Everybody Talks

Columbus is still waiting on a couple of brewing operations to open.

Oval Brewing Company changed its name to Land Grant in a desperate attempt to retain a connection to Ohio State, while avoiding potential lawsuits from Oval Vodka. I thought Oval was a stupid name anyway.

Land Grant's Facebook page touts beers, and says they were founded in 2009. People are confused as to the status of their beers.

They're still in the development phase.

The same is true of Actual Brewing Company, which was featured in a number of publications around town.

Of course, the process is a pain in the ass. Licensing, inspections, permits...it's not easy to open up a brewery, and you can't expect people who brew beer to have good PR skills. Of course they want people to know what they're up to. Maybe that will help cut through red tape.

It's a dangerous game. You might find that people have very high expectations. You might find that they're unforgiving if you fail to meet your goals.

To me, it says that you have no idea what you're doing. Oh, you might be a fine home brewer and all of your friends love your beer, but I'm not your friend and if you waste my time with a mediocre beer, I'm not going to cheer you along while you figure out the big boy pants. You made this choice. You accepted this challenge.

What I see right now is a lot of people thinking that the beer business is easy, and there's this warm and fuzzy wave of  "buy local" washing over the country. Well, in this business you'd better deliver because if you happen to be the local tap handle some visitor selects, your beer is going to be representing the entire city.

That's why I like what Dan Cochran did at Four String Brewing Company. Dan was a home brewer who was exulted by his friends to start a brewery. He saved his pennies, did his homework and while a lot of people were talking about brewing beer, he opened a brewery.

Dan brews two beers. Brass Knuckle APA (American Pale Ale), and Backstage Blonde. Both are what he describes as"sessionable" beers. Relatively low in alcohol and light in body, with the intention being mass quantities. He also rolled out Big Star White IPA, which provided to be a successful merger between the Belgian and American styles of brewing.

Brass Knuckle is a thirst quencher that brings a respectable amount of hops to the party. Backstage Blonde is a crisp Belgian-influenced ale that brings the funk without being overwhelming.  Beer critics don't really "get" these beers because they aren't true to a particular style guideline. To be completely honest, Dan's beer drinking demographic will likely be the hipsters who've been singing PBR's praises over the last few years.

That's not to say these beers are weak, like PBR, but I prefer something a little hoppier than the APA for general purposes. This APA is great on a hot day when you just want to pound cold beers.  The Blonde isn't hoppy at all, but I think it's a feasible replacement for Blue Moon. The body is lighter and it's not full of spice and fruit extracts. The fruitiness in this beer comes from the sweetness of the malt mingling with the funky flavors of the yeast.

Dan's not out there talking about his beers. He's moving kegs. Literally. Dan distributes his own beer. He doesn't have time to talk about opening a brew pub, installing a canning line, or refining a list of 12 beers he might brew in the future. He's got to keep those taps flowing.

The newer brewers should take a page out of Dan's yet to be written book on opening a brewing company. Don't tell people how good your beer is going to be, hand them a pint and let the beer do the talking.

http://fourstringbrewing.com/