Bad Beer

Off Flavors in Beer

09/02/09 @ 08:10:33 am, by Kate Hopkins 202 views • Categories: Beer

Brewing is essentially a lesson in chemistry. What this means is that to get a perfect or neat perfect result, attention to detail must take place in the brewing process. There are many, many ways in which a beer can go wrong.

So what happens if a brewer's attention lapses, or their knowledge base isn't up to the task? Off flavors occur in the beer.

Now it should be noted that sometimes an off flavor is desired. I'll note those when appropriate to do so.

Here is a list of flavors that indicate that something may have gone wrong.

Skunky
Symptoms: It smells like a skunk. Tastes like it as well.
Causes: Mercaptan created when Ultraviolet light isomerizes with the alpha acids in the beer. In other words, the beer interacted with light, hence the other term used for this off flavor - lightstruck.
Fixes: Only store beers in brown bottles, and keep out of the sun once poured. It only takes 20 minutes or so for a beer to go bad in the sun.
Ever Appropriate? No.

Diacetyl
Symptoms: Butter aroma or flavor. Small amounts come across as toffee, large amounts come across as butterscotch. Also leaves a slickness on the palate.
Causes:Incomplete fermentation; low temperature fermentation; Pediococcus (lactic Acid Bacteria; Long periods of wort cooling; underpitching of yeast.
Fixes:Allow for a full fermentation at a high temperature, as well as good sanitization habits should reduce the probability of this by a high amount.
Ever Appropriate? Yes. Scotch Ales, English Bitters, Dry stouts, Czech Pils, and Oktoberfests are all allowed to have this flavor.

Sour - Acetaldehyde
Symptoms: Tastes of grass or green apples. Strong vinegar or cider-like tastes
Causes: Premature removal from yeast; premature flocculation; to little oxygen for the yeast; bacterial spoilage; oxidation
Fixes: Full fermentation from a good yeast strain, and aeration of the wort will help prevent this.
Ever Appropriate? American Light Lagers, Standard Lagers, and Premium Lagers all allow for low levels of this. You can thank the folks of Budweiser for making this allowable.

Sour - Lactic Acid
Symptoms: Sour for sour's sake. It's a clean sour, not smelling like grass or apples. So if it tastes tart, but doesn't smell like grass or apples, it's probably lactic acid. There also might be a slight vinegar smell. Think white vinegar instead of cider vinegar.
Causes: Poor Sanitation; Acid Creating Bacteria; Some yeast strains; Excessive acid rest; Excessive mashing; storage of beer at warm temperature; Scratched fermenters (harder to clean, so more susceptible for Acid creating bacteria)
Fixes: Good Sanitation practices and using a different yeast strain is a good start. Shorter acid rests and mashing for less than two hours will also help.
Ever Appropriate? Good god yes. You've heard of Belgium right? Witbiers,Lambics and Flanders Ale all are perfect for lactic acid, as well as Berliner Weisse. Sourness is optional for American wheat or Rye beers, Dry Stouts, and Saisons.

Sweet
Symptoms: Tastes excessively sweet. Feels syrupy on the palate and sugary to the taste.
Causes: Low attenuation of the yeast strain; high temperature mash; addition of excessive sweet malts like dextrin or crystal malts; addition of lactose; poor yeast health
Fixes: Buy good yeast, reduce your grain composition to reduce the amount of sweeter malts, and ensure proper wort oxygenation should help you out.
Ever Appropriate? Yup. strong ales and lagers should be quite sweet. American light lagers and lambics should be slightly sweet.

Astringent
Symptoms: A puckering of the taste buds, with a possible unpleasant burn on the back of the throat.
Causes: To may tannins extracted from the grains. Overcrushing the grains, oversparging the mash, and a high pH balance of the water all lead to a perfect storm of astringency. Overhopping can cause this as well.
Fixes: Don't overcrush the grain, use a low temperature sparge, and watch the pH levels of the water. Being concerned with sanitization couldn't hurt either.
Ever Appropriate? Nope, Never.

Penolics
Symptoms: Smells and tastes like a band-aid, plastic or chloroseptic. Also smoke and/or clove taste or amoma is indicative of this.
Causes: Wild yeast; improper sanitation; the use of tap water; Using chlorine bleach as a sanitizer; some yeast and malt strains bring this; high pH water
Fixes: Use pure yeast strains, practice good sanitation, and use filtered water instead of tap, and you'll go a long way to preventing this.
Ever Appropriate? Cloves and Smoke? yes. Band-aids, medicinal, or plastic? No. Cloves and smoke are appropriate for some Belgian beers, smoked beers, and some wheat beers.

Esters
Symptoms: Smells and tastes fruity, especially like banana, but pears, strawberries, apples, even citrus are sometimes symptoms.
Causes:Alcohols combining with acids at higher temperatures; some strains of yeast; higher fermentation temperatures.
Fixes: Choose a different yeast or lower your fermentation temperature.
Ever Appropriate?Yup. Ales, Doppelbocks, Eisbocks allow for this. American Dark Lager can have a small amount

Oxidized
Symptoms: Smells and tastes of paper, wet cardboard, or slight sherry.
Causes:Oxidative yeasts acting on higher alcoholic content beers create aldehydes.
Fixes: Use a different yeast strain, or lower the grist as to create less alcohol. You could also serve beer younger and/or ferment cooler.
Ever Appropriate? Oh yes. Hello barleywines. English Old Ales as well.

Musty
Symptoms: Smells and tastes like a damp basement, moss, or a wet garden.
Causes:Aeration of hot wort, or of beer during bottling.
Fixes: Prevent the aforementioned aeration when in wort or when bottling should nip this in the bud.
Ever Appropriate? Oddly enough, yes. Biere de Garde. Oh those wacky French.

Dimethyl Sulfide (DMS)
Symptoms: Vegetal tastes and aromas, particularly cooked corn, celery, and/or cabbage. Even shellfish like in higher amounts.
Causes: Poor sanitation; covered wort; not boiling the wort for at least an hour; contaminated yeast; over-sparging with water below 160 F; excessive cooling of the wort; underpitching the yeast
Fixes: Good Sanitation, and an open rolling boil for an hour or more should help with this. Fresh yeast and proper sparging will help as well.
Ever Appropriate? That Cream Ale you think smells like creamed corn? It's supposed to smell that way.

Meeting?

Who is available for a meeting on Sat?

How did the week go?

Did we get the kegs? Did we find any prepaid legal services?
I haven't contacted the other home-brewery, but there is no trademark on the name and we can use it in the state.

12 and 22oz brown glass bottle

I went by TricorBraun yesterday.

Brown crown top bottles

OI 12 oz pallet (144) cost: $ 0.36 (52)
OI 22 oz pallet (720) cost: $0.66 (475)

contact: Carl S. Lee
344-7575
(pretty nice)

Stainless Steel Stockpots

Rob,
What size pot would you need if the kegs didn't work or we cant get kegs?
If you need 50 liters, a new 53qt stock pot is about $247. They are hard to find used. : (

What else do you need? Equipment 4 Less sells used restaurant equipment for reasonable prices, so let me know and I'll give them a call. I also know a guy called Denis who has some stuff. (It should be a man that deals with him, I'm not comfortable with him.)

Review of 8/7 Meeting

I haven't been doing this, but I think it's a good idea.

Review of 8/7 Meeting

No Hate
Name: Backlot Brewing Company
Legal: Jason in TX (maybe get some references for local lawyers?)
Business Entity: S Corp
Free nonalcoholic drinks for DD
Beer Brats and Burgers

To Do:
Marcus: prepaid legal services
Nick: Keg this week
Leigh: Backlot name and research logo design
Rob: Equipment list

Trademark

I did a trademark search for Backlot.
No Backlot Brewing Company or Backlot Brewery.

Tee Hee

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff34/backbyoctober/57028e5f-6b14-4a29-aefb-beb2ccc9a75.jpg

Supplies

I think the first thing we need to procure is three stainless steel kegs. Nick, do you think this is possible? After that there is hardware we'll have to pick up for the frame, water works, heating, and chilling. The kegs are the first big hurdle though.

Logo Design Questions

*COMPANY-RELATED QUESTIONS*

1- How would you describe your services and/or products?

2- What are the long term goals of your company?

3- Why do you want a new logo? (if they already have one) What do you want your new logo to accomplish?
This question helps to understand the problem.

4- Who are your main competitors?
Having clients provide links allows you to get a better feel for their market and competition.

5- How are you different from your competitors?

6- What’s the age range of your target customer base?
Helps in creating an overall feeling and impression of the logo.

*PROJECT-RELATED QUESTIONS*

7- Do you have a tag line? If so, would you like it stated along side your logo?

8- Do you have any specific imagery in mind for your logo?

9- Do you have any color preferences, or existing brand colors?

10- Do you have any colors that you do not wish to use?

11- What adjectives should best describe your logo?

12- What feeling or message do you want your logo to convey to those who view it?

13- How do you prefer your logo to be worded or written out?
Example: thedesigncubicle or the design cubicle

14- How would you like the typography to appear?
Example: script, bold, light, hand drawn, custom lettering

15- Where will you logo be used?
Example: print, web…

16- Where will your logo primarily be used?
If the primary usage is for the web, typically horizontal logos work best.

17- What’s your preferred deadline, time frame or exact date of completion?

18- Budget?
This is where I provide various pricing and concept numbers.

19- Would you like any addition design services to be packaged with your new logo?
Example: business cards, envelops, letterheads, etc.

20- What logos appeal to you and why?
Another question they can also with links and visual examples.

Source

Agenda for 8/7 MOTM

Brainstorm Names

1. define the qualities that you want your business to be identified with.
2. looking in dictionaries, books and magazines
3. your name should be easy to pronounce
4. make sure that your name is in no way embarrassing
5. take a close look at the competition
6. weigh who's out there already, what type of branding approaches they have taken, and how you can use a name to separate yourself
7. coined names can be even more meaningful than existing words

Discuss start-up funds

1. What is needed
2. Who needs some and for what
3. Where will it come from?

Sharepoint

1. Tips from Nick?
2. Questions for Nick
3. Is Nick our IT person too!?

What would you like to add to the agenda?
Please bring some reference material for the brainstorming.

Naming the business

Is naming a business harder than naming a baby?

Highlights:

• Overly clever, pun-filled names like The Hairport or The Family Hairloom. Har har.

• Totally boring, literal names like the now defunct Third Street Coffee House.

• Names that backfire completely when applied to internet URLs. Need a therapist? Try www.therapistfinder.com. Need some good art, go to www.speedofart.com. Looking for a nice pen? www.penisland.com.

Here are a few other examples of names, both good and bad:

• Federal Express became Fed Ex. A smart move, considering that’s what everyone called ‘em anyway. Besides, repainting all their jets with the new shorter logo saved the company millions year in fuel costs alone.

• Dress Barn??? How many women will admit to shopping there, much less bring herds of their friends in?

• Drug companies spend billions every year on names, yet they come up with some of the worst: “Nasalcom” for an inhaled antihistamine. Sounds like a rat poison that works when they sniff it. “Vagistat” for a yeast infection medicine. “Cutivate” for a skin condition medicine. Aspercreme for an ointment that doesn’t even have any aspirin in it. Not only are drug names often lame mash-ups of other words, the FTC recently concluded that dozens sound dangerously similar.

• Here are a few of my own: PointsWest for a resort development on the west side of Bend, Oregon. Sit Down Dinners for a personal chef service. Widgi Creek for a golf club.

Link

Branding

Webson made an analysis of the top 50 brands which should give some pointers to great logo design:

• The name does not describe the product sold (94%)
• The by-line tag is not included in the logo (90%)
• The font style is clean and clear (84%)
• The logo design uses one colour only (74%) (white & black not counted as a colour)
• The logo design uses letters only without the symbol (74%)
• The logo design is a made-up name or ACRONYM (72%)
• The logo design is rectangular in shape (66%)
• The logo design is one word only (62%)
• The logo design includes the trademark symbol (54%) and is placed in the top right (48%)
• The name is 6 letters or less (52%)
• The name uses upper & lower case (44%) (excluding ACRONYMS)
• The background is filled and solid. (52%)
• The pronunciation includes three sounds/syllables (44%)
• The predominant colour base is blue (40%)

Here is the link to the post.

FedEx isn't on here, which I think is one of the best logos evar.

http://brandinsightblog.com/category/branding/
Storytelling is a big part of branding. Once you’ve figured out the real crux of your brand, you have to communicate it in a form that people can understand. And nothing is more effective than a good, old-fashioned story. Doesn’t matter if it’s delivered via the latest, greatest mobile technology, it’s still just a story. Tell it well. Tell it often. And keep it real.

Good article

I found this article online, take a look:
http://brewingtechniques.com/library/backissues/issue6.2/diebolt.html

Agenda for 8/1 MOTM

This month we've scheduled the naming of the business as one of the tasks, so I thought that would be a good thing to focus on for the meeting tomorrow. What else would you like to cover?

I guess we can keep it kinda informal, if that sounds good to everyone.
It would be good to talk about mentors too and to re-examine the scope of the pub side of the business.

Robin-could you please bring my sunglasses with you to the meeting?

SMSA

When we put the final stamp on the size and focus of our brewery or brewpub we will need to find a statistical market survey area. All we need to do is look into the geographic area (population density and transport cost) demographics of the area (ideally middle income 30-50 year old, but according to Siemens craft beer does well in the 25-30 range as well) exposure and access (including parking, street lights, traffic lights, safety of the neighborhood).

That's it. Then we give it a fancy name and an official abbreviation and call it jargon for the books.

Random Ideas

Some Ideas:

guide to brewing in the menu (upscale) or on the placemat (dive) or part of the table.

sampler set including a range of 5oz beers and information on each beer

looking professional- embroidered logo on sweater vests or whatever you want to wear

employee training manual- include a good degree of knowledge about how the brewery works and beer in general for the front of house

guided tours- given by brewery staff and bartenders

windows looking into the brewery (it would be cute to put up zoo signs, "don't feed the brewers" "Homo sapiens breweri: a vicious and wild creature know to erupt with rage when subjected to poor beer"

rootbeer- for the lunch crowd and the nondrinkers

workmans comp- costs

Scale of the Pub Area

I am still a little unclear about how much focus we wanted to put on the restaurant side of the brewery.

What are our hours of operation?
Lunch specials? (about 50% of people order beer during lunch at a brewpub)
Are we keeping the size the same as we decided previously?
What is easier to raise capital for? How much more will we need?
Different licensing and insurance cost?
How much of our sales will come from food?
What competition will we have?
Where will we locate? Will the costs change?
Would we pull in groups and clubs?

Jobs and Responsibilities

Along the lines of defining our roles in the business I thought I would jot down some of the major responsibilities that we will probably need covered for the business. The top list is managerial positions, probably to be filled by us. The bottom list are positions that may be filled by us, but will most likely be hired hands. The third list is of responsibilities that didn't fit in any one category.
I don't mean to supersede Leigh Anne's titles, I just don't feel like looking them up.

Pub Manager - on site sales, bar, food, HR
Sales Manager - sales to retailers, distributors
Head Brewer - direct brewing staff, QC, create recipes
Brewery Manager - off site sale distribution, production, HR
Accounts Manager - accounts payable and receivable, payroll, etc., HR

Bartender - 1 or 2 depending on available hours
Wait Staff - probably 2 or 3 to start, in shifts
Assistant Brewer - probably 2
Cook - 1 or 2 depending on available hours
Office Assistant - maybe not right away, depends on paperwork

Marketing - likely done by everyone
Cleaning - maybe done by everyone, may need to hire someone
Hiring/ Firing - likely done by person in charge of position with input from group.

Name Ideas

Some more name ideas:

High Desert
Big Sky
Verde
Jumping Bean
5 Caballeros
Backlot

Meeting of the Minds

Is Saturday a good day for the meeting? What time would work for everyone?

Agenda for 7/25 Meeting

Agenda For 7/25 Meeting

• Review of last meeting
• Discuss the time line
• Develop job guidelines and descriptions
• Discuss distribution
• Continue working on a name
• Pooling research and references
• Finding mentors
  
• Pick time and date for next meeting
  

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Timeline

This is my optimistic view of the timeline:

Pick a name - 1 month
look into legal services - 1 months
Decide on business entity - 1 month

Get business license - 2 months
Get federal EIN - 2 months
Delegate Business Plan - 2 months
Trademark name - 2 months

Open Bank Account - 3 months
Join Brewers Association - 3 months
Buy the directory - 3 months
Look into equipment - 3 months
Design label and brand - 3 months (generic) 9 months (individual beers)

Price suppliers and vendors - 4 months
Brew Samples - 4 months
Survey customers - 4 months (initial) 10 months (public)

Determine Operating Costs - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Determine Product price point - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Decide on product - 5 months

Web presence - 6 months
Complete Business Plan - 6 months
Develop marketing plans - 6 months

Distribution plan - 9 months
Design label and brand - 3 months (generic) 9 months (individual beers)

Survey customers - 4 months (initial) 10 months (public)
Determine Operating Costs - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Determine Product price point - 5 months (rough) 10 months (final)
Get Manufacturer's license - 10 months

Food Processors license - future

Brewer's Job Description

I found a great resource that details the job description and hiring criteria for brewers. You should take a look at it Rob and see if you'd like to incorporate any of this when you look for assistants.

Research Material

I've been looking for research material mostly for marketing. I came across this website with tons of links into almost every aspect we need. Take a look.

Oxford Brookes offers some information over the internets too.

As always, BeerInfo has great stuff. Look at the section Brewery Startup.

A short list of essential knowledge from ProBrewer.

Angel Investments

New Mexico Angels > angel investors club
Angel Capital Association> North American club association
Angel Capital Education Foundation> resources for entrepreneurs

Albuquerque Demographics

Business Type, Business Size and General Start-up Info> Gaebler. com

Sales

Beer sales are up 6% for retailer Total Wine & More. (Washington Post)

sales of "below premium" beers -- which account for nearly a quarter of the market -- were up 3.3 percent by volume this year compared to last. Budget beers jumped 4.8 percent. At 7-Eleven, beers sold by the cases of 18 or 24 have been particularly popular

Although consumer demand remains strong, the beer industry is suffering from the high cost of grains and fuel, increasing production and distribution costs. Prices of beer have increased as much as 7 percent in some categories, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen's has lots of other free market info.

Beeronomics

The Motherload! I downloaded the publications for the Beeronomics conference that took place in Belgium this May. Included in the conference:

Beer Markets in Europe and the United States
Beer in Good Times and Bad
Depression Economics and Alcohol Comsumption
National Television and the Market for Local Products
A Simple Hedonistic Model of Beer Pricing in Major Cities around the World
Consumer Level Determinates of Beer Purchases in Canadian Restaurants
Beer Diversity article
...and more

So much good stuff that will help us make some smart decisions.

Local Mentors

I would like to talk to a few people who work in the industry and find a mentor. Do you know anyone or have an idea of who you'd like to talk to?

I think the Rotary Club might be a good place to start for a general business advice. We might be able to contact the Rio Grande Brewing Co owner to see if we could bring him in for questioning. Perhaps the Duke of Ale would recommend and connect us with other local industry leaders.

How about a field trip? We may be able to go to Soccoro Springs and talk to them.

Volcano Brewery

Have you heard of this?

I was looking through the business directory and found a brewery called Volcano Brewery in Rio Rancho. I don't think they are still there, but I'll look into it a bit more.
Hmmmm. Looks like the building is now the Center for Hands on Learning.

Kraus Brewing Services, I called them and left a message asking what they offered.

Pinon Brewing, ABQ Journal piece 250 gallon a month "nanobrewery"

Trinity Beverage Company, I cant find any info on them

Rough Rider Brewing Co., as a blog with only two posts

Rio Grande and Cabezon, a rather grim look at brewing in NM Business (out of business)

Turtle Mountain: I didn't know how many different kinds of brews they have!

Southwest: out of business

db kelly de vargas inc, db brewery: Does anyone know about this? Is this Kelly's? All I found is this profile.

Advantages

What advantages will our products have in it's market?
Half-Keg retail prices: (w/o deposit) Bud Light- $75

"One of the advantages that a small company has over a large company is that the small company can move quickly to develop new products or to capitalize on a new idea. Small brewers have developed many new products that have found niches that large brewes would never be able to exploit. Large brewers are looking for national opportunities-and they must move national bureaucracies to seize those opportunities." (Beer School, pg 103)

Big brewery wholesale traditionally work on a 25 percent margin, but craft brands may bring margins higher than 30 percent. (pg 104)

Incorrect Time on the Calendar!!!!1!

The meeting is scheduled for July 18th, @ 9am. We are meeting at the Flying Star on Juan Tabo. Please let us all know if you have a conflict so we can reschedule.

Distributors

Marble, Santa Fe, Sangre De Cristo (Taos),and Tractor all do their own distribution.

Here is a list distributors in New Mexico:

Premier: Budweiser, Widmer, Hoegaarden
Primo/Mountain West: Sierra Blanca
Maloof: Coors
There isn't a website for Maloof Distributing, but there is a lot on the Maloof family. It's quite interesting.

http://www.nba.com/kings/news/Joe_and_Gavin_Maloof_Bio.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/15/magazine/15MALOOF.html?ex=1392181200&en=0d600f6c90205f17&amp%3Bei=5007&partner=USERLAND
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2003/07/14/daily4.html

List of NM distributors from the AGD.

Local Solar Companies

Local solar companies:
310 Solar
G.E.W. (think they do solar, but their website is lacking)
Sunergy
Advent Solar
Zomeworks
WindSunNM
AAASolar-has some used

Solmomma
Address: PO Box 1980, Moriarty, New Mexico USA 87035
Telephone: 505-832-2722
Fax: 505-832-5357

Affordable Solar Group, LLC
P.O. Box 12952
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA 87195

Conergy, Inc. Conergy, Inc.
1730 Camino Carlos Rey, Suite 103
Santa Fe, New Mexico USA 87508

New Mexico Solar Energy Association
1009 Bradbury SE
Albuquerque, New Mexico USA 87106

The Solar Biz
HC 61 Box 184
Glenwood, New Mexico USA 88039

Positive Resources
Phone: (505)430-7705
Description: Designer, Dealer, and Installer of Renewable Energy Systems.

Review of 7/2 Meeting

The Beer
Bottle 4 of the most liked, 10 on tap, one is a German style
Yes to producing a lager.
Questions we need to answer:
What are we going to carry?
How will it be produced?
How much of each will be produced?
What advantages do we have in regards to product and production?
Strategy and Good/Evil Alliance
Key terms: Friendly, Environmental, Good Workplace
Business Entity Form
Will discuss with a tax attorney
Time Line
We are going to take a look at the list and try to organize for the 7/18 meeting.
Health Insurance
Way down the road, Robin will be on it when the time comes.
Brainstorming Names
We did! I'll add it to a new post.
Time and Location of Next MOTM
Flying Star on Juan Tabo July 18th @ 9am

Amendment to Agenda: We decided to start with some merchandise, like t-shirts.

Agenda of Thursday's MOTM

Please add onto the list:

• The Beer
  
• Strategy and Good/Evil Alliance
  
• Business Entity Form
• Time Line
• Health Insurance
• Brainstorming Names
  

Let me know what you'd like to cover. :) See you tomorrow night.

Products and Services

Some questions I have for the next meeting and down the road:

What products will we carry?
How much of each will be produced?
How will it be produced?
>bottling days/ kegging days
> equipment
> labor
> organization and responsibilities
What products or services are we offering in the future?
What advantages do we have?
>skillz
> technology
> quality control?

Using Social Media

How do you guys feel about having forums and picture publishing on the site? Would people be interested? Maybe if we had a homebrew shop it would make more sense.

Google Wave would be good to use for interoffice communication when it comes out. (and D&D!)

Name Brainstorm

Toro, Hayday, Manana, Bitch in Heat, Mestengo, Doomsday, Indy, Lionshead, Ravenshead, Brillant, Bowman, Archer, Dead Monkey :(, Dubloons, 10 Forward, Double Down, Skuttle Butt, Fool's Mate, Kings Indian, Rook and Bishop, Backward Pawn, Bare King, Lost Rooke, Fool's Gambit, King's Gambit, Poop Deck, Queenside, Oro, Vallejo de Oro, Blackstone, Hands, Mason

Microbrewery Buisiness Plan

So here is a buisiness plan for a microbrew in MI from 1995. It was a while ago, but hey, at least it's a good template to look at to figure where we could go from here.  So just to make sure, we are having the meeting this Thursday at 7:00pm, yes? 

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/microbrewery-junior-creek-brewing-company

2nd Street Brewery

Marcus and I went to 2nd Street Brewery in Santa Fe yesterday. The beer was not so good. I had the kolsch and Marcus had a pale ale that was waaay hoppy. It tasted like a IPA. I wonder what the IPA tasted like!

It looked like a majority of the people there were eating, not really drinking too much. It was about 3:30 or 4pm. I'm sure most of their sales are from food. (which is pretty good, not great, but up to SF standards) It was busy and the large patio area where most of the patron were seated was almost full.

Oh, the employees are rude.

Used equipment and vendors

Some brewing equipment vendors:
NABS (used)
http://www.nabrewing.com/complete/05290910bblcenturybrewsys.shtml

Ager Tank & Equipment (used)
http://ager-tank-equipment.com/details.asp?itemNumber=4542

The Pub Brewing Company (new, used at Marble)
http://www.pubbrewing.com/index.htm

VaFaC (used)
http://www.vafac.com/brewing/index.htm

List of manufactures and specialty products
http://www.beerinfo.com/index.php/pages/brewingequipment.html

Review of 6/27 meeting

Brewery vs Brewpub
60 seats or from 1,000-1,500 sqft
pool table, dart board
bottling and kegs are still king
Leigh Anne needs to contact Matt to find out location of his brewery

Equipment
keep the list growing as it comes up

Green
Did we decide to do the water heater? What is the cost of a standard unit and how much utilities saves can we expect?

Decide on the Brewery name
Keep thinking of names
We decided that we don't quite have it yet.

Divide up the business plan
Look at segments, find something that appeals
Leigh Anne has dibs on: business overview, products and services, industry overview, and marketing strategy.
Robin: Management and Staffing
Marcus: Financial Plan
It looks like a lot of this is going to overlap and we've scratched the surface on lot of it. (i.e. property and utilities assumptions is in the financial plan)

Calendar year vs fiscal year
Fiscal year

Website
Nick is looking into cost
Wait for name to get it up and running

Time and Date of Next Meeting
Thursday, July 2 @ 7pm Robin's House

Business Plan for Kenya

Here is the link.

Now we can run faster than Kenyans and have 400 babies.

Conversion Factors and Definitions

Bbl = Beer Barrel. The standard unit for reporting beer shipments in the USA.

hL = Hectolitre. The standard unit for reporting global beer shipments.

Conversion Factors

1 Bbl = 31 gallons
1 Bbl = 3968 ounces
1 Bbl = 13.778 cases
1 Liter = 0.26418 gallons
1 hL = 0.852 Bbl
1 case = 24 12-oz. beers

Definitions

Taxpaid shipments = domestic beer shipments to 50 states

Tax-free shipments = export shipments to foreign countries and tax-free shipments to US possessions, as well as military bases

Shipments = domestic brewer's taxpaid shipments of beer in US, no-alcohol brews, imports and malternatives

STRs = Sales-to-retailers
C-stores = convenience stores
Supers = supermarkets

Bread Sales

I like your idea, Rob. Bread would be great. We should look into the cost/profit for doing something like that. It may be more profitable to contract that out to a commercial bakery until we know if we can make enough money to cover the cost of the equipment/labor. Pretzels and beer....emmmm.

Location

I was at the old Navarro Cadillac dealership in Santa Fe yesterday. They had pitched floors and drainage built in already. I know Santa Fe wouldn't be were we locate, but knowing they had drainage already installed may help us find a location here.

Meeting Agenda 6/27

Is 12 o'clock a good time? Where should we meet?
As always, Marcus' and my house is available, kid friendly, and far away.

Agenda

Review of 6/20 meeting
Brewery vs Brewpub
Equipment (cost, condition, quality)
Green (biofuel, solar water heater)
Decide on the Brewery name
Divide up the business plan
Calendar year vs fiscal year
Website
Time and Date of Next Meeting

Please add to this agenda whatever you've been working on, would like to discuss, or are planning on working on during the next week.

Did you guys like the worksheet? Should I do that again for the 6/27 meeting?

Solar Hot Water

Along the lines of being a "green" brewery, and also saving ourselves some money:

http://solarpowerpanels.ws/solar-power/solar-hot-water-system-used-at-portland-brewery

It talks about a brewery in Portland that uses Solar energy to heat their water.
From the research I did at UNM, using solar energy to heat water is waaaayy more efficient than generating electricity with solar panels. Article said the system cost 70k and the owners expect to pay it off in 2-4 years from the energy savings. This was in Portland, if they can make it work there then we can definitely do it here.

Short List of What We Need

>Look into used equipment
>Cost of install
>Cost of equipment
>Repair rate
>Size of unit
>Best brands

solar water heating system
shelves
pallets (heavy grade for shipping beer)
pallet jack
counters
storage
tables
safety mats
desks
chairs
cash register
credit card machine
retail display refrigerator
glasses
chairs/dining tables
dishwasher

bottlewasher
malt silo
mill
purifying system
fermenters
single shell tanks
bottling station
filters
distribution tanks
beer python
secondary regulator
mashing tun
lauter tun
walk-in refrigeration
CO2
keg washer
glycol chiller
augers

Pitched floor with trench drain
moisture resistant covers of electrical outlets

Steam broiler; gas or electric?

Keep on adding, I'm sure there's lot more.

Ethanol from Yeast

I found an article about making ethanol from spent yeast. Sierra Nevada contracted out a company that also sells units for people to make ethanol at home. We might consider purchasing or building one ourselves?

They cost $10K. Here is the link to the E-Fuel Microfuelers.

What we covered in the 6/20 meeting

Summary of 6/20 Meeting

Blog Management:
Contact by email when a new post or comment goes up.
I've done this, but if you aren't receiving the emails let me know.

Homebrew Shop:
We are going to do this as an expansion not from the opening of the brewery.
We may cut into our supplies or do special orders for homebrew organizations like Marble.
We tabled the decision to provide space for homebrew groups until we decide on having a brewpub.

Deciding on a Name:
Waiting for Robin's input

Equipment:
Did a tour of Marble
>granary
>mill room
>chill room
>cooling coils inside fermenting units
>bottling station, 2 or 3x week
>Dr. Farnsworth
>2 brewers, 3 asst.
>tasty malt, yummy (Briess)
>use BSG
>chilled lines to bar
>floor drains

Official Titles:
Operations Manager-Nick
Executive Manager-Marcus
Production Manager-Robin (if Robin thinks this is accurate)
Brewer-Rob
Development Manager- Leigh Anne

Managing Member of Development- Leigh Anne
Managing Member of Operations- Nick
Managing Member of Finance- Marcus
Managing Member of Production- Robin
Managing Member and Brewer- Rob

Supreme Po'bah of all things Finance - What Marcus is putting on his business card

Energy Use:
Solar Panels

Accounting Method:
Accrual
deciding on calendar year or fiscal year


What we need to get to this week to prep for the next meeting:
Time and Date of next meeting
Brewery vs Brewpub
Decide on a Name
Write Up for the Business Plan
Agenda for Next Meeting


(Please edit this article! Add stuff, change stuff, whatever.)
-Leigh Anne

Agenda for Meeting (6/20)

Is there anything you'd like to add to the agenda for the next meeting? I was planning on making a worksheet or a guide to keep us focused for the next meeting.

Let me know what you'd like to cover!

Leigh Anne

Blog management

I have a quick question about managing the blog. Are updates sent out whenever a new blog is posted, or an older blog has a new comment posted?

As it stands right now, I'm just going through all of the posts to check on that kind of thing. I was wondering if there is an easier way.

Phil

I'm still waiting to hear back from Phil about using his equipment and brain.

Nick, any update on the free kegs?


-Rob

Update:

I talked to Phil this morning. He's down with letting us use his equipment and showing us the ropes. We just need to coordinate times with him. Now it's just a matter of getting the supplies.

-Rob

Gathering the Homebrew Goods

Hey Rob-

Could you bring over your homebrew kit or could I come by and look at it? I don't think I need to see the tubs...they seem like standard 6 or sometimes 8gal food grade. I was curious about the bottle brush and some other things and need to get the manufacturing companies info so I can find distributors.

I can't get you ingredients until we have a business. You'll have to find them on the homebrew market if they are available there. Are you and Nick still planning on making a new kit?

Possible janitorial supplies:
Common household bleach (unscented)
Iodophor
TSP
Water
Plastic scouring pads
White vinegar

Victor's:
Answer to Victor's on price point:
Grain Hops
Mainstreet "German Wheat" 1.75/pound Cascade 6.96/2oz whole leaf
49.95/10 pound
Victor's "Wheat malt" 1.79/pound Cascade 3.99/1oz plug
Northern Brewer "Pale wheat" 2.25/pound Cascade 2.99/1oz whole leaf
75.99/55lb 28.99/1lb

My main issues with Victor's are:

1. Depending on who you get, they have limited knowledge of brewing and beer at best.

2. They have limited selection on items
- No whole leaf hops, they only offer plugs and pellets. I prefer the whole leaf, as they add an extra layer of filtration.

- Malt extract sold in containers only. You never know how old they are. I am used to Mainstreet, where they had 55 gallon tubs of extract that they cycled through quickly enough that freshness was never an issue.

- Grains/speciality grains, they don't have very many on hand.

First batch:
These numbers are subject to change depending on the capacity of the system being used.

Here are the ingredients needed for the first batch (I decided on an Irish Red):
Grain
9.00 lb Maris Otter
0.75 lb Barley, Flaked
0.50 lb Crystal Malt - 90L
0.30 lb Biscuit Malt
0.10 lb Chocolate - 350L
Hops
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent
Misc
0.91 tsp Irish Moss
Yeast
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast 1084)

Other stuff:
Again, I'm sorry about my lack of time. This may be the case for awhile, but I am forgoing a search for a job in hopes that this allows me time to get school and brewery stuff done without putting a major crimp in my time with my children.

As far as the brewery name is concerned, I am going to list my favorites of what has been listed so far:
Bahookie
Occam's Razor
Broken Seal
Wag
Silenus
Electric Razor
Feynman
Aeolist

As far as the beer names are concerned... This, to me, is very personal territory. I don't think a beer should be named until it has been brewed and considered in it's totality. This includes style, why it was made, season it was made in, and any number of variables along the way. I'll stop short of saying it's as personal as a writer naming a piece or a song, but in a very real way it is. At least it always has been for me. I believe if it is up to snuff, then the beer will inspire it's own name.

I have contacted my friend Phil about use of his brewing system and knowledge, I'm just waiting to hear back from him.

-Rob

Purifying System

Robin: How much of the water use that you calculated would need to be purified?
I was wondering what capacity system we would need.

Needed: List of Cleaning Supplies

Another thing I need from Rob is a list of janitorial supplies we will need. I'd like to start looking for local sources if they are available. So far, i have a short list of the distributors in ABQ, but I don't know if we will need special equipment that may have to come from out of state.

-Leigh

Laun-dry
sunwest
Air-gas
Sysco
Shamrock
Blaine industrial supply?
Uniclean?

Might be able to get the bottle cleaners for the homebrew kits at one of these places, may be a special order.

Greening It Up

Robin has had some pretty good ideas in regards to helping us be as green as possible. It would be great to make that a part of the brewery. Good for our image and marketing too.

Here are some ideas discussed at the meeting:
Giving spent wort to farmers for composting
Local hops production?
Cutting the amount of water needed/wasted

Possible solutions in the future:
Solar/Wind energy
carbon off setting
office recycling
bottle recycling
can production
electric forklift?
organic hops/barley

What is feasible? What is cost-effective? What other ideas do you have?

Looks like New Belgian has really got this working!

By Jim Gorman

Published in the March 2007 issue.
The only thing “lite” about the full-bodied beers crafted by New Belgium Brewing is the environmental impact. By reducing the energy, water and waste involved in making its award-winning Fat Tire Amber Ale and other beers, the Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery is proving that great taste and a clear conscience are both good for business. From hops in to beer out, practically every stage of New Belgium’s brewing process has been designed for greater efficiency. In the brew house, heat typically released as steam preheats incoming water. Temperature sensors automatically open windows to cool the building. Methane gas from an on-site wastewater treatment facility is piped to a generator, which produces enough electricity to cover 10 percent of the brewery’s needs. New Belgium purchases the remainder of its electricity from wind farms, and offsets some of its CO2 emissions by purchasing renewable energy credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange. But according to New Belgium’s sustainability specialist, Nicolas Theisen, there is always room for improvement. “We’re a partner in developing a process to use the carbon dioxide byproduct from fermentation to feed fast-growing algae in silo-shaped bioreactors,” he says. “The oil in the algae can be pressed to make biodiesel, and the rest can go into our waste treatment ponds to make methane.”

Beer Name Ideas

Badlands Rose
Lone Wolf
Feynman
Drifter
Pioneer Pale Ale

The Brewing Network

I've been listening to The Brewing Network. It's a great resource, but the format is kinda time consuming (all audio and about 4hrs each). Available as a podcast. Lots of experts. Even more testoster-talk.

Look into it. There's even a few shows on brewing gadgets that some you should get a kick out of....eeehemm....Nick. :)

The Homebrew Shoppe

We should put together a list of the things we want to sell at the homebrew shop. It looks like we can get a lot of the kit materials for super cheap in bulk.

Northern Brewer has a lot of good things on their shelves (as far as I know!).

FDA plastic buckets can be customized with our logo too.
Bottles should be a snap.
That tubing looks standard.
We might think about doing special caps for the kits, but that seems kinda pointless. Maybe a stock color range so they can select there own.


Here is a list of what comes in a standard kit.

• Six gallon fermenting bucket with lid
• Six gallon bottling bucket with spigot
• Fermentation lock
• Siphon tubing
• Bottle filler
• Bottle brush
• AutoSiphon
• Bottle capper
• 144 bottle caps
• Hydrometer
• 8 oz. One-Step Sanitizer
• Complete instructions

NEEDED BUT NOT INCLUDED:

• Ingredients - try one of our beer kits
• A Brew Kettle - any pot 2.5 gallons or greater
• Empty Bottles - 48 to 52 pry-off 12-ounce beer bottles.

This looks like it could be rather profitable!
Rob- is Victor's kinda expensive or is their price point average?

-Leigh Anne

I bought a book

One of the highest recommended book of the business side of starting a brewery was written by the owners of Brooklyn Brewery. I got it on Amazon for $4. ($8 with shipping)

I'll pass it around!

Trademark Costs

It'll be about $375 to apply for a trademark. I'm not sure if there are more costs included.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee2009january01_2009may01.htm#tm

Malt!

There are four major malt providers:

Cargill
Great Western
IMC/Archer Daniels Midland Company
Rahr/Brewer's Supply Group

Specialty:
Briess (sold through BSG)

-Leigh Anne

Price of Hops Expected to Decrease

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the declining price of hops.


This summary was lifted from Monday Night Brewery
“for years, a world-wide glut of hops resulted in prices that were too low for U.S. growers to turn a profit.” So now everybody and their mother is gunning to start a hop farm. Prices for hops have gone up 4-6 times in the past few years, and last year’s price increases resulted in a total value of $169 million, up from $118 million the year before. Sounds good, right? So why not go be a hop farmer? The general consensus is that hop prices will come down substantially over the coming 12-36 months, just about the amount of time it would take to get a legit hop farm up and running.

A related post on the Malt and Hops Shortage from The Brewery Network.

-Leigh

BEER TO DO

In some particular order . . .

PHASE 1:

Pick a name

Decide business entity
Decide accounting method

Get business license

Get federal EIN

Trademark the name

Official Titles

Open bank account

Web-presence

Look into legal services (pre-paid)

Determine operating costs

Determine product price point

Price suppliers and vendors

Deligate parts of business plan

Complete business plan

Join Brewers Association ($195)

Buy the directory

Get manufacturer's license ($3000)

Food Processors license - soft drinks

Brew samples

Equipment to brew from mash on small scale

Design label and brand name

Develop marking plans

Distribution plan

Beer Magazines

• Adams Beverage Group
• Ale Street News
• All About Beer
• American Brewer
• Beer & Brewer (AUS)
• Beer Advocate
• Beer Business Daily
• Beer Connoisseur (new)
• Beer Magazine (new)
• Beer Marketer's Insights
• Beer Northwest
• Beer Notes
• Beer Passion
• Beers of the World (UK)
• BeverAge
• Beverage Industry
• Beverage World
• BiereMAG
• Brew Points
• Brew Your Own
• Brewers Digest
• Brewing News
• Brewing Techniques
• Celebrator Beer News
• Checkout (UK)
• Draft
• Drink Me
• Imbibe
• Malt Advocate
• Michigan Beer Guide
• Modern Brewery Age
• Modern Drunkard
• Mutineer Magazine
• National Imbiber (UK)
• New Brewer
• Nightclub & Bar
• Philly Beer Scene
• Publican (UK)
• Retail Merchandiser

List of Trade Organizations

• Amer. Beverage Institute
• American Bartending Ass'n
• American Malting Barley
• ASBC
• AssoBirra (Italy)
• Beer Institute
• Beer Serves America
• Beverage Tasting Institute
• BFBi
• BJCP
• Brau Ring (Germany)
• Brewers Association
• Brewers of Canada
• Brewers of Europe
• Brewing Industry Awards
• British Beer & Pub Ass'n
• British Beer Writers Guild
• CAMRA
• Cask Marque Trust
• Cerv. Latinoamericanos
• Craft Brewing Ass'n (UK)
• Danish Real Ale
• Deutsche Brau-Koop.
• Euro Brewery Convention
• Family Brewers (UK)
• Finnish Beer Society
• Hop Ass'n of England
• Hop Growers of America
• Institute of Brewing (UK)
• Int'l Beverage Network
• Int'l Society Bev. Tech.
• MBAA
• NBWA
• North American Brewers
• Oregon Hop Commission
• Pink Boots Society
• PINT
• Society of Ind. Brewers
• Washington Beer Commission

What are other brewers adding to make their beer delicious!

Celebrator Beer News:

Shipyard Brewing from Portland, Maine, sailed in with Sea Dog Wild Blueberry (made with real blueberries) and Pumpkinhead (brewed with nutmeg, allspice and pumpkin pie spice). Both beers’ unique flavors jump right out at you and leave no doubt as to what ingredients you’re tasting.

Delaware’s Dogfish Head’s Founder Sam Calagione was serving his 90-minute IPA, made with a dry hop machine that hops continually throughout the boil resulting in a beer that’s full of hop flavor without being overly bitter. His new hopping machine is called Sofa King Hoppy, a massive air cannon that fires hops into the kettle while allowing the lid to remain closed. Some unique historical reproductions are the Midas Touch Golden Elixir-a cross between a beer, wine and mead, showcasing ingredients that were in the 2,700-year-old drinking vessels found in King Midas’s tomb, made with muscat grapes, saffron and honey; and Chateau Jiahu-inspired by preserved pottery from Northern China dating back to 7,000 BC using rice flakes, barley malt, honey, Muscat grapes, Chrysanthemum flowers and Hawthorne fruit. Dogfish Head recently expanded its brewhouse to a 100 barrel system, bringing its new capacity to 220,000 barrels (41,000 were produced in 2006).

Leave it to Stone Brewing Company to push the limit on how many IBU’s one’s taste buds can handle. The 7.7% abv Ruination IPA weighs in with over 100 IBU’s, and is aptly named, since the human palette can’t actually taste more than 100. The Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale is yet another out of the ordinary brew, aged with toasted American oak chips.
Some IPA’s worth mentioning that I was fortunate enough to sample are: Saranac Imperial IPA-from its big beer series; Deschuttes Inversion IPA-a true IPA at 7% abv and 85 IBU’s; Victory Hop Devil Ale-made with American whole flower hops; and Rogue I2PA-an Imperial IPA packaged in a black silk-screened ceramic 750 ml bottle.

The craft beer industry continues to be the fastest growing segment in the entire U.S. beverage alcohol industry.

Sam Adams introduced its 8.8% abv Imperial Pilsner, made with Hallertau and Mittelfrueh hops to the tune of 12 pounds per barrel. Compare that to the one pound that’s in a barrel of its Sam Adams Lager. Definitely a showcase for hops, it’s without a doubt the hoppiest brew I’ve ever encountered from Sam Adams. Any hophead worth his buds will want to check it out.

Here's the full article.

Stuff

I have several things to post, so here it goes:

I posted this on Twitter as well, but I won't be able to make the meeting this Saturday due to a change in custodial time. I get the kids at 12 instead of 4.

My school schedule is work heavy so far this semester, so if I fall behind I apologize. Next semester is going to be all over the place time-wise, so I'll do what I can.

I haven't come up with a general outline of the position(s) I see myself filling in the company, but I think I've got dips on Brew master. I don't know that I'm overly comfortable using that exact title, but in the absence of a more comfortable fit, I'll deal.

I am working on a recipe right now for a wheat beer, Germanically known as a Hefeweizen or Heffeweizen. I'll send that to whoever I have an email for.

I had talked a bit at last meeting about an idea I had about focusing on European or even German style beers primarily. If we decide to go down the German path as our main teir of beers, I would like to conform to the Reinheitsgebot. This is the German Beer Purity law that states that the only allowable ingredients in beer are water, barley, and hops (yeast is implied).

Keeping all of this in mind, I have another suggestion for a brewery name:

Occam's Razor Brewery

Essentially, leaving out unnecessary compenents in our case.

I've said what I came to say, now I'm outta here.

-Rob

Business Plan

I started a rough (really rough) draft of the business plan using this website. The username is leighstou password is drinkmybeer.

Most of this I just put down ideas and am going to go back and someone else (Marcus?) can write it. Please feel free to edit it or put notes in.

This is a sample business plan. I like the style of writing in this one much better than the Canadian example. It's a good guideline too.

Brewer's Association Membership

Here is a link the the benefits of joining the BA. It would be really helpful for the business plan, getting insurance, and finding suppliers/distributors.

What do you think?

American Brewers Guild

ABG has classes and apprenticeships. I see that Chama River is listed as a mentor for their classes. Maybe we can work something out with them or sign Rob up for the distance learning course.

-Leigh Anne

What to get done by the next meeting

Marcus: check on other licensing, qualifiers
Robin: Estimate the utilities costs and total month to month costs
Leigh Anne: market strategy, purchase process and buying criteria, get a directory
Nick: get keg from uncle and field trip to brewery to scope out the scale/equipment
Rob: inquire about the friends equipment/time, begin development on the recipes

Everyone: write up a broad guess about what position you'll fall into when we begin production and a separate synopsis about what qualifies you to be a partner. This is for the business plan.

See you all at 11 o'clock on the 13th!

Google is great!

Here is something that came up when I googled Brewing Co-op: http://www.blackstar.coop/

It looks like it was a homebrew club that grew into a co-op style brewery. They've got a pretty sharp star logo too.

-Rob

Food for thought

Possible name: Broken Seal.

This works as a shirt, even if the name isn't chosed for the brewery:

First you have to understand what it means to break the seal. Go look it up in an urban dictionary or google it if you need to.

Ok, here's the concept, the front of the shirt shows some sort of symbol that represents breaking the seal. This could be opening an envelope with a seal on it, or show a seal (animal) breaking in half. The back of the shirt would have three simple letters: BRB

There's another possible name: BRB

-Rob

Brewer's Directory

I want it!

Name Possiblities

Stumbling Bock
Bahookie Scottish Ale
Libre Brewing Company
Sabroso/Sabrosa Brewing Company
witzelsucht
Ventripotent
Captain Happy -Marcus hates
Captain Mopey
Union Jim/ Uncle brewery
Warden
Wallis
Wag
Highland
Aeolist
Bulwark (taken)
New Allies/ Old Allies/ Allies
Cornerstone (taken)

Badlands Brewery
Native Craft
Bridgehead

Oso Brewery
Rogers Brewing Co. (after Mr. Fred Rogers)
Feynman brewing co
Silenus
Grindstone (taken)

Business Plan Research

MARKET RESEARCH and STATISTICS. Please add more if you find them.

1. good source
2. Beer Insight

GENERAL INDUSTRY NEWS

1. ProBrewer

ECONOMICS INDUSTRY DATA

1. Beer Serves America

INDUSTRY STANDARDS

1. Lueder Consulting
   

Equipment Questions

Is there some equipment that we won't be using daily? Could we do a co-op and share this with other breweries?

Questions for the Business Plan

Some info I need to collect for the business plan:

1. Responsibilities of each member
2. Experience of each member
3. Projected portion of the market
4. Business entity form
5. Location and facilities

Also, I wanted to know if we'll be serving at the location? Are we starting off with homebrew supplies or is that an expansion?

I know there will be many more questions and we may not have an answer right away, but we've got a lot of decisions to make.

Names of the Top 50 Breweries

This might help us get an idea of what is already out there when we start looking into names.

Great American Beer Festival

Denver, Colorado
September 24-26
Ticket Price: $55-$83

1800 different beers to sample
http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com

Quality Manual

The Brewers Association's Technical Committee launched the Draught Beer Quality Manual, a new free resource for the brewing community, last week at the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Boston. The manual is available online (www.DraughtQuality.org) and as a complete document (2.7 MB PDF).

Beta

I don't want it to feel like I'm pushing the name Red Cap. I just didn't have anything other ideas and wanted to get it up and running. Please throw your ideas out there.

Teh Interwebs

I set us up a Twitter account and a Gmail account.
Twitter- username: RedCapBrewery Password: Drinkmybeer
Gmail- username: RedCapBrewery Password: Drinkmybeer

Lets keep in contact.

Marble Beer

Marble Brewery does tours and is open for a good old fashioned taste. Who's up for it?

New Mexico Beer

New Mexico Beer is a site with local events and the listing of our states breweries and brew pubs.

Business Enity Forms

We need to decide how we want to run the business. Here is a list of the forms. What do you think?

Map

Here is a map of the local breweries and brewpubs in the Albuquerque area.