Buffalo: Bad Marketing, Great Beer

"Buffalo. For Real." is the new marketing slogan for the Queen City. Yes, it's dreadful but don't let that discourage you from getting familiar with Buffalo's brew offerings. As featured in the video, Pearl Street is a great brew pub - everything Cap City should be. When friends and family come to visit we don't let them inside the beltway unless they have several offerings of Flying Bison.

Tip of the hat to Flying Bison for posting the video on their FB Page.

Nobody Circles the Wagons

A few months back we talked about the brewing renaissance in our adopted hometown.  Today, we're bringing you a brewing renaissance in our actual hometown, Buffalo, NY.  Sitting on the shores of Lake Erie, Buffalo has a rich brewing history.  Well, it did through the mid-1970s when the last brewery in town, the Iroquois Brewery, closed its doors.  But in it's heyday Buffalo boasted more than 35 breweries.

It's a tough economy in upstate NY but the people of Buffalo are tough too.  Since the collapse of the steel industry, the region has struggled to rebuild its economy.  Urban planning consists of little more than looking for a silver bullet (a great read is Power Failure).  The Adelphia Tower collapsed with the rest of the cable company.  Bass Pro was never coming.  The new Peace Bridge is coming next year, again.  NFTA still owns the waterfront.

Sounds pretty bleak but it's always darkest before the dawn and every cloud has a silver lining.  It's not clear if you can see the silver lining just before dawn but that's not the point.  The medical corridor has been quietly revitalizing parts of the city and seems to be poised for major gains.  Buffalo is a micro-financial center with headquarters for HSBC*, M&T Bank, and First Niagara.  Yahoo! opened a data center nearby and Verizon may be next.  Moog and Fisher-Price are nearby.  CNBC recently ranked Buffalo-Niagara the second best place to relocate to in the US.  Forbes called it the third most affordable to live in.

And, now Buffalo is rebuilding its brewing community.  Flying Bison is back and better than before.  The Blue Monk is open for business.  Pearl Street Grill & Brewery continues to be an anchor for downtown.  This long-winded ode to home leads us to Community Beer Works - the newest brewing endeavor in Buffalo.  We've mentioned CBW in the past but today we bring you a conversation with Ethan Cox, one of the founders of the company (special thanks to CBW's Dan Conley for pulling this together).  Enjoy!

Background

DB:  How did you get into brewing and how did it become a business idea?

CBW:  Well, there are nine of us collectively in this thing, and we vary from investors & advisers to homebrewers & jacks-of-all-trades.  So, we have varied paths to get here.  Myself, I’ve been homebrewing since college, though grad school and even still.  I’ve been a lover of all things beer for a while, and this was just a natural consequence of a bunch of things coming together.  Did I chose it, or did it choose me?  I wonder.

DB:  Can a nanobrewery really be profitable?

CBW:  We’re not anticipating being in the black right off the bat, like any startup.  And, it’s only sustainable, in our eyes, because we see a limited period of “sweat equity” (= no pay) and rapid growth.  That said, what’s “profitable?”  Some of these breweries are sustainable at a hobby level or slightly more, and I’m sure their owners are really happy with what they do and the level they’re doing it at.  Our business plan and financials will quickly allow some 4 to 5 of use to make a good living making good beer, and that’s essentially the minimum we’re shooting for.  Not like we’ll avoid exceeding expectations, mind you!

DB:  The raging debate in the craft industry is around defining a “nanobrewery”.  Care to provide your definition or is this much ado about nothing?

CBW:  We don’t want to get embroiled in a debate about categories--doesn’t that happen enough in beer already?--but, we are grateful that people before us have paved the way for making a startup of this size a viable idea, and for documenting the process.  We were reading about all these great brewers like Hess and Blind Bat, and we thought: “There it is, it’s for us, let’s do that.”  As to when, precisely Sam Adams is no longer “craft” and questions of the like- here: I like some of Sam’s beers and I buy them sometimes, and Hair Of The Dog, too.  Isn’t that good enough?

The Brewery

DB:  Who will make your system?

CBW:  All the BTUs and controls, and as well, the heat transfer system, are being fabricated by Chris Breimayer at Psychobrew, in Michigan.  We looked initially at a Sabco--who doesn't?--but thankfully, with some input from Paul at Blind Bat, we realized that maybe 10 gallon batches was too crazy, and that 1.5bbl was just crazy enough.  Then we had to shop for some stainless, and we found Stout tanks & kettles in Portland. John Watt’s products are just beautiful, and he was able and willing to build us the kettles we really wanted to have on the burners- it’s a RIMS, and it’ll be nice and precise.  The tanks he’s assembling are also custom-sized for our batches, and they’ll be air-cooled in bays we’re building off our walk-in cooler.  It’s a bit unconventional, perhaps, but we can rock it.

DB:  According to reports, CBW hopes to have a series of nanobreweries across the city.  Is CBW operating like a franchise?

CBW:  Well, for time time being, we just want to get one brewery open, for sure.  As for expansion, we’ll see exactly which way that goes when we can better analyze our growth curve.  We are interested in doing other projects in the area, but not necessarily a series of nano-breweries.

DB:  You getting any help from the good folks at Flying Bison?

CBW:  Oh, of course.  We’re trying to learn as much as we can on our our own, but Tim is an excellent brewer and a super resource, he’s very approachable.  As we continue our transition from paper to brick-and-mortar brewery, I know we’ll be drawing on all the brewing resources in the community. As a bunch of current and experienced homebrewers, too, I know we’ll be soliciting advice from both the industry and the hobby levels- I talk to Ian & Bert at Niagara Traditions homebrew shop frequently.

The Brew

DB:  Want to tip your hand on what you will brew?

CBW:  Our main beer will be an American Pale Ale, we just love a good session beer, and it is the quintessential American microbrew revolution beer, perfected in Northern California, but certainly something we can do and do well.  As homebrewers, we’re off and developing prototypes even now.  We like the style in part because it makes for a good, local beer, in that freshness really matters for good hop expression.  It is just a beautiful well-rounded and approachable brew.

We’re also going to have a saison right off the bat, which is because we love the complexity and depth of that style: it pairs with so many kinds of food, it’s a style with a great history, it has beer geek gravitas, and quite frankly, we all like to suck ‘em down.  They are a challenge to brew and will need some real attention, but we’ll also hand-bottle, cork, cage & label them initially and it’ll be a fun offering.

DB:  Is there a Dumbarton’s Ale in the business plan?

We’re definitely planning to do lots of one-off batches, that’s the beauty of a small and flexible beginning.  What kind of beer is a Dunbarton Ale?  I somehow suspect it is got some Scots to it, so that’s good because a slow, cold ferment is definitely a Buffalo-style beer: Let’s talk!

Activism

DB:  You’ve indicated plans of incorporating urban farms and community gardens.  How will they be incorporated into the work of the brewery?  Do you risk trying to do too much?

CBW:  We’re very much committed to responsible brewing and business practice- it’s just the kind of people we are but also we think it’s the way to be a successful business.  We’re far from the first brewery to incorporate green practices into the brewhouse, and we’ll be limited initially, too.  Green doesn’t mean DIY, all the time.  We’re looking at solar water for pre-heating our brewing water- this will save money on gas, primarily.  Worms will eat our spent grain, and that in turn will contribute to a aquaponic fish farm on the west side- it’s perfectly symbiotic, apparently worms love grain, so all we have to do is arrange the transfer.  As for gardens- on down the road, maybe some minimal hops, or specialty grains which we lovingly malt ourselves, enough for something like an “Urban Estate” ale?  We’ll see, but we’re not afraid to put our ideals into our business.

Last Thoughts

DB:  Planes, Trains, and Automobiles or The Natural?

CBW:  It’s gotta be Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  We’re comi-tragic!

DB:  Thoughts on the new Sabres uniforms?

Fuck Yeah!  Old School Rules!

DB:  What else should we know about Community Beer Works?

Our favorite air-guitar player is definitely Bjorn Turoque

Home Sweet Home

Due to the intricate sophistication of Dumbarton's Beer you probably assumed our roots grow deep in the soil that is inside the beltway.  Well, like 98 percent of DMV residents we're squatters and tonight we're missing home just a bit.

You might recall that we covered the short-lived soap opera surrounding the sale of Flying Bison Brewing Company (FBBC).  While that seems to have resolved itself in a positive way we recently learned of a nanobrewery attempting to open shop in the Queen City.  Community Beer Works is comprised of a small group of locals looking to help return Buffalo to its halcyon days of brewing.  By early 2011, the folks at CBW expect to brew 1 bbl batches in a former malting building on Lafayette Avenue in the City's East Side.  According to reports, CBW will brew up to 6,000 gallons next year and be producing upwards of 34,000 gallons annually within five years.  Partner Ethan A. Cox told the Buffalo News that the long-term plan is to have a series of nanobreweries across the city.  "We want to be a small neighborhood brewery and 10 years down the line have a series of Community Beer Works in other neighborhoods."  Today, the Buffalo News did a small piece noting that CBW received necessary approval from the Buffalo Zoning Board.  A small, but critical, step in planning and development.  Kudos to the folks at CBW.  Our collective mouths water for your local fare.  In the meantime, we'll keep trying to get FBBC to distribute some Aviator Red south of the Mason Dixon.

As if karma were aligning the stars for this post, we also read this little piece by John Vogl on the new, and very improved, uniforms for our Buffalo Sabres (more info here).  Mercifully, the slug is gone.  Back are the original blue and gold uniforms with a few modifications but old school fans are not going to be disappointed.  Now we won't look so out of place in our original Perrault home jersey - remember when teams wore home white jerseys?  Those were the days.  In celebration of their 40th anniversary the Sabres will also unveil a new third/alternate jersey that's a nod back to pre-NHL days for western New York.  No word on whether the Sabres management has plans for celebrating 40 years of not winning a Stanley Cup but we might pick up that new alternate jersey anyway.  We're homers.  We miss home.

They're Back!

The brew kettles are up and running once again at Flying Bison Brewing Company (FBBC).  First reported on their Twitter page, FBBC started brewing yesterday.  According to Twitter and Facebook, our favorite drink Aviator Red is just a few weeks away.  We're hoping they have it out in time for the 4th of July holiday as we'll be in the neighborhood.

More good news reported by the Buffalo News today: "All of the paperwork is signed and filed, and the sale of Flying Bison Brewing Co. to the Utica-based maker of Saranac beer is all but official, awaiting Matt’s licensing approval in Buffalo."  This will allow FBBC to increase capacity to almost 7,000 barrels.  Just like the early days FBBC will only be available in draft in the short-term but bottling is coming back.  So, we will not be bringing any back inside the beltway when we return but we'll scout out the restaurants of WNY while we are there.

To Ryan, Paul, and Colin we give you a virtual high-5!

Breaking News: FBBC Coming Soon!

According to the twitters and Facebooks, Flying Bison is coming soon! 

Flying Bison posted this on their Facebook page:  "We are expecting tractor trailers full of malt, hops, yeast and other brewing supplies in the next few days and YES, WE WILL BE BREWING VERY SOON!  Stay tuned and thanks for hanging in there with us.  Cheers!"

We also bring you this very important Muppet News Flash!

The Latest on FBBC Sale

A couple of nuggets for the Flying Bison faithful.

Late on the 27th of May, FBBC declared on it's Facebook page "T's have been crossed.  i's have been... Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait for it... Wait for it..."

Certainly sounds like positive for those hoping to touch their lips to the FBBC ales again soon.

In other news...

Shareholder David R. Chudy was quoted extensively in a recent article about the disputed sale of FBBC.  In an opinion piece to today's Buffalo News, Mr. Chudy states that he was misquoted in the May 22, 2010 article. 

Stating that the deal with FX Matt Brewing Company is the best deal for FBBC, Mr. Chudy explains "while I did not think the investors would get back all of our investments, I did and do believe we will get back a significant amount, and a much better return than any other deal available. I went on to say that in addition to the financial return, there is an added intrinsic value to be able to walk into a Buffalo bar and order a Buffalo beer, Flying Bison. Omitting the word “all” and my subsequent comments changed the entire cast of my remarks."

Flying Bison, We Hardly Knew Ye

In April, Flying Bison was supposed to be open for business again brewing beer for the thirsty loyalists in WNY.  Yesterday, the Buffalo News reported that not only is FBBC not brewing there is no indication it will be brewing any time soon.  According to rumors on the interweb, the new Peace Bridge will be completed in advance of any brewing.

If you're looking for a bad guy in all this one could easily point to Phil Internicola and Wes Froebel would make for a good evil sidekick.  This would be an overly simplistic view.  Yes, both are looking, in some way, for a return on their investment.  However, they are hardly the only players with fault in this soap opera.  Tim Herzog is the Master Brewer, one of the founders, the face of FBBC, etc. and is one of the few (or only) who stands to gain from the sale to FX Matt Brewing Company.  Then there is the Board.  According to the News article management was not Herzog's strength and he took steps to correct for that but what could or should the Board have done?  What exactly is the Board's role in all this?

At the end of the day it's the beer drinkers who get the short end of this stick.  We're already 6 weeks delayed in getting FBBC back on the shelves.  If this carries on, the NFTA transit lines will reach the southtowns before beer is brewed in Buffalo again.  You read it here first - the renaissance is over.  Brewing beer in Buffalo has been set back years.

Tim, Phil, Wes, and the other stakeholders consider this our official plea to sit around the same table and fix this so the rest of us can drink some FBBC beer soon.  Lay out all the cards and have a real, frank conversation.  It sounds like you were all once friends (or family even).  So, pretend you get along and clean up this mess.

Flying Bison Staying in Buffalo; Expanding Operations

This should certainly make your St. Patrick's Day a bit brighter. Today Flying Bison Brewing Company (FBBC) announced they are staying in Buffalo and they are actually expanding operations. As a result of the deal with FX Matt Brewing Company, FBBC will distribute more than they ever have in the past. Tim Herzog said "The only difference the community will see is that our beers will more readily available. Everyone on staff is still with us and there will be a few changes, for the better.”

FBBC will continue to be active in the community supporting events like the Buffalo Brewfest. They will also continue supporting Rusty Chain; which is made in collaboration with Green Options Buffalo, Buffalo Rising, and Buffalo Microparks, to support bicycle parking through out Buffalo.

Mr. Herzog did acknowledge some challenges lie ahead. Shelves will need to be stocked across Western New York and be stocked on a consistent basis. FBBC must also win back taps at local restaurants and pubs - no small task considering the competition for such prime real estate.

The big question is when will the new plan be implemented? No dates have been announced for the beginning of distribution or the arrival of your favorite FBBC brews at the local grocer or watering hole. There is not even a date for the reopening of the FBBC retail store. To all this we say "patience is a virtue".

We look forward to seeing FBBC back on the streets and with a little luck they will use the Matt Urban distribution chain to send some of their beers to our little corner of the country.