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Author Topic: whats up with Niko brew?  (Read 4433 times)

Offline jimmykx250

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whats up with Niko brew?
« on: January 17, 2017, 01:02:55 pm »
I noticed homebrew finds advertised they had a sale going on the other day and the website has been down the last couple days. Any one know anything?
Jimmykx250

Offline denny

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #1 on: January 17, 2017, 01:33:23 pm »
Dunno, but I'll ask him.  There have been some big storms over there so maybe that has something to do with it.
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Offline GS

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #2 on: January 17, 2017, 06:44:26 pm »
I'm sure it's another attempt of big brew to edge out the homebrew market, or something. It can't be a simple matter of the server going offline.

Tongue firmly planted in cheek.

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Offline Stevie

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #3 on: January 17, 2017, 07:04:36 pm »
Russian hackers, believe me.

Offline theDarkSide

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #4 on: January 21, 2017, 11:12:20 am »
Well, here the answer.  Total sucks this happens to such a great guy.


Dear Nikobrew customers,
Please allow us to explain why things have big a pain in the ass with our website lately and why we are, regrettably, no longer going to be able to serve the brewing community. We at Nikobrew realized that as a family owned, smaller distributor we were going to need to diversify to ride through the changing climate of the hop industry and, because we also just wanted to, we developed a business plan centered around a local brewery. With a significant personal investment and an SBA loan we commenced with all things brewery. We hired a consultant/equipment manufacturer to help us with this project in relation to site inspections/equipment needs/ever changing city regulations/etc. This person signed a contract for consulting services and offered to broker the sale of some equipment we owned in favor of then purchasing a larger, custom system from him. This is, by the way, taking a very long and complicated story and making it short and simple. Through the sale of the smaller piece of equipment this person/company embezzled $60,000 from our SBA money and also sold us a $20,000 piece of absolute garbage keg washer. Despite the valiant efforts of a local sheriff to get criminal charges pressed, as it was a business-to-business transaction it remains a civil case. We have been fighting for over a year to get the money returned and cannot disclose the identity of the persons in question until it is resolved in its entirety. This theft threw the brewery project into a stand-still and exhausted our personal resources. The amount we would win going to court is almost the same as it would cost in legal fees to proceed further. During mediation, we were told almost verbatim by our retired judge mediator that we were 100% in the right, however, without a court order they are not legally required to repay any of the stolen funds and, even with a court order, it is unlikely they’d even have the money to pay back at this point. Saddest of all, it has been brought to our attention that we are not the first company to have this happen, and that this business is in the process even now of doing the exact same thing to at least one other brewery.
Our brewery is dead, the SBA wants their money back, and the hops company we’ve nurtured for the past 8 years will be scrapped for parts.
On behalf of Niko, Alexis, Scott, Jenn, Chris, and Devin we want to sincerely thank you all for your incredible support the last 8 years. We have honestly loved being your go-to supplier for hops, seeing you all at conventions, supporting the Brewing Network, and getting to know the people in this industry. Now that we are able to announce the closure of Nikobrew, stay tuned for how to get in on our bulk hop liquidation sale.
Cheers! Lechyim! Prost!

EDIT TO ADD: we have considered crowd-funding but factoring together the personal investment we have made in addition to the 80k lost there's no way we could raise enough money - the bank is not going to wait.
We are getting inundated with well-wishes and condolences and if we don't respond we're not ignoring you!
Seacoast Homebrew Club - Portsmouth, NH
AHA Member
Stephen Mayo
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Offline tommymorris

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #5 on: January 21, 2017, 11:34:54 am »
That sucks.

Offline brewinhard

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #6 on: January 21, 2017, 12:38:02 pm »
Jesus!  That's horrible. Sorry Niko and crew...

Offline Stevie

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #7 on: January 21, 2017, 12:41:36 pm »
This really sucks for Niko and crew. I bet this happens fairly often in any growth industry.

narvin

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #8 on: January 21, 2017, 01:03:16 pm »
That's awful.  I wonder why the have been in mediation for this long.  There are contracts that require it, which I would never recommend signing.

We have been fighting for over a year to get the money returned and cannot disclose the identity of the persons in question until it is resolved in its entirety . . . Saddest of all, it has been brought to our attention that we are not the first company to have this happen, and that this business is in the process even now of doing the exact same thing to at least one other brewery.


Hopefully, once mediation is over, they will warn people about this person regardless of whether they proceed with the civil suit.

Edit: It looks like they did file suit already.

http://www.bendbulletin.com/localstate/deschutescounty/4066866-151/deschutes-county-civil-suits
« Last Edit: January 21, 2017, 01:05:05 pm by narvin »

narvin

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #9 on: January 21, 2017, 01:07:32 pm »

Offline denny

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #10 on: January 21, 2017, 01:11:46 pm »
Good detective work!
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell

narvin

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #11 on: January 21, 2017, 01:17:32 pm »
Good detective work!

Thanks Denny.  I can say that in this case it was as simple as googling "nikobrew lawsuit"  :)

Offline bayareabrewer

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #12 on: January 21, 2017, 02:29:11 pm »
If you care to learn more about the company, here is their Facebook https://www.facebook.com/WeCanBrewingSystems/

Offline Molinari

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2017, 01:01:17 pm »
Thanks Denny.  I can say that in this case it was as simple as googling "nikobrew lawsuit"  :)

So what's happening with the lawsuit? Can we get an update?
« Last Edit: November 09, 2021, 08:21:16 am by Molinari »

Offline reverseapachemaster

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Re: whats up with Niko brew?
« Reply #14 on: August 04, 2017, 08:39:53 am »
So what's happening with the lawsuit? Can we get an update?

Looks like they settled and the suit was subsequently dismissed.
Heck yeah I blog about homebrewing: Brain Sparging on Brewing