I think there's opportunity to go further.

1. I wonder why we are not seeing "cloud brewing"? The process, as they describe it, seems very standard. 2. For restaurants, it's either "ghost/cloud kitchens" or franchises. If you go outside those, it's possible that restaurants require too much uniqueness and too much risk to fit a standardized model.

Cloud brewing is definitely a thing, but I think the name for it is "contract brewing." A larger brewery will allow a smaller/startup brewer to rent their facilities to make a few batches.
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