People make mistakes. It is a part of what makes us human. What also makes us human is the ability to forgive others for their mistakes. I made a fairly large mistake recently with Blue Wolf Brewing. No, nothing that is all that serious, but it was a mistake none-the-less. You see, I lost my confidence in what I set out to do. When I first came up with the Blue Wolf concept I was all ready to dive into the world of craft beer making. Sure, it would be on a small scale, but you have to start somewhere.

As I told people about the idea I started getting hit with all the what ifs, and I don’t knows. The comments were meant to be helpful and caring because most people wanted to see me succeed. A lot of the comments were valid concerns, but looking back at things the comments were just that- comments. I’ve run the numbers over and over and over about the concept. Each time the numbers tell me that this will work.

Then there is the internet. Go search for how to start a brewery sometime. There is plenty of reading material to choose from. And read it I did. Over time I started to see a pattern from all the negativity about starting a brewery. One, people did not do enough research before they opened their doors. Two, most of the breweries that failed did so because the owners had no idea how much work it was to make beer. Three, a small portion gave me the impression that they literally woke up one day and said,”I’m going to open a brewery.” Four, did I mention about the amount of work involved?

You should see all the great material on nanobreweries. Where you will be brewing all the time. Isn’t that the goal? If I have to brew a lot that means my product is selling. As long as you price your beer accordingly you should make money. I understand that the more you can brew at one time will allow you to make more money. However, not everyone has $1,000,000 to start up a brewery. Maybe you start up small, keep within your means, and build up to that $1,000,000 brewery.

I want to apologize for the confusion. Instead of going with what I knew would work I let the naysayers get to me. Any time you start a business an enormous amount of people will tell you it is going to fail. And, it might. Or, because you took the time to do the proper research, set your expectations correctly, and came up with a solid plan it should work. Don’t get lost along the way, don’t try to get bigger than you should right away, and stay focused on your goals.

I’ve decided to do what I should have been doing all along. I am building a taproom with a small 3 barrel system. I’ve decided that some of the advice I got was valid and I need a larger brewing system then I was planning on before. This increases the start up costs a bit, but sets me up for the future a lot better. I’m going to have to get creative with financing options, but I have some pretty good ideas on how to do that. Look for some cool things in the future.

Thank you for your understanding, and I can’t wait to have you join us in the taproom.

Cheers!

Mike