Following on from Brewing Up A Business I continued my reading on the beer business. Beer School is written by Steve Hindy & Tom Potter, founders of the Brooklyn Brewery. Whilst still a business book it’s a lighter read than Brewing Up A Business with a more anecdotal writing style. Having faced visits from the mob & armed robberies they certainly have anecdotes to tell. Still, they use all their stories to illustrate business principles. Hindy & Potter are both good writers and their method of each chapter being written by one of them with the conclusion being added by the other works well.

The initial path that the Hindy & Potter chose of having their beer contract brewed for them is not the path I’d like to take. Whether or not it’s advantageous commercially or not I’d prefer to start smaller, initially brewing the beer myself and growing gradually. I also prefer the method used by many of linking the brewery to a brew pub. Twin revenue streams make financial sense and the ability to interact with your customers on a nightly basis is not only invaluable but should also be rewarding.

If you are reading from the beer business perspective then you should read both Brewing Up A Business and Beer School but if you’re reading purely from an interest in beer then you’ll probably find Beer School more a more fun read. Having just read two books from people who have succeeded in starting breweries I could benefit from reading about someone who failed but most people tend not to trumpet their failures.

Now back to the brew in front of me.

I recently read Brewing Up A Business written by Sam Calagione, the founder of the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Dogfish Head is an innovative micro brewery based in Delaware that professes to brew ‘Off-centered ales, for off-centered people’. They are known for making strong beers with bold flavours.

I’m reading all the beer books I can get my hands on at the moment as research for ‘the plan’. Brewing Up A Business is the first book I’ve read that deals with the business side of brewing. It is clear in reading the book that Sam is very passionate about his company and the beer that they produce. His book however is predominantly a business book that just happens to use stories from a brewery for it’s real life examples. Whilst not exclusively about starting a brewery its advice is definitely aimed at entrepreneurs starting a business in a field that they are passionate about. There are a lot of lessons that I can take from the book but there would be just a many if he had instead started a company making chocolates. The greatest thing it gives me though is inspiration. That it is possible.

The book did also give the thirst for some Dogfish Head ale but unfortunately they’re not distributed in California so I’ll have to manage with something else. I wonder what I’ve got in the fridge.