Roadblocks...

It's an unfortunate truth that we have found in starting Black Shirt Brewing Co that systems are in place in this country to keep the little guy from grabbing his piece of the pie. Whether it be landlords who, even in a time of recession and staggering vacancy, are afraid to give a new business a chance; or SBA who won't loan money to a startup company; or the Zoning and Planning administration that doesn't know how to read its own code, new businesses in America face a number of seemingly unsurmountable obstacles.

Even if a startup brewery can muster the strength to make it through all of these obstacles, (and keep in mind I haven't even touched on Permits, Licensing, Approvals, Inspections, etc) then we get to deal with INBEV and MillerMolsonCoors starving us out for position on the liquor store shelves. The latest disappointment in our "free market" comes from a new bill being introduced by Congress (and backed by big money distribution companies) that would put the power of deciding shipping laws of alcohol back in the State's hands. Instead of opening it up and allowing an interested consumer the ability to purchase our beer, these laws stand in the way. We can't just ship a bottle of beer to our friends in Reno because, oh no, it's illegal. Come on, damn it. Here we are in the midst of an unbelievably horrible recession, and we want to put up more walls?! Here is the article that fueled this morning's frustration:
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_16622016

It's Snowing Outside!

Finally, winter has come here in Denver. In all honesty, we are expecting a fairly mild one due to La Nina, which favors the northern part of the country and, historically, leaves us a little high and dry. Well, we will just have to wait and see. In the meantime, when it does snow I love to close the garage doors and warm up with some coffee and catch up on some reading. Hope you are staying warm as well!

Brew Masters (& BSB) on Discovery Channel

One of the most creative and exciting guys in the beer world and someone we look up to, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head Brewery, has a show on Discovery Channel starting Sunday Nov 21st, 2010. We were honored to find our brewery's logo on one of the previews yesterday. In fact, Chad was screaming out loud and I was giggling like a little schoolboy! For a tiny brewing company like ours, to get this sort of a spotlight is just unbelievable. We certainly have a great group of loyal fans here in CO but this will possibly create more across the country and even expose our brewery to an industry where we are still unheard of! We couldn't be more thrilled.

Please take a minute and check it out:

http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/brew-masters-craft-beer-dynamo.html