Now, despite all the work, we have had more going on than just construction projects.  On December 7th, we had the opportunity to host our first big investor event at the brewery, in order to kick off our second round of equity buy-in.  Of course, Shawn had a couple of amazing beers ready to go for the event, one of which is pictured at the top of this post – “Flagtown Cheer,” our winter red ale, and “The Stout Route,” which is an American stout brewed with cacao nibs.  How good was the beer?  Well let’s just say that David Blaine couldn’t have made those kegs disappear as fast as we did.  We had a great time and for an event that was supposed to last 2 hours, we went closer to 6 hours.  That was probably my fault because once I get a chance to start talking about the brewery, I can’t shut up.  But it is our passion project and we are resurrecting our family name and putting it back in the brewing business, (check out the original Kuntz Brewing bottle, pictured, one of our investors snagged – how cool?!) so what can I say?  Plus, where else do people get a chance to be a part of something like a craft brewery that has a rich family history in the beer business?  Awesome, right?   Which brings me to that first frequently asked question – “Is there still an opportunity to invest?”  The answer is yes, now that we’ve opened our second round of equity.  You can just reach out to us right here if you’d like to learn more.

Aside from the investors event, we’ve also had an opportunity to host a few meetings in our El Dorado room, which has turned into one of my favorite places in the brewery (outside of Shawn’s “laboratory” of course, where all the brewing equipment is).  The El Dorado room is sleek, stylish and says “let’s have a great meeting and then drink a beer!”  That brings me to the second question, which we get asked A LOT:  “Can you guys host a party/meeting or can we book the El Dorado room?”  So, the answer is technically yes, but we don’t have anything to offer other than space right now, since we can’t really serve food or drink yet.  Once we get open, we’ll have plenty of event space but for the time being, we’re limited to accommodating small work meetings and such.  So if you have ten or less people and you’re looking to get out of the office for a quick meeting, we’d be happy to give you a tour and let you use the El Dorado Room.  Just drop us a line and check availability.   

Then, on December 21st, we hosted our Mug Club Members as they got a chance to come in and pick up their loyalty cards, get their mugs numbered, and take a tour.  I speak a lot about my passion for the brewery but the excitement these guys radiate in anticipation of Black Dog Brewery is truly inspiring.  We had planned to close down the Mug Club pre-purchase at the end of December but based on interest we’ve kept it open.  So to answer another one of those frequently asked questions, yes you can still pre-purchase Mug Club memberships.  However, we’ll likely close it down here towards the end of January as we near grand opening.      

What a great segue into our next frequently asked question:  “What’s taking so long?!” Well, that’s an easy one.  The Black Dog Brewery is  a massive, million dollar- plus project.  I think that’s probably one of the greatest misconceptions about the brewery – we’re not a neighborhood brewpub.  At the height of it’s operation, the Kuntz Brewery was brewing 90,000 barrels of beer (almost 3 million gallons) and to live up to that sort of legacy, we knew we had to go big.  We just chose to do it at the beginning because it will allow us to expand capacity very simply down the road.  Once we finish with phase one, we’ll be able to reach 10,000 barrels of production by just adding a few fermentors.  So, we know you’ve been waiting a long time but trust me, the wait will be worth it.  We’re about two months away at this point, which means you’ll be enjoying Black Dog Beer before you know it…and once you get a taste of Black Dog Beer, you’ll never look back!      

That brings us to my final touch point for this update and that’s Black Dog Beer!  As always, Shawn’s been tinkering with a few small batches and right now, we have a nice Belgian golden sitting in the fermentor and we just kegged an amazing hoppy pale ale.  I have not had a chance to sample the Belgian just yet, but I did taste the pale as we were kegging and OMG.  Shawn dry-hopped the hell out of this one and the result is a giant bouquet of citrus that climbs out of the glass and crawls right up your nose.  However, the body of the beer is nice and balanced without the extreme bitterness that usually accompanies that big hoppy smell, making this a very sessionable pale ale.  

Now,  I can’t wait to get my hands on a sample of the Belgian golden.  It was a beautiful dark gold color when we put it into the fermentor and should lighten up just a bit when it’s finished, making it just about perfect.  This one will clock in at right around 7 to 7.5% ABV and Shawn tells me to think “candy in a glass.”  No wonder I can’t sleep at night.  Well, looks like  Shawn’s done it again.  I guess we may need 70 taps at the bar….  

I should  see if Netflix will sign us up for a documentary – “Jeremy Dreams of Beer.”