Right now, I am frustrated. Don’t tell us that you want to open a brewery, don’t tell us you want to do it from scratch, don’t ask how much it costs or how many oppositions you will encounter. It’s demoralizing, it’s frustrating, it’s time consuming, it’s expensive…
I consider Brian and I (and the kids) to be positive, persistent and ultimately determined people. But mostly we are impatient; our impatience fuels us to work harder and faster. But now, now we are in a position where the rate isn’t up to us, it is up to others (city departments, architects, construction workers, landlords, etc.). Let’s just say there is a reason that corporations pay construction crews, design teams, kitchen experts, etc. millions of dollars to open. But us little guys? Us little guys have to pay our dues with sweat, labor, beer barter, and time (lots and lots of time).
Do you know the bunny in Zootopia who is jumping about waiting for the sloth at the DMV? Yeah, well let’s just say that hit home in more ways than one. We appreciate the sloths and ultimately it’s our uneducatedness that makes the process take so long. We have never built anything from the ground up and have zero restaurant experience. Then again, we didn’t know anything about opening a brewery.
I feel like we owe you an explanation of what it is taking so long, I even started writing it all out. It primarily consisted of paperwork, waiting and overcoming new barriers. Telling you about it, however, won’t make you feel any better. What I really want to do instead is tell you the ultimate truth: We are unbearably excited to open and we want you to be just as excited. So I am going to share some good news with you; hopefully it is as exciting for you as it is for us.
Here are some of our successes to date:
Beer production: Our plan is to have 30 taps (28 for beer and 2 for craft soda) and 14 fermenters. Our friend Will is handcrafting a bar top for us!
Brewhouse: Brian worked with Dave to design and build our brew system and I am so proud of what these guys did! Have you see the pictures? Just realize that it was Dave’s work of art and it took way more time, energy and effort than we ever imagined. It will always be the central piece of art in our brewery.
Brewpub: We get to have a restaurant which has been a lifelong fantasy dream of ours (we never thought we’d do it). We have been testing food, recipes and ideas for our menu for over a year. We are really excited about our menu design and the goodies we will have.
Design: By doing it from the ground up we get to put everything in place exactly how we want it. Working out the design and placement of every piece of equipment, both brewery and eatery side, was quite an accomplishment for us.
Equipment: We have purchased over 100 solid wood chairs and our large kitchen equipment (got it all used for a great deal).
Tasting room: Our new building is tall and beautiful, has tons of parking, and a 2nd story with two stair cases. In addition, there will be seating outside and a kid area. (In addition to bussing tables, Corbin wants to be in charge of story time for the kids.)
We are trying to craft awesome beer, food and an atmosphere for you guys to enjoy; a home away from home; a place that brings our community together and helps us reconnect with one another; a place to unwind, feed our bodies and comfort our souls.
So be patient with us and know we haven’t lost sight of our goals. As soon as anything exciting happens, we will be sure to post it on our social media outlets.
Side note: I would like to formally apologize to all the restaurants, breweries, and other small businesses that I have snarked at for taking so long to open. Yep, I have made the cynical comments like “it would never take us that long” and “what are they doing?!”. Here it is 8 months after we closed our old location (even after 7 months of planning before we closed) I now understand and have sworn to never snark again.