Thursday 28 November 2013

Who are you?

I think yesterday’s newspaper article clearly explains why my co-investors and I are setting up a microbrewery. It’s more to do with being involved in the community and producing a tangible product (rather than pushing bits of information around the ether), but it’s also a sound business opportunity.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Our first news article

Well the cat is truly out of the bag, in fact he has run off with next doors supper and headed for the hills. The article below is our first press coverage in the Berkhamsted & Tring Gazette and Hemel Today on-line. I now it’s not the Guardian or Financial Times but it’s a start. We have tried to keep the microbrewery under wraps, until we have set-up, but the journalist tracked me down after he saw our planning application notice.
 

Tuesday 26 November 2013

(Don't) start up brewing

It’s the second day of my Start up Brewing course at Brewlab. Tomorrow is a nice easy day with a visit to a few local microbreweries and a beery lunch at the wonderfully quirky Big Lamp Brewery. But the first two days have been intense. In summary: I found the review of ingredients fascinating, I found the marketing  and branding piece particularly interesting, I enjoyed learning how to create new beer recipes and like the idea of exploiting new markets, I also found I am good at detecting problems with beer through bad flavours and odours, but I got thoroughly confused by the brewing process.  

Thursday 21 November 2013

A day of concensus

Today I was fully immersed in our microbrewery business. We had four brand consultants and web designers pitch to us down at the Old Mill – it seemed an appropriate place for such a meeting. I used all the life skills I learned as a Civil Servant to ensure we procured the consultants by the book. Seven local firms were invited to tender and then four were shortlisted for interview/presentation.

Wednesday 20 November 2013

What's in a name?

The name of the brewery is probably one of the most important decisions to be made in the early stages of any microbrewery. The name sets the tone for the beers and the ethos behind producing the beers; the name reflects the brand, it conjures up images to the consumer and it represents the aspirations and values of the brewery. Basically, it’s important.

Monday 18 November 2013

A new venture

So I’ve started another blog. Why I hear you ask? Well it’s because I now have plenty of experience blogging (see Henry Vill and WorkplaceUnlimited), but very little experience brewing. You see I have invested my hard earned cash, my children’s inheritance as Theo Paphitis would say, in a new microbrewery in Berkhamsted. As a newbie brewer (technically a non-brewer) my focus will be on marketing and sales. I’m assured that my fellow investors, supported by various consultants, can brew beer – but like at Dyson I think we all need to brew our beer at least once and I suspect I won’t get away with not occasionally washing and humping barrels.