More Red Tape than Red Stripe

Who would have thought that the noble craft of brewing was a bureaucratic minefield? I suppose it’s symptomatic of the nanny state we now live in, the PC world, the H&S obsessed regime. Anyhow if you have any romantic notions that setting up a microbrewery is simply about honest hard graft in a quaint disused farm building then let me highlight a few of the regulatory hoops (consents) you need to jump through.

Merry Chistmas Everybody

Just a quick blog today, it is after all Christmas Eve and I’ve shopping to do. So yesterday we received the keys to our new premises and invited our families along to have a quick look. We celebrated with a couple of local ales and then congregated at the Old Mill for further celebration over “Christmas Dinner”. I’ve put Christmas Dinner in quotes as only two of us actually ordered turkey and Christmas pud.

Anyhow it’s a high to finish the year on, but come the New Year the real graft starts. In the meantime, as Noddy would say, Merry Christmas everybody.

Beer Tasting Challenge

So last Thursday was a busy day for us and it finished with our Beer Tasting Challenge. Some 30 guests blind-tasted five beers, judged them and told us what they liked best. The results were not as expected!

I previously blogged that George and I visited the local hostelries to ascertain what beers sold best. The top four beers favoured in Berkhamsted are (with no great surprise): Fullers London Pride, GreeneKing IPA, Sharp’s Doom Bar and Tring’s Side Pocket for a Toad. We purchased polypins of these beers along with one of Chiltern’s Beechwood Bitter. We then got our beery guinea pigs to try the beers without being told what they are. We had a few stray women in the audience, and I have separated out their views for now.

Milestone date

Today was another busy microbrewery day and a momentous occasion. Today Scott and Nick signed the lease for our microbrewery. We are now committed to Unit 2 River Park for 5 years (with a lease break) – bloomin' hell I need a sit down and a beer. The property is a recently refurbished industrial unit with plenty of space to brew beer, host brewery tours or brew days and, if planning goes ahead, sell beer in our new trade counter. 

There's something in a name

The hardened northern brewers up at Brewlab and PBC weren’t too sure of the Haresfoot Brewery name, causing a bit of a wobble in confidence with my co-directors. I have explained the origins of our name in a previous blog post.

Anyhow as a quick response I have carried out a little market research on the name via email and Facebook. Some 34 friends and family replied to me over a weekend, so many thanks to them.

Drinking beer for research

George and I carried out some extensive market research today. We visited all the pubs in Berkhamsted, had half a pint in most and asked what beers they sold the most. The most popular beers in Berkhamsted appear to be:Fullers London Pride (a great all round pint), Tring’s Side Pocket for a Toad (a hoppy session beer), Green King IPA (I suppose it’s cheap but I prefer the Abbot) and Sharp's Doom Bar (not my personal choice). The idea is to offer these beers at a blind tasting and see which people genuinely like to drink without the branding. Is it about taste or hype?

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.