Well said, Denny.
I think that’s the biggest difference in the creative aspects of pro vs home brewing. At home, you create for you. At work, you create for your patrons.
You may not like kolsch, witbier, or irish stout… but if thats what sells, thats gotta be 1st priority.
Unless you are an arrogant bastard. 
yeah, but the point you guys are missing is this: I have complete creative control over the brewery. Obviously it will depend on what sells. But a brewer coming in to work under me will have to brew what I tell him to brew.
Ahhh, I gotcha.
So, even though you might not get to brew a barrel-aged-funky-dryhopped-saisonbock, those are YOUR recipes. Otherwise you’re just brewing somebody else’s.
Kind of like a great chef working for a chain restaurant.
[quote]Kind of like a great chef working for a chain restaurant.
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Well, now you are implying that the homebrewer is a better brewer that the probrewer who owns the establishment. Let’s put it this way, my brewery has a very narrow focus on styles. Mostly we brew Belgian and German ales. That’s our gig and that’s what we are sticking too. We certainly aren’t going to change our flagship beers now. That said, if an assistant brewer came up with a great idea and/or recipe I’d certainly let her brew it, as long as it fit in our parameters. But as a business we are going to stick to those parameters.
So you’ll tell him to brew what your customers tell you to brew…
I realize there is at least a bit of creative freedom. I’d bet that a couple of the beers you brew are completely new to your customer base, and obviously they’ve been well received. But if they didn’t like the styles, you’d have no choice but to brew what they liked.
I’ve had a pretty good run of being creative but staying inside the bounds of moderation, so to speak. Some of our most sought after beers are our Tobacco Road Imperial Amber aged in brandy barrels and our Saison de Detente aged in Chardonnay bbls. And our #1 seller is a Belgian White made with ginger and lime leaves. But, yeah, there are certain limitations you have to consider as far as what will and won’t sell, and you have to brew the ones that are selling whether you are tired of brewing them or not. Luckily for me I enjoy brewing all of our styles, though I will say hand grating the ginger every week does tend to get old.
Well, now you are implying that the homebrewer is a better brewer that the probrewer who owns the establishment.
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That may be true also. Just because one is a pro doesn’t make them better than everyone else. I realize you may have been tongue in cheek with that statement, but I wanted to rebut anyway.
$20 bottles of barrel aged funky dryhopped saisonbock are flying off the shelf these days. If anything, you may not get to brew a Helles!
That may be true also. Just because one is a pro doesn’t make them better than everyone else. I realize you may have been tongue in cheek with that statement, but I wanted to rebut anyway.
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Yeah, well, try getting a job at a brewery with that attitude. Also, commercial brewing is a lot different than homebrewing. Most homebrewers would not know there way very well around a commercial brewery. It’s a big learning curve. Even if they have the best recipe in the world there is no guarantee it will turn out without the supervision of the folks who know how to make the equipment work.
OTOH I have known some pro brewers who made terrible beer and didn’t know jack about brewing. And some of the best beer I have ever tasted has been homebrew.
One of my latest pet peeves (I have so many) is new breweries starting up that make a big deal about being “artisans” and making “small batch” beer and all the other buzzwords people love these days, only to make beer that is worse than the high-end offerings from established microbreweries (Avery, Great Divide, Boulevard, etc.).
It’s fine to think you could “do it better” than the pros, but only if you actually can.
Yeah, well, try getting a job at a brewery with that attitude. Also, commercial brewing is a lot different than homebrewing. Most homebrewers would not know there way very well around a commercial brewery. It’s a big learning curve. Even if they have the best recipe in the world there is no guarantee it will turn out without the supervision of the folks who know how to make the equipment work.
OTOH I have known some pro brewers who made terrible beer and didn’t know jack about brewing. And some of the best beer I have ever tasted has been homebrew.
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I definitely agree with you, was just playing devil’s advocate, I guess.
Fwiw I always appreciate devils advocate.
+1 - especially in the wild/sour/funky beer market. Bigger craft breweries spend a lot of time, money, and effort to make these wonderful beers. Don’t just pitch some orval dregs into a belgian blonde that didnt turn out and slap a $20 price tag on it.
Or an infected porter, although they who shall remain unnamed did own that that was the case.
A bar I won’t name was charging a premium for an infected batch of a beer I won’t name. Is it likely it was the bar’s fault it was infected, or was it the keg?
This was at a brewpub, and I talked to the brewer. Beer was infected in the fermentor.
I’m all about “happy accidents” - some great beers have come from these. But, if an accident turns into a beer worth selling, you should market it as such.
Extra time, effort, money, etc. was not invested to warrant a price increase. If anything - a price reduction would be in order.
Price has very little to do with time, effort or money invested. That sets the minimum price below which it is not possible to sell the product but actual selling price is based on what the market will bare. hence a pair of nike sneakers selling for 200$ when it costs .20$ to manufacture. If the brewer thinks the happy accident makes for an exceptional beer, and there is a limited supply, there is a chance the market will bare a higher price. Even if there is not a limited supply, if the brewer (or the marketer) believes they can get people to pay a premium they should charge a premium.
I don’t remember what they charged for it (doesn’t really make a difference either way to me). I thought it was cool that they were up front about it, basically “Hey we screwed the pooch on this, but it tastes pretty good anyway”, which it did. The brewer got stuck tending bar for an hour, and since it was slow I got to shoot the shit with him for a while. Nice guy.