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State of the Brewery Address

07 Feb

I’ve been really lazy in updating this blog, I know. I have a running list of topics to address, but have been lacking the inspiration/time to do so. Tomorrow I’m starting a 3-month contract (creating online training curriculum) to help pay the bills and save for what’s coming up. It’ll be 40 hours/week of my time that I won’t be able to spend on brewery/business, but I do get the luxury of working from home so I don’t have to worry about lost time on a commute. Plus, more money coming in means more beer I can #homebrew and more beer-related travel/events!

Here’s a brief update on what I’ve been up to:

1. Attending all sorts of beer-related events. If it’s related to beer, I’m there. I’ve toured most of the Chicago breweries and hope to check out the new Revolution Brewing pub soon. I also purchased tickets to Night of the Living Ales happening in March.

2. Attending all sorts of entrepreneurship/business-related events. Earlier this week, the Business School at Kendall College put on a workshop for entrepreneurs. Some Northwestern Law School students were there talking about the common legal issues that entrepreneurs face when starting a business. While most of what they covered was stuff I already knew about, it did give me another perspective on incorporating as an S-corp rather than an LLC. I have been researching the best way to structure the company for almost 5 months now, and I think I’ve finally decided how I want to do it. It all depends on how I’m going to fund this venture!

3. Reading, reading, and more reading on beer, brewing, brewery history, beer news, and various business books. Last week I finished the “The History of Beer and Brewing in Chicago, Volume 2” by Bob Skilnik and have started The Wall Street Journal’s “Complete Small Business Guidebook.” by Colleen DeBlaise.

4. Continuing to talk with #beer people, business people, and anyone who wants to hear about Robey Street!

5. Working on new brew recipes. Today I’m bottling the MLK & Cookie Stout and will be trying to fit in the brew day for the Belgian Rose Witbier sometime next week.

6. Participating in a BJCP study group starting next week.

7. Continuing to fill in sections of my business plan.

8. Planning the (rescheduled from December) Robey Street Fundraising Party, tentatively scheduled for March!

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Posted in Beer + Business, Beer + Life, Beer Education

Brew School: “Start Your Own Brewery” at Siebel Institute of Technology

19 Dec

Just a few weeks after I made the executive decision to quit my job and make beer my life, I started to look at some courses being offered at the Siebel Institute of Technology in Chicago. It is THE internationally recognized brew school, having been around since 1872.

I didn’t have the money to enroll in one of their Master Brewer programs, but I did see that they were offering a new course called Start Your Own Brewery. It was a 3-day course (9 to 5) and covered everything from writing a business plan, getting funding, selecting brewing equipment, building a brewery, to operating a brewpub. The course description also mentioned that there would be several people from the craft beer industry presenting at the course. Perfect. And, it started in just 4 weeks!

So, I enrolled and plunked down the money. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because while most of Siebel’s other courses were more on the technical side of brewing and production, this was about business. However, having read a lot of brewing books and done a lot of technical research on my own, a class focused on the business aspect was exactly what I needed.

Unfortunately, the week before class started I was dealing with a terrible bout of the flu and was not feeling 100% by the time class started on Monday November 30. However, I managed to get through all three days without too much trouble.

The course was facilitated by Ray Daniels, and consisted for various presentations by several different industry pros. I learned SO MUCH and it was great to hear from all of the well-known brewers, brewpub and brewery owners and operators, etc. I only wish I had been feeling better so I could have been a little more social and done some more networking. There were about 40 people in the class from all over the country (and world!) all working on starting breweries and brewpubs in their respective cities and towns. Everyone had great questions and I left the 3 days learning so much that I could not have learned in any book or online. “Mad props” to Ray Daniels, the presenters, and all the people at Siebel who put it together.

I will be referencing what I learned in greater detail in upcoming entries. Suffice to say that it was definitely money well spent.

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Posted in Beer Education