Messages

61

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Brewstrong

« on: April 28, 2013, 06:25:41 AM »

IMO, the only good part about Brewstrong is the guests. I really can't stand the people who run it. You can learn more about beer listening to Charlie Bamforth for one hour than Jamil for ten.

62

The Pub / Re: Best tablet not made by Apple

« on: April 27, 2013, 07:58:27 PM »

I don't want to hijack the thread too much, but I'm trying to convince my wife she should get a tablet, but she'd need to use the Microsoft office suite. I know skydrive has some sweet office apps, but I think she'd rather have a native solution. Any thoughts?

63

Beer Travel / Re: Germany spoiled me

« on: April 27, 2013, 07:50:08 PM »

I spent 11 months in Vilsek and Sweinfurt. Did a little traveling around also. I found the crystal weizen (sp?) pronounced "vissen" to be the best in flavor, with a smooth finish. Every little town has their own little brewery, and so their own recipes.

I haven't been to Thüringen, but I know some Austrians who say "vizen" instead of "wesen." Die deutsche Dialekte are pretty interesting. I'm learning the finer points of German from a Bavarian, so the accents and pronunciations are very interesting to me.

64

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: La Folie

« on: April 27, 2013, 03:25:12 PM »

And Le Terrior is another good one - showed that you really can dry hop a sour!

That beer inspired my Citra fresh-hopped pale sour. Awesome combo. Not sure why more sours aren't dry hopped.

65

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Variety packs.

« on: April 27, 2013, 03:22:45 PM »

I'm not a big fan of the variety packs. I prefer a mix-your-own-six pack if I'm trying new beer.

66

Commercial Beer Reviews / Re: Boulivard 80 Acres

« on: April 27, 2013, 03:21:15 PM »

Yeah, that's an awesome beer. It's pretty cheap where I live, too. I picked up my last 6pack for just under $6. Really there's nothing out there as good for that price.

67

Kegging and Bottling / Re: Bottle pressure limits

« on: April 27, 2013, 03:16:32 PM »

I've got some various punted/flat bottom 750ml champagne-type beer bottles. One style weighs about 550g, the other about 650g. I've filled both with ~5 vol of CO2, and have yet to have a failure (knock on glass. . .). I purchased some crownable Belgian-style beer bottles, and those weigh about 550g and are rated from the manufacturer for 7 vol.

I guess I should mention, last year I had a few crown failures at those pressures, but not broken glass. Make sure the crown goes on straight and true!

68

Going Pro / Re: Logo Feedback

« on: April 27, 2013, 08:56:42 AM »

Pete - I really hope we haven't scared you off. It's easy to hit a wall and shut down. You need to power through it, and make yourself and your project better.

A couple weeks ago, I had a large project in my cost accounting class where I made a variable-costing flexible budget for a manufacturing company (cash disbursements, expenses, pro forma income statements and balance sheets). Here's a small sample of the feedback I got from my prof on my first draft:

"Your formatting is terrible. Get rid of it. You are over purchasing by ignoring beginning inventory. You ignore accounts payable in cash disbursements.  Again your format is bad. You missed depreciation in the S&A budget. So the budget is incomplete and that also throws off your cash budget. Again the cash budget is poorly formatted and incorrect. Remember this is more than just put it down.  It has to communicate the details."

I had invested a ton of time and effort into the project, so this came as a gut punch to me. But, I realized he was right that it was terrible. So I threw the whole thing out, and started over from scratch. My prof said the finished draft looked "very professional."

One of the most important concepts in business decision-making is the idea of "sunk costs." The amount of time/effort/cash invested in a project is gone whether you continue with the project or not. It should have no impact on whether you should finish the project or scrap it and start over. Wherever you are, it's where you're going that matters, not where you've been. The worst thing you can do is let your vanity and ego prevent you from realizing (and correcting) your shortcomings.

69

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Scoresheet comment... Inappropriate?

« on: April 27, 2013, 08:39:18 AM »

Other beers were better would only be a useful comment if the brewer was there and tasted the better beer and understood what made them better and how to change that in his beer. It was a useless comment but not a mean or personal one.

Exactly.

70

General Homebrew Discussion / Re: Want to help me name a beer?

« on: April 26, 2013, 06:28:17 PM »

"Tim?"

OMG, +1b

71

All Grain Brewing / Re: I need 120L Crystal

« on: April 26, 2013, 06:26:14 PM »

Indeed. C60 is more caramel whereas C120 is more raisin.

Agreed, 120 is getting up into the Special B flavor-range.

72

Going Pro / Re: Logo Feedback

« on: April 26, 2013, 10:55:56 AM »

A guy who runs several bars (at a time) explained that exact business plan to me one evening.  He would remodel a bar, do an intensive ad campaign and be open for 4 to 6 months.  3 months to recoop cost and 1 to 4 months profit depending on business.  Then close it, remodel it and repeat.  He typically had 6 to 10 bars open at any given time and was making a 7 figure/year income.

Yeah, I don't remember the guy's name, but he owned about half the restaurants in Larimer Square (kind of posh neighborhood downtown). He always gets "managing owners" to go in with him on the projects, to keep his name out of the spotlight, so people don't realize it's the same guy bankrolling all these different projects.

I'm surprised the guy you know could turn them around so quickly, but I believe it.

73

Going Pro / Re: Logo Feedback

« on: April 26, 2013, 09:55:24 AM »

At any rate, my point was that branding that's totally unrelated to beer doesn't preclude success in this industry.

Yes, sometimes brands succeed despite bad marketing, but brands never succeed because of bad marketing.

One of the most successful restaurateurs in Denver had about a 5-year timescale for each venue. It'd open, get a lot of business because it's the hip new thing, ride that until it's not as profitable anymore, shut down, remodel the space, and open a new restaurant with a different concept.

So even if your marketing is bad now, you can always rebrand later, assuming you don't go out of business in the meantime.

74

Going Pro / Re: Logo Feedback

« on: April 26, 2013, 09:50:07 AM »

It doesn't make it a great name, but that is a very simple, succinct, and easy to understand story.

I agree it's not a good name, and that it's not a great backstory, but it's slightly better than the OP's. I actually didn't know where it came from before I looked it up, but I had just assumed it was the name of somewhere in Delaware.

75

Going Pro / Re: Logo Feedback

« on: April 26, 2013, 09:43:59 AM »

I thought I wandered into a thread about Dogfish Head for a second...

Step 1) Make a gibberish brand name
Step 2) Make beer that's as good Dogfish Head's
Step 3) ??
Step 4) Profit!

PS - "The brewery takes its name from Dogfish Head, Maine where founder Sam Calagione spent summers as a child."