We were proud to have been able to give the gift of our beer at a recent wedding of one of Danny's oldest and dearest friends. We brought 3 kegs of each of our blonde and amber ales with us, which both turned out to be a big hit with the guests.
The father of the bride favored our amber and hunted us down through the crowds to thank us personally for our wonderful, flavorful concoction. If this was not enough, he also raised a glass in our honor during his wedding speech, and blamed us preliminarily for the hangover he knew would be coming the next day from his indulgence.
His biggest question was "Where can I get more"?
To which we could only answer, "You can't...sorry...not yet anyways"!
After months of waiting for the city to decide on something that had not been allowed yet in Lakewood, they finally told us that, "No...you cannot start a commercial brewery in your garage...even if it was detached from the house". We know that others have been able to get around this national law, but we didn't want to argue the issue anymore after all of our cards had been already laid out on the table. We couldn't wait any longer to get our beer "out there".
That same week, we found a wonderfully tiny unit, barely big enough for our operation to get going...and then more waiting...
Last week we finally finished getting all of our forms in to the state - along with very expensive mechanical engineering drawings of our space - for approval. It's been going along well now, but there is still some waiting to be done before we can start the "construction & setup phase of our operation". We want to make sure that everything's a "go" before we pour more of our own money into something they suddenly decide can't be allowed in the space.
As most may not know, we are 100% self-financed, which always makes things slower at the get-go. Our goal is to stay small at first and then grow slowly but strongly, concentrating on the quality and not the quantity of our product.
For anyone who's been there, the red tape phase of starting a business is the worst! Wish us luck!
Betty
Brewmistress
