This is a ball, rolling
I started writing this post entitled “We Have Liftoff”, but I figured I’d save that one for something special. Like, say, opening day.
Tuesday night, Kell, Andrew and I met at Vine Street for some good beer, good food, and our first official meeting as partners in this whole brewing thing. Things I learned: Tempeh is a real word, not just the name for a Reuben, and it is not Corned Beef.
Also, we decided to name the business Mad Haven Brewing Company, LLC. It’s official! I registered it with the state yesterday:
Articles of Organization
We have a lot of work ahead of us, but this was a great launching point. We can now talk as a business, sign up for things (like a bank account) as a business, and, well, do business.
Other things for you to chew on: It looks like we’re going to change course a bit and start this as a brew pub. This will allow for a lot of things that a straight distribution brewery doesn’t. It gives us time to really knock out some amazing beers that customers like; it creates a revenue stream separate from distribution, so if things aren’t selling quickly, there’s still some cash flow; and it allows us to really create an environment and culture around the brand.
Hopefully I’ll have some more exciting news soon. I can’t spill too many details just yet, but if you have any input or suggestions or ideas or whatever, let me know!
Welcome to Mad Haven.
Congratulations. Hopefully you’ll be up and running when i move to Denver
Congrats! That’s so exciting! I can’t wait to watch as this goes from a brewpub of the mind to a physical pub pumping out great beer.
So I’m guessing the brewpub direction means you won’t be able to send review beers to, say, Maine? :-p
Well considering that shipping beer is generally illegal, unless it’s between two approved companies, then it’s definitely out of the question. Yeast samples, however..
We’ll get you a beer, don’t you worry. Or just come out to Denver. Because it’s awesome out here.
I LOVE Denver. Trust me, you’ll be the first stop next time I’m out west to ski.
Congratulations, y’all! Hopefully “We Have Liftoff” won’t be coupled with too many “Houston, We Have a Problem”s:
http://www.qwantz.com/archive/000248.html
Don’t rule out buying an existing pub and easing into a brewing operation (e.g. serving mostly guest beers, but brewing on a homebrew system for a weekly “house beer night”). I missed a chance to be in business for about $100K by blowing off such an opportunity. D’oh!
I’ll definitely keep that in mind. I’ll also make sure to use more cliches, if you help find suitable comics that illustrate them..
Congrats on your new company!
One thing you might consider before blazing down the brewpub route is you need to serve food. This means you will be a restaurant and a brewery. It doubles your work, and you’ll have to produce great food as well as great beer to keep customers coming. I went down a similar path of thinking on this.
Good luck!
That was one of the major concerns for me – mainly, my passion is beer, not food. But Andrew is passionate about the restaurant side. And I really think we can do well on both sides, which will in turn support the entire company. Where did your path take you?
Woo Hoo! good move!