Note from CAS President, Sam Holloway: I am thrilled to introduce our newest CAS Guest Expert, Janene Grace. Janene has over 11 years experience as a TTB compliance officer and as Regulatory Manager for Craft Brew Alliance. We are thrilled to bring Janene’s expertise to our learning community. As you can see from her first blog post, she brings a wealth of knowledge and practical advice for how to run your craft brewery responsibly and within federal and state regulations.
Note From CAS President, Sam Holloway: It is my pleasure to introduce our latest Guest Expert Blogger, Dr. Andre Sammartino. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Andre on an international research project that investigates the business motivations behind collaboration brews. I am flattered Dr. Sammartino has joined the CAS learning community as a Guest Expert, and our hope is to grow this community in Australia and New Zealand by featuring an expert strategist from down under, who also loves craft beer and the entrepreneurs who make this industry a global force. Welcome, Dr.
Note from CAS President, Sam Holloway: At CRAFTINGASTRATEGY.COM, we are committed to bringing our members the most relevant, up to date business wisdom. Over the past year, we have realized that our members are great resources of wisdom, and through our guest expert blogs, we can give them a voice. Tom Schmidlin was an incredibly skilled and well-known home brewer in Seattle, Washington. He decided to “Go Pro” almost exactly one year ago. We’ve asked Tom to reflect on his journey and to offer wisdom to our members with breweries in planning.
Sometimes it’s good to get out of Beervana. Portland, Oregon is a wonderful city and it has been my home for the past sixteen or so years. I still remember my first visit, when I was interviewing for my job at the University of Portland. My potential new colleagues took me to the old Bridgeport Brewing on NW 14th, and we had fantastic pizza and the most delicious ale this kid from New York had ever tried. I had been all over the world, cooking food and running food & beverage departments in some of the world’s most beautiful places.
Controlling is a process that has five basic steps. This note describes these five basic steps in the control process. For brewery and brewpub managers already in operations, this may be the most strategic note that you read on this website, and it may also be the most important.
It was late Friday afternoon in Sonoma, California, and the pitcher of strong ale was half consumed. Brewmaster Thoren Barrelson and Brewery owner Frank Shepherd were philosophizing over their work. They had just poured themselves a second pint of their carefully crafted chocolate stout. The aromas of ripe barley, soft hops and chocolate malt melded to form a perfectly balanced stout, soft on the palate, not to heavy or bitter or sweet.
