Well, finally we signed a lease. A 10 year lease to be exact! If you have been reading along or have been in on any of the conversations, you would know how long and hard this process has been. We have been in atleast 100 buildings, nearly signed a lease on several, and found ourselves picking up and moving on from each of these for a variety of reasons. Either the landlord was a crazy son-of-a-bitch, or the property manager wouldn't allow us to vent our equipment (sounds safe, right?), the zoning wasn't right, or the buildout would have cost us a 100 grand.
Everyone keeps asking if every microbrewery has gone through this same lengthy process and, without knowing anyone personally, I can only assume they have. Or they started with more money than we have and could make situations work for them that just wouldn't work for us. All I know is that we have signed away the next ten years and we are gonna make a hell of a run at opening Black Shirt Brewing Co.
For now, we are keeping the location under wraps. Just know that it is a fucking piece of shit building in a rough part of town. It needs a lot of work. We need a lot of money to do this work. But the zoning is right and the landlord is easy to deal with - "you guys uh need a knock a wall down or sumpin, fuckin do it, you know? Shit, I don' need a know!" So, we will be updating the blog soon with more details and pictures and hope to keep updating through the processes of permitting, construction, licensing, inspections, and, maybe... just maybe... the day we finally open this artisanal brewery up.
From all of us at Black Shirt Brewing Co - Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! We hope 2011 is filled with laughter and excitement, challenges and accomplishments, love and kisses, and joy and fulfillment!
A preview:
