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! 

Meet April

Allow me to introduce myself. I'm April. I'm the wife in this husband and wife adventure. I do most of our social media, meaning I write the blog and I update the Facebook page. Unless there are spelling errors. Then Brandon did it.

I'm kind of a newbie to the world of craft beer. I've only been a fan for about three years. A lot of people find it funny that the first beer I fell in love with was Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Not exactly a gateway beer, if you know what I mean. But if you know me, and you know that beer, you're probably not surprised at all.

I'm bold. I'm loud. I like things that are detailed and ornate. I don't do bland or plain. And I really don't do simple or minimal. I'm totally over the top, sequins blazing, jazz hands extended all the time. I jump in head first. There's usually no hesitation once I make up my mind. Go big or go home. Right?

So when Brandon said to me "I want to start a brewery," I just looked at him and said "Okay. Let's do this." And there has been no turning back. When people said we were crazy, I said "So?" And when they asked what we knew about running a brewery, I said "We'll bust our asses and learn." And when they asked what will happen if it doesn't work out, I said "That's not an option. It will."

I believe in us. I believe in Brandon and his talents and abilities. I believe in his passion for this industry. I believe in our concept for this brewery. And I believe with my whole heart and soul it will bring amazing things to our community. I can't wait to get to know our regulars, to build this Mischief family, and to support this community with charitable events.

We are really looking forward to being a part of your lives, and we are so appreciative of your patience and support. We are always so overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity shown by the people who have been following our story. If you can in anyway contribute to our CraftFund, which will give us that last little bit needed to bridge the gap to opening, we will be eternally grateful.

And these jazz hands will always reach out to squeeze you. (Did I forget to mention I'm a hugger? You have been warned.)

We put the fun in funding!

We've had a lot of people asking us what's going on with the brewery. They want to know where we are in the process and what kind of a time line we are looking at. Rome wasn't built in a day, my friends. Breweries take time to build. Yes, we thought we would be open by now. Yes, we have faced many hurdles we never anticipated. And yes, this is so much harder than we ever dreamed it would be. But rest assured, we are more determined than ever to make Mischief happen.

When our Kickstarter proved unsuccessful, we took two giant steps back to reevaluate our priorities. We were emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted. It had been a very long and difficult thirty eight days. Even though it didn't turn out as we had hoped, we were so glad it was over. We were tired of the waiting, the wondering, and most of all, begging people for money. We were over it.

The funds we would have raised from Kickstarter were never essential. It wasn't going to make or break us. That money would have allowed us to go bigger as far as purchasing more equipment and start us out on a larger scale than originally planned. It is so easy when you're starting a business to allow your imagination to run wild. This experience made us realize we needed to get back to the basics. Back to what got us into this business. Back to what fueled our passion and drove us to take this risk in the first place.

The beer.

We began to focus on our recipes and develop new ones. We brewed. We sampled. We tweaked and tested and experimented. And we got excited about making beer all over again.

In September, we were contacted by the people at Craft Fund, a new Crowd Funding company specializing in fund raising for the craft beer industry, about possibly doing another fundraising campaign. We winced and politely declined. But they were persistent. And then one of our very good friends and supporters reminded us of all the people who kept asking how they could still give us the money they pledged through Kickstarter. People still wanted to help. Our community still wanted to be a part of bringing this brewery to Peoria. We reluctantly allowed ourselves to be talked into it.

This time, the major difference is we are only hoping to raise $15,000 in 45 days. Every pledge is still rewarded with an appreciation gift, and every pledge gets us one step closer to opening our doors and bringing amazing craft beer to a very thirsty Peoria.

So check it out. You can find us here. We are so thankful for your support and generosity. We can't wait to celebrate our grand opening with you!

Catching Up and Catching Fire

So.... In case you didn't notice, we took a little time off. After the Kick"staller" (like how we did that??), we decided we needed to step back for a bit and regroup. We took some time to focus on our family, rework our business plan, visit some breweries for inspiration, and brew, baby, brew. So even though it may have seemed quiet on the front, we were still working behind the scenes.

So let's catch up....

We may have hit a small snag with our location. We're working closely with the city to get this worked out. As soon as we have an address to announce, you'll be the first to know.

Brandon traveled to Portland in July to brew with McMenamins, attend the Oregon Brewer's Fest, and consume as much beer as humanly possible in 5 days. April stayed home with the kids. And although both parties had a good time, one of them felt they drew the short end of the stick. Brandon's liver complained a lot, too.

The first Friday in August we had one of our MOST AMAZING opportunities so far. Our wonderful friends at Four Peaks Brewery invited us and 9 other new or proposed Arizona breweries to brew a collaboration beer to support Arizona Craft Beer. We had the best time hanging out with Fate Brewing from Scottsdale, Mother Road Brewing from Flagstaff, O.H.S.O Brewery and North Mountain Brewing from Phoenix, Dragoon from Tucson, Desert Eagle from Mesa, Freak 'N Brew from Peoria, AZ Wilderness from Gilbert and the very generous and hard working brewers at Four Peaks. The result of our labor, a delicious concoction called Up N Runnin, is now on tap at both Four Peaks locations, and is coming soon to World of Beer in Tempe and Ground Control in Litchfield Park (re-grand opening hopefully this week!). Make sure you stop by and have a pint! If it tastes a little sweet, it's because April stuck her finger in the hops for good luck. Special THANKS and shout outs to Andy, Melissa and the gang at Four Peaks for hosting this event. It was truly one of the highlights of our summer!

We are in the process of setting up tastings so you can help us do a little R&D on our beers. Please keep your eye on our Twitter and Facebook pages for more info on that. In the next few weeks we will roll out our new website, we would very much appreciate it if you would join our mailing list at that time so we can keep you updated on all of our events!

Thank you so much for your continued support. We can't wait to make some Mischief with you!

"So what happens now?"

We have had so many people reach out to us today and ask that very question. The answer is simple. We just keep on keeping on.

So our Kickstarter wasn't successful. So what? It has no reflection on the success of our business. We are proceeding as planned. We'll be totally honest with you, as we promised from the get go, we are disappointed it didn't work. When we originally came up with a business plan, Kickstarter wasn't even on our radar. Because it had been so successful for other breweries, we thought why not give it a shot? Hindsight allows us to see what we may have done wrong or what we could have done better. But none of that matters now. What matters now is focusing on moving forward and keeping our momentum going.

And FYI, to anyone considering Kickstarter for their own business.... It is EXTREMELY stressful. Much more emotionally and mentally difficult than we ever anticipated. We would NEVER do it again. Even if we had funded, we are not sure it would have been worth it. The ups and downs were too extreme. It was like being bipolar (or so we imagine). One minute we were like "YAY! Someone donated!" And the next it was "OMG! We haven't had a donation in three days!"

"Yay! Two people just pledged $100! We're totally going to make this!"

"We haven't had a single pledge in 12 hours. It's over. We're NEVER gonna make it."

"Someone just gave us $10 bucks! We totally have this in the bag!"

Sigh.

Frankly, we are relieved it is over. We have been approached by a few people who are interested in investing and want to know what kind of repayment plan we are offering. And many, many people have emailed, Facebooked, Tweeted and texted that they still want to offer their pledge to us. We are so overwhelmed by this generosity and not at all dumb enough to say no. We will also still honor the original prizes offered on Kickstarter! The PayPal link is on the blog at your right. If you would prefer us to send you an email with the link, just private message us your email address via our good pal Facebook or email us directly at mischiefbrewery at gmail dot com.

Finally we want to say thank you to EVERYONE who supported us. First and foremost our parents:

April's parents Stoney and Lana who have been our biggest supporters since the day we said, "Hey... We're thinking about starting a brewery..."

Brandon's parents Steve and Elena, who were a little less excited about our idea but still hesitantly offered support after a lot of questions were answered. :)

Our three amazing kids, Derek, Cade and Mattingly, who pooled their tooth fairy money together and donated $100 (via Nana's help) without us knowing.

Our incredible cousin Eddie, who is also a part of this business. He pimped us out, showed up to events with us and listened to us whine and fret and freak out. Our cousins Gary and Serena, and Rick and Julie, who contributed and helped us by posting our link on Facebook constantly. April's Uncle Bob and Aunt Brenda and our honorary Uncle Ed who supported us without question or judgment.

Our best friends Ken and Deanna, Tim and Beth, Erik and Jessica, Paul and Amy, Clint and Erin, Mike and Diane, Travis and Elizabeth, Karen and Larry, Chad and Jovina, Chad and Kim, Charlie and Brooke, Cory and Becky, Trevor and Catherine, Mark and Kristen, Matt and Tricia, James and Andrea, Todd and Wendy, Sue, Josiah, Shane and Kelly, Kelly and Jerolyn, and Bud and Cheryl, and Joel and Chandra.

Our amazing friends who have been a part of our lives in one way or another pretty much forever: Joanne, Sarah, Roland, Michelle, Julie, Angela, Kyle, Katie, Sargant, Nancy, Maria, Kay, Raz, Roel, Marci, Jill, James, Natasha, Lisa, Mandy, Leigh, Amy, Justin and Brian.

And last but certainly not least, the craft beer community. Our brothers and sisters in brewing here in AZ - Steve from Fate Brewing; Mike from Veritas; Jonathan, Brett and Katie from AZ Wilderness; Michael, Amanda, Audra and Damon from Granite Mountain; Jon and the FABULOUS staff at O.H.S.O Brewery; Rob and Candy at North Mountain; Andy and Ted and the rest of the gang at Four Peaks; Doug from Freak'N Brew; Ron at Papago, and the crazy guys at Devious. We are so honored to be a part of this amazing community of brewers. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Your support, encouragement, advice and friendship means more to us than we can ever say.

And everyone from our West Valley and Arizona Craft Beer Fanatics groups - Steph and Ian, Joey, Tony, Noah, King James, Jon P, Rob, Jon G, Hop Head Fred, Billy the Smooth Hoperator, David, Chirs, Isaiah, Tim, Andrew, The Argabrights, Bill, Patrick and the Brew Bros, Maureen and the rest of the awesome women of AZ Girls Pint Out.

Our sweet friend Jen Pruett and the staff at HDE.

The Beer Guy, Seattle Beer Girl, The Beer Wench (Ashley), Chad the Sound Guy from Drinking Made Easy, Kevin and the amazing people at Crazy Mountain, Dave and Bailey from 515 Brewing.

And every single TOTAL STRANGER who contributed because they knew someone who knew us or just out of the kindness of their hearts: Lauren, Steene, Laurie, Bruce, John, Randy, Brian, Erik, Greg, Robert, Anan, Ashley, Scott, Robert, Joshua, Justin B, Nick, Mike B, Matthew, Phil, Jimmie, Barbara, Ed, Adam, KJ, Trinidad, Jason K, Pack Systems, RobJ, Jesse, Stephanie, and Danielle W.

We are still looking forward to making Mischief for you! We are planning to hold some tastings in the very near future so you can try our delicious beer. Like we said on Facebook today, we are not giving up. You don't call yourselves Mischief and go cower in the corner. You pick your bad selves up and KICK ASS.

And that's what we plan to do.