Two stainless steel steps closer....

It has come to our attention that people really enjoy reading our blog.  It has also been mentioned that people really don't like it when we don't update it on a regular basis.  What we realized is that you guys really love knowing what we are up to.  What might seem trivial to us on this long, bumpy road to opening our brewery is entertaining and exciting news to those following our progress.  So with that said, we are going to make a concentrated effort to keep you up to date with our constantly evolving journey.  We hope you're ready, because here it goes.

 

Lets go back a few months.  Back to the Memorial Day weekend this past May.  While most of you were enjoying many pints of craft beer over the three days, we were making the 1,100 mile round trip from Phoenix to Colorado.  

 

You see, back in December of 2012 we placed the order for our Boil Kettle.  A beautiful 7 barrel sphere of awesomeness, custom built for us by the master craftsman Tom Bennett at Bennett Forgeworks in Ridgway Colorado.  It felt like a year, but after a quick 5 months, Tom called us to let us know that our new kettle was ready to be picked up.

 

Opening a brewery is a long and tedious process.  There is always something that needs to be addressed or ordered or paid for.  So we didn't have much time to sit idly by and wait for the months to roll by until we received that call from Tom.  No, no.  We spent those 5 months looking for the many other pieces of equipment that we still need for our brewery.  Fermenters, glycol chillers, kegs, taps, hoses, clamps, etc.  Barrels. It's a never ending search.  But what we found was something that we never could have imagined. 

 

As most of you know, we come from the fraternity known as The Colorado Boy Family.  There are about 50 of us so far, and a little more than 30 are open and brewing now.  And if you ever get the chance to talk to one of them, ask this question: "What is the one piece of equipment you wish you could have in your brewery?" 

 

Call it luck.  Call it karma.  Call if favoritism.  We like to call it Tom. Our friend and mentor, Tom Hennessy, owner and founder of Colorado Boy, bequeathed unto us the Holy Grail of Frankenbrew equipment: His precious mash tun.

 

But more on that later.

 

Our three day Colorado adventure flew by.  We drove more than 1,200 miles, visited 8 different breweries, met up with some old friends, and picked up 2 vital pieces of equipment for our Brewery.  But what we really achieved was getting just a little closer to completing our brew house.  Which means that we are getting closer to making this dream a reality. 

 

Things are happening at Mischief Brewing Company. We're happy you want to be a part of it.

 

Cheers!

Elephants

Well let's start by addressing the elephant in the room....

We are still very actively looking for a location. It's frustrating. We find a place, it looks almost perfect, but there isn't enough parking, or there is a church or school within so many feet as the crow flies, or the city won't approve anymore liquor sales on that corner, or the costs to make the space brewpub ready are too great and outside of our budget. Whatever. These are the ups and downs of starting a business. We want to set ourselves up for success. And in order to do that, it is imperative we follow our business model and find a location that fits within the plan.

But we will never give up. We know how much our community needs this brewery, we know how much the craft beer lovers on the west side want this brewery, and we know how badly we want this business for ourselves. If that means waiting for all the stars and planets to align properly, we'll wait. Maybe not patiently, but we'll do it.

We've been to many events over the past few months in the valley, and we are always so overwhelmed by the amount of support we receive from the local craft beer community. This is why we continue to work hard to turn this dream into a reality. Because of YOU. So thank you! Your support and encouragement fuels our fire. We will never be able to put into words how much we appreciate that.

Last month we had the pleasure of attending the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Washington DC. We attended seminars on the financial aspects of running a brewery, increasing the value of our
brand through social media, and innovative ways to brew for the consumer's ever changing palate. Sounds like a snoozefest but every minute of it was amazing. We met and reconnected with so many amazing people. People who have stories just like ours, people who encouraged us and related to us and offered us advice. It was a much needed and very valuable experience.

And it may have changed the direction of Mischief. We'll see.

All we know is, we are so thankful you haven't given up on us. The best things in life are worth waiting for. We will eventually have a door to hang the OPEN sign on, and we are so looking forward to it!

Help us help you become famous. Oh and buy a shirt.

Hey hey hey Mischief Makers!

We need your help! We are in the process of updating our website and would love to include pictures of the people who are so generously supporting our hard work to finalize this dream into a reality. Please send us good, clear photos of YOU out and about, representing in your Mischief shirt.

Email them to mischiefbrewery@gmail.com by Wednesday March 20.

And if you don't have a shirt, what the hell is wrong with you? You can buy one of our new and improved, double sided shirts for just $15 plus tax and shipping. Just click on that link to your right. Your other right. If you don't want to pay tax and shipping, send us a private message and we'll meet you some where for delivery. (Just please don't be a serial killer because that would suck.)

We are so excited to see what kind of crazy photos you guys are going to send! We appreciate your support!

Look! We found Waldo and he was wearing our shirt!

Happy Brew Year!!

It's been a wild ride these past 12 months. We've had ups and downs and even a few loop de loops on the road to building this brewery. Things have not always worked out the way we had hoped or expected (we REALLY thought we would be open or close to opening by now), but we would not change a thing. Every speedbump along the way has taught us something. And we are so thankful.

We can't get over the opportunities we have been provided, or the amazing people we have met. We're just gonna say it: The Arizona beer community is the BEST in the world. The most supportive, gracious, kind and generous. We can not wait to open our doors and share a pint (or two) with you!

Speaking of opening our doors... We know we have been quiet about our location, but believe us, we are diligently working day and night to make this happen. In the past few months we have purchased some equipment, we ordered our custom made brew kettle, and we booked our tickets to this year's Craft Brewers Conference in Washington DC. Our livers have only recently recovered from last year's CBC, so we'll see how this goes. Wonder what kind of shenanigans we will get into?

We are in the process of revamping our website, thanks to our good friend Erik. Thank God Erik loves beer. We are also fine tuning our new logo. New shirts will be ordered once it is complete and will be available for purchase on the website soon!

We are looking forward to a very happy and prosperous new year! From the bottom of our hearts, souls and pint glasses, thank you for sharing this journey with us. Cheers to 2013! May it be full of Mischief!