Beer for the People
I’m sounding like a broken record after I start every post with a “sorry it’s been awhile…” So I won’t say it even though it’s been close to two months since my last update. Unfortunately, plumbing, electrical, and cement cutting is just not that sexy. That’s been our life over the last couple of months – trough drains and low pressure boilers with modulating burners. But that’s okay because we are methodically knocking out the details so we can start bringing the beer to the people. That being said, you may rejoice, fellow beer drinkers and BDBC Followers, because I do indeed have some really cool things to share with you!
I guess we should start with Das Beer. We continue to dial in a few of the beer recipes through our small batch work. In April we rolled our first iteration of Kuntz’s Old German Lager and while the first take was good, it wasn’t exactly what we wanted. Don’t get me wrong, it was a quality beer, but it was a bit too “Oktoberfesty” (malty) for an every day German Common Beer, which is what we’re shooting for. I think Shawn’s pulling back on the Vienna malt on the next go round, which should result in a smoother, less sweet version. Stay tuned.
The second beer, which we’re about to move from the fermenter to the keg, is Alevis Hopstello – a hoppy pale ale. I’m REALLY excited about this one because not only does it hit in the wheel house of hop lovers but because of the tropical fruit flavors, it will dazzle the traditional non-hoppy beer drinkers as well. Shawn blended together Azacca and El Dorado hops to squeeze out Pineapple and Mango flavors/aromas ontop of a light bodied beer. I tasted this one out of the fermenter, warm and uncarbonated and it was good enough to drink already! Did I mention that I am completely psyched? And the label artwork turned out to be one of my favorites so far (see above).
The third beer we did in 
April, which is also still in the fermenter, is Good Vibrations, Belgian Witbier. For those of you that have followed Shawn for awhile, you’ll remember this beer. I won’t disclose our special “Good Vibrations Essence,” but when we put all the herbs and spices into the grinder, it was the most amazing thing I have ever smelled. I’m totally pumped for this one as well and I can’t wait to get it into the hands of our legion of BDBC beer drinkers. AND of course, the label artwork is again, some of my favorite.
Now aside from brewing beer and studying trough drains, I have been working on a couple of really cool projects for the brewery and more specifically, the Black Dog brand. The first one is our tap handle prototype. I have to admit, I wasn’t going to share this because I wanted it to be a surprise but OMG. They turned out so amazing I couldn’t possibly keep it a secret. These are currently in production and we should have hard prototypes in a few weeks. Being a marketing and brand guy, the tap handle project was extremely important to me. These handles are actually our very first brand ambassadors in the market. If they’re not intriguing, it’s hard to get someone to spend their hard earned cash to try our beer. I think we killed it. I LOVE these handles.
The other side project I’ve been working on is getting the brewery up and running on Untappd. If you haven’t heard of Untappd, it’s a beer and brewery rating app that you can download from the app store (or whatever you android people use to download apps). I’m happy to say that as of this evening, you’re now able to search for Black Dog Brewing Company and our beers on Untappd. That will be much cooler as the vast majority of you are able to get your hands on Black Dog Beer and check in once the brewery is open. In the meantime, check us out on the app and share with your friends.
Finally, 
we’ve been continuing to build excitement for the brewery as we get closer and closer to opening. Most of that work has come through word of mouth and social media but now we’re adding a billboard to our repertoire. In the next week or so, you’ll see our billboard (pictured) as you’re headed south on IN-67, just after Bridge Street. That location sees about 30,000 cars a day in traffic so the visibility is outstanding. Hopefully we can keep up with demand!
**Update – the billboard is officially up and running as of Friday, May 5th.
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