If our brewery had a soundtrack right now, it would pretty much start and end with the Jeopardy music.  The last month has been excruciatingly slow as we wait for the State DOHS Division of Fire and Building Safety to give us the green light on our building plans.  The good news is we’re expecting that green light any day now and with the building prepped and equipment on site, we should hopefully have you drinking Black Dog beer in October.   Now, don’t worry.  It’s not like we’ve been sitting on our hands for the last month, which means I’ve got plenty to share in this update.  

If you’ve followed us for awhile, you know I spend a lot of time singing the praises of our brew master and for good reason.  His “kung fu” is some of the best true-to-style beer I’ve ever had and I can’t wait for all of you to start enjoying it.  Quite honestly, it’s so good, it’s created a problem for us in the planning process.  Let me explain.  

In the state of Indiana, the top three craft beer styles are IPA, Amber, and Blonde/Cream Ale (based on volume sales).  Those are pretty general categories as some beers tend to fit in and some don’t but you get the idea.  We use industry sales volume data to give us an idea of where to start in terms of targeting beer styles for our opening day lineup.  We’re planning ten taps during phase 1 and once we have the full taproom open in phase 2, we’ll likely expand to 12.  I know that sounds like a small lineup for a craft brewery but fewer taps help us with freshness and quality control.  I could give you the full dissertation on too many taps but we’ll save that for another discussion.  Anyway, we take a look at these industry numbers and bounce the ideas off of Shawn.  He then builds the recipes and produces small batches so we can sample and discuss.  Here’s the problem: Every beer he crafts is our new favorite!  Every. Single. Beer.  For instance, awhile back Shawn put together his ideas for a saison with a hint of clover honey.  We called it “Barn Stormer” and I just assumed it would be one of those fun seasonal beers that would rotate in once a year.  This beer not only blew my mind, but after having a few investors sample it and provide feedback along with leaving a few of those “I don’t like craft beer” types completely blown away,  I’m pretty sure we have to find a more frequent spot in the rotation for it.  To add to the challenge, I had my first sip of his most recent creation last night as I was checking carbonation levels.  German Hefeweizen was not really on my radar (as far as being a mainstay in our lineup) but sweet 6lb 4oz baby Jesus.  Every.  Single.  Beer.  

Somehow we have to take this portfolio of deliciousness and cut it down to only 10 beers for opening.  I suppose we should do another round of sampling.  And then another one.  And probably at least three more…possibly a fourth.  I know, I know…first world problems.

Along with brewing beer and dialing in some of the business planning, we’ve also been able to knock out some minor items at the brewery.  Over the past few weeks, some of you may have noticed the sign went up on the building.  I have gotten a few emails asking about the size because yes, it does look a little small.  This is because we have to add a little more to that front portion of the building.  This is illustrated in the picture at left.  So sit tight, it’s still all coming together.  The good news is that it’s working.  The amount of walk in traffic the sign has generated has been nothing short of fantastic.  Unfortunately, there are lots of sad faces when those walk-ins find out there’s no beer.  So if you happen to have walked in recently looking for a growler or some samples, I sincerely apologize!  Soon, my friends.  Soon.

Finally, three big items on the to-do list are coming up this week.  First, we’ll be heading over to one of the local hop farms ahead of the harvest.  Our friends over at Indy High Bines on the near south side are putting together another bumper crop of the finest flowers known to man.  I can’t wait to walk through the fields and check it out!  We’ll make sure to add plenty of pictures on our social media stream so if you’re not following us on social media, get with the program already!  

The second big item on the list is getting started on the bar top.  We’ve been eyeing some designs and we’re ready to go ahead and start the work.  So, this week, we’ll be picking out materials and getting our contractor lined up to create our taproom centerpiece.  

Rounding out our busy week is tasting some potential food offerings.  I don’t want to let too much out of the bag just yet but I have to tell ya, I’m pretty excited about this one (’cause food).   I’ll leave you with that little cliff hanger until our next update! 

One last thing, we’re getting a lot of inquiries on employment.  We’re not interviewing as of yet, but in the next few weeks, we’ll be adding a beer careers page to the website.  On this page, you’ll be able to find out what jobs we’re currently hiring for as well as submit your resume.  So stay tuned.