Messages

1636

Going Pro / Re: Another view about commercial Nano brewing.

« on: March 20, 2012, 02:49:12 pm »

I don't know how successful he is money wise, but he makes a mean saison. I picked up a bottle when I was in Colorado, and it was tasty.

He's started since I moved from Denver. If I were still there, I'd probably get a Reserve membership. I'm heading out in May for a friend's wedding, so I'll pick up some of his bottles.

1637

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Possibly the worst homebrewing article ever

« on: March 20, 2012, 12:59:50 pm »

I'm mostly German too, but I've been very indifferent about a lot of issues lately.

It's hard for tone to come across on the internet. I was (mostly) joking.

1638

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: A simple, Kosher alternative to gelatin

« on: March 20, 2012, 11:52:32 am »

No problem with bottling cold. You can let it warm up if that's easier. Just remember to calculate residual CO2 based on the highest temp the beer was ever at. I made that mistake on my Koelsch, and it ended up way flatter than I wanted.

1639

Going Pro / Re: Looking into starting a meadery

« on: March 20, 2012, 11:46:58 am »

Nothing new to report, except more run-around, more people saying "oh, I don't do that, you want this guy." But I think I've found the person I need to talk to. I'll try calling them tomorrow.

I didn't plan on it being this difficult to determine who is actually in charge of regulating wineries.

1640

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: A simple, Kosher alternative to gelatin

« on: March 20, 2012, 11:34:14 am »

Cold crashing and proper hot-side technique will make a crystal clear beer without finings.

I personally don't have any particular problem with plastic finings. In the grand scheme of things, plastic finings are probably one of the least dangerous things on the planet.

1641

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Possibly the worst homebrewing article ever

« on: March 20, 2012, 11:31:27 am »

I think everyone here is taking this too seriously.

I don't believe you can take beer too seriously. I'm mostly of German ancestry, though.

1642

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Possibly the worst homebrewing article ever

« on: March 20, 2012, 10:00:46 am »

I'm more perplexed by her brewery linking to her blog. It's one thing to denigrate homebrewers and homebrewing, it's another to link it back to your brewery. I'm all for private citizens saying whatever dumb crap pops into their head, but this seems like bad business.

I told my wife about the esters-from-hops thing, and she said "What?! I don't know anything about brewing, and even I know esters are from yeast."

1643

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Possibly the worst homebrewing article ever

« on: March 20, 2012, 09:22:29 am »

It's not a he it's a she and she isn't a brewer. She works at a brewery. Obviously doesn't know the first thing about it either.

I'm just sexist, I guess. I assumed from their tone they were a man.

Gender Analyzer got it right, though.
http://www.genderanalyzer.com/?url=breweryblager.blogspot.com

1644

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Possibly the worst homebrewing article ever

« on: March 20, 2012, 08:36:53 am »

I cried a little on the inside while reading that. I don't even know where to start. He's so aggressively ignorant, I'm sure there's nothing anyone can say that could penetrate his smugness.

1645

Going Pro / Re: Another view about commercial Nano brewing.

« on: March 19, 2012, 04:31:16 pm »

I came across these guys the other day: http://www.crookedstave.com/

Looks like they're trying to do pretty much what I was describing. Who knows if it'll work out for them.

1646

Other Fermentables / Re: Acid in cider

« on: March 19, 2012, 12:15:24 pm »

115%.  You really must have some extra unjustified prejudice.

It's important not to let facts and numbers get in the way of your prejudice.

1647

Going Pro / Interesting cash-flow spreadsheet I found

« on: March 19, 2012, 10:13:42 am »

It's for wineries, but there are a lot of variables you change to make it work for a beer brewery. If nothing else, it's a pretty complete list of expenses and issues you might run into.

It's called the Winery Ten Year Financial Planning Workbook
http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/fruits/wine/winery_and_vineyard_feasibility_workbooks.cfm

1648

Going Pro / Re: Another view about commercial Nano brewing.

« on: March 17, 2012, 06:24:09 pm »

Wow. And here I've been trying to undercut Natty Lite all this time. 

Ommegang comes to mind. I have no idea how much money they make, but I've never seen their beers on tap or in 6 packs.

Belgian beers in general sell for much more per liter than any 6 packs I've seen.

Anyway, it was just something I thought was interesting.

1649

Going Pro / Re: Another view about commercial Nano brewing.

« on: March 17, 2012, 02:17:45 pm »

I know it's apples-to-oranges, but I asked about production volume over on winepress.us (a site for amateur and small wineries), and I thought the response was interesting:

"My advice is to start small and let sales drive your future volume increases. Running out of wine and putting up a sign that says sold out is far better that putting up a sign that says "selling our wine cheap because it's not very good and we overproduced and can't sell it". Of course you're sign won't say that but this is modern America and customers are very perceptive. When a winery is constantly running promotions and sales there is a subtle message of desperation sent that devalues the brand. When you put up the sign that says sold out the underlying message is "this stuff is damn good and you should have gotten off your butt and bought some when it was available and next time you see it available you'd better buy a case before it's sold out again."

Who knows? Maybe if you're really marketing saavy you can turn ultra-low production into a selling point, and command a high price for you beer.

1650

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Is homebrew craft beer?

« on: March 17, 2012, 10:21:39 am »

I like Sean's suggestion of Artisanal beer better, or why couldn't we stick with Microbrewed beer?  Craft beer sounds too pretentious

I thought "craft beer" was a term coined to make fancy macro brewers' (ike Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Sam Adams) beer sound fancier. No sane person would argue New Belgium is a microbrewery, yet they make beer that's pretty different than the usual BMC stuff. I'm not really sure what to call it, because artisan to me sounds like it's "made by an artisan" as opposed to "in a factory." Anything 10bbl+ is much more like a factory than an artisan's workshop, IMO.