It's been another busy week for Mischief!
Earlier this week, we met with the director of economic development for the city of Peoria. We can't tell you how much of a relief it is to know our hometown is on our side and are excited for what we plan to bring to the community. Ideally, they would like us in one of their historic buildings downtown. This area is further south of where we planned to be, but the idea intrigued us and we agreed to take a tour with them.
The building is rough. Really rough. And the costs to renovate are not anything we budgeted for. But the potential is so far beyond what we could ever hope for in a location. We would LOVE to go into an old building with some character and history. We never even dreamed it would be an option. So now we have some big decisions to make. The downtown building is not our ideal location. Although that area is going through a MAJOR revitalization right now, we're just not sure if the timing is right for us. Decisions, decisions. It's just good to know that no matter where we find a home, the city is behind us.
If you recall, a few weeks ago we placed an offer on a location in the exact area we wanted. We finally got a counter offer this week. The price is amazing and it only needs a little bit of work. It's just not a historic building with exposed brick and a cool story. Then again, it also doesn't have asbestos. What to do, what to do?
In other news, right now we are getting ready to head to San Diego for CBC 2012. We are looking forward to all the contacts we will make, as well as checking out all the exhibitors in the trade show. So this post is going to be short and sweet. We've got some packing to do!
We'll be tweeting all week from CBC. If you are interested in what we are up to, follow us on the Twitter:
Brandon tweets here.
April tweets here.
Hope your week is full of Mischief!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Monday, April 23, 2012
Here's what's happening....
It's been a busy week for Mischief.
We spent the last week in negotiations for our hopeful location. We spent some time homebrewing and fine tuning some beer recipes. We ordered more shirts. We are looking for an architect to draw up plans for the building. We filled out paperwork for the city. We made plans to tour some breweries in San Diego next week while we attend the Craft Brewers Conference. And we finally ordered business cards. So there's no turning back now. We're legit.
We also had our friend and brother from another mother, Travis Suhr, film us for a promotional video to be used in the very near future. Travis is an amazing film maker who is going to be HUGE some day, just you wait and see. But for right now, he's hopefully hard at work editing so we don't look like the huge dorks we really are. It's nerve wracking being on camera. You want to seem natural and cool and relaxed. But instead you're worried you sound too cocky and look too fat and everyone can see the black hairs on your chin. Lucky you guys! You get to judge it for yourselves soon!
Next week, hopefully we have everything with the location finalized. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer to Saint Arnold, the patron saint of beer, that everything works out. But if not, it's okay. We'll just move on to the next one.
We will also be preparing for CBC12. We are finalizing the seminars we plan to attend and are looking forward to meeting lots of new people in the industry, as well as spending time with old friends from breweries we have visited in our travels. It's going to be like summer camp. But with beer.
It's a rough business. But someone's got to do it.
We spent the last week in negotiations for our hopeful location. We spent some time homebrewing and fine tuning some beer recipes. We ordered more shirts. We are looking for an architect to draw up plans for the building. We filled out paperwork for the city. We made plans to tour some breweries in San Diego next week while we attend the Craft Brewers Conference. And we finally ordered business cards. So there's no turning back now. We're legit.
We also had our friend and brother from another mother, Travis Suhr, film us for a promotional video to be used in the very near future. Travis is an amazing film maker who is going to be HUGE some day, just you wait and see. But for right now, he's hopefully hard at work editing so we don't look like the huge dorks we really are. It's nerve wracking being on camera. You want to seem natural and cool and relaxed. But instead you're worried you sound too cocky and look too fat and everyone can see the black hairs on your chin. Lucky you guys! You get to judge it for yourselves soon!
Next week, hopefully we have everything with the location finalized. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer to Saint Arnold, the patron saint of beer, that everything works out. But if not, it's okay. We'll just move on to the next one.
We will also be preparing for CBC12. We are finalizing the seminars we plan to attend and are looking forward to meeting lots of new people in the industry, as well as spending time with old friends from breweries we have visited in our travels. It's going to be like summer camp. But with beer.
It's a rough business. But someone's got to do it.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Location, location, location
So after one of the most discouraging weeks we have had during this journey, last week began with a light at the end of the tunnel.
We may have, possibly, might but not certainly . . . found a location.
We are trying so hard not to get our hopes up. We are kicking ourselves in the ass for even saying it out loud. But so far it looks good. It's in the area we have hoped for. The price is right. The square footage will work. Our mentor, Tom Hennessy of Colorado Boy Pub and Brewery has drawn up a tentative floor plan based on our measurements and pictures. It's going to require some hard work, but we're good at that. So we'll see. Now we just have to come to an agreement with the building owner and get a letter of intent. Keep your fingers crossed.
Once the letter of intent is signed, we can move forward. Then it's building inspectors and construction bids and cleaning and painting and a mountain of paperwork for state and federal licensing. And although it sounds overwhelming and monotonous, we can't wait to get started!
Our goal is to do as much as we can ourselves. We're good at painting and laying tile and one of us knows our way around a hammer and nails. And although the other one of us refers to the different screw drivers as the plus sign one and the minus sign one, she's certainly not afraid to use them. Plus she's super good at delegating and supervising and picking up lunch so there will be plenty of things keeping her busy.
If any of you know fancy people like electricians and plumbers who will be interested in working for "hydration" (are you following us there? wink wink), please reach out to us. You can find us on The Facebook and The Twitter, or you can leave a comment right here. We would love to hear from you regardless of what you have to say.
Again, we can not thank everyone enough for the overwhelming amount of support we have received from total strangers. The craft beer community has embraced us tightly, and it is your encouragement that keeps us going. It all started because we were tired of driving miles to find a place with decent craft beer. And now we know you are, too. We are not just making Mischief for ourselves anymore.
We are making Mischief for you. And we are loving each and every moment of it.
We may have, possibly, might but not certainly . . . found a location.
We are trying so hard not to get our hopes up. We are kicking ourselves in the ass for even saying it out loud. But so far it looks good. It's in the area we have hoped for. The price is right. The square footage will work. Our mentor, Tom Hennessy of Colorado Boy Pub and Brewery has drawn up a tentative floor plan based on our measurements and pictures. It's going to require some hard work, but we're good at that. So we'll see. Now we just have to come to an agreement with the building owner and get a letter of intent. Keep your fingers crossed.
Once the letter of intent is signed, we can move forward. Then it's building inspectors and construction bids and cleaning and painting and a mountain of paperwork for state and federal licensing. And although it sounds overwhelming and monotonous, we can't wait to get started!
Our goal is to do as much as we can ourselves. We're good at painting and laying tile and one of us knows our way around a hammer and nails. And although the other one of us refers to the different screw drivers as the plus sign one and the minus sign one, she's certainly not afraid to use them. Plus she's super good at delegating and supervising and picking up lunch so there will be plenty of things keeping her busy.
If any of you know fancy people like electricians and plumbers who will be interested in working for "hydration" (are you following us there? wink wink), please reach out to us. You can find us on The Facebook and The Twitter, or you can leave a comment right here. We would love to hear from you regardless of what you have to say.
Again, we can not thank everyone enough for the overwhelming amount of support we have received from total strangers. The craft beer community has embraced us tightly, and it is your encouragement that keeps us going. It all started because we were tired of driving miles to find a place with decent craft beer. And now we know you are, too. We are not just making Mischief for ourselves anymore.
We are making Mischief for you. And we are loving each and every moment of it.
Monday, April 9, 2012
The Crazy Ones
When we decided to document the process of starting a brewery, we agreed to document everything. The good, the bad and the ugly. If you know us in real life, you know that we are not the type of people to sugar coat stuff. If you want smoke blown up your ass, you've come to the wrong place. We believe in honesty. Sometimes honesty isn't pretty. But the ugliness is all part of the bigger picture.
We have had the honor and pleasure to speak with so many different brewery owners, people who have been in this business a long time, people who are legends in this industry. Every one of them has told us this is not going to be easy. But the struggle is worth it. Andy Ingram of Four Peaks Brewery told us "Anyone who has the balls big enough to start a brewery is going to get my support. But that person should know this business is not easy. But every moment of struggle is worth it in the end." This is why it is important for us to document the truth. We want everyone to know the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into making this dream a reality.
With all that said.... This week has been a struggle. Discouragement swirls all around us. We're having trouble finding a location within our budget. There aren't enough hours in the day to complete everything we need to get done. And no matter how much money we think we need to get this ball rolling, it's never enough. And probably the most painful, we have family and friends who think we are crazy.
But we will not give up. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is our destiny. We make good beer. Our side of town does not have an independent brewery. We know there is a need for it. We know it will be successful. We know we will be triumphant.
So in the meantime, we find solace in this, and we hope you will, too:
We have had the honor and pleasure to speak with so many different brewery owners, people who have been in this business a long time, people who are legends in this industry. Every one of them has told us this is not going to be easy. But the struggle is worth it. Andy Ingram of Four Peaks Brewery told us "Anyone who has the balls big enough to start a brewery is going to get my support. But that person should know this business is not easy. But every moment of struggle is worth it in the end." This is why it is important for us to document the truth. We want everyone to know the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into making this dream a reality.
With all that said.... This week has been a struggle. Discouragement swirls all around us. We're having trouble finding a location within our budget. There aren't enough hours in the day to complete everything we need to get done. And no matter how much money we think we need to get this ball rolling, it's never enough. And probably the most painful, we have family and friends who think we are crazy.
But we will not give up. We know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, this is our destiny. We make good beer. Our side of town does not have an independent brewery. We know there is a need for it. We know it will be successful. We know we will be triumphant.
So in the meantime, we find solace in this, and we hope you will, too:
Monday, April 2, 2012
So here's what we have been up to....
Location, location, location. Right now it's all about finding the right place for our new plan of awesomeness. We have been searching high and low. This one is too small. This one is too big. That one doesn't have outdoor seating (which we think is important, don't you?). This one has only ONE bathroom (which we think is gross, don't you?). It sucks. Right now everything else is hinging on a building.
Being in the northwest valley of Peoria Arizona, our location choices are very limited. There just isn't that cool old building with lots of character in a decent part of town. (Those lucky east valley bastards at Four Peaks and SanTan!!)(We say that with nothing but love and admiration.) But the search is on and it's only a matter of time before we find it.
We are very much looking forward to attending the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego next month. Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery will be the keynote speaker and it will be all we can do to keep from throwing our panties at him while he's on stage. We're a little worried about geeking out over our idols while we're there. Oh and while we're talking about geeking out over our idols, we should probably take a moment right now to thank Mr. Charlie Papazian for not moving forward with that restraining order after meeting him at Four Peaks last month. Thank you Sir, and again we hope there are no hard feelings about one of us slapping your ass (although sometimes he can't control himself).
Last but not least, you may have noticed to your right that we added a link to Paypal so you can buy your Mischief tee! They come in Black and Red (for now) and sizes Medium to 2XL. If you are local in the Valley of the Sun, please reach out to us on Facebook and we will find a way to get you the shirt so you don't have to pay shipping. If you are not the T-shirt wearing kind and you still feel the need to support us, you can also buy us a beer. All proceeds will go to purchasing the equipment we need so we can brew amazing beer for the masses.
Again we want to say how thankful we are for the overwhelming amount of support we have received on this crazy journey. We are looking forward to making Mischief with you!
Being in the northwest valley of Peoria Arizona, our location choices are very limited. There just isn't that cool old building with lots of character in a decent part of town. (Those lucky east valley bastards at Four Peaks and SanTan!!)(We say that with nothing but love and admiration.) But the search is on and it's only a matter of time before we find it.
We are very much looking forward to attending the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego next month. Steve Hindy of Brooklyn Brewery will be the keynote speaker and it will be all we can do to keep from throwing our panties at him while he's on stage. We're a little worried about geeking out over our idols while we're there. Oh and while we're talking about geeking out over our idols, we should probably take a moment right now to thank Mr. Charlie Papazian for not moving forward with that restraining order after meeting him at Four Peaks last month. Thank you Sir, and again we hope there are no hard feelings about one of us slapping your ass (although sometimes he can't control himself).
Last but not least, you may have noticed to your right that we added a link to Paypal so you can buy your Mischief tee! They come in Black and Red (for now) and sizes Medium to 2XL. If you are local in the Valley of the Sun, please reach out to us on Facebook and we will find a way to get you the shirt so you don't have to pay shipping. If you are not the T-shirt wearing kind and you still feel the need to support us, you can also buy us a beer. All proceeds will go to purchasing the equipment we need so we can brew amazing beer for the masses.
Again we want to say how thankful we are for the overwhelming amount of support we have received on this crazy journey. We are looking forward to making Mischief with you!
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