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Homebrew craft beer club. And then I never left the house.

Homebrew craft beer club. And then I never left the house.

UPDATE 1/7/2018: Noble Brewer is no more. Sadly, they closed shop, but you can hear founder Claude Burns’ tips about permitting on MicroBrewr Podcast 074.

It’s not exactly legal to sell homebrew and send it in the mail. But Noble Brewer, the brand new craft beer club, figured out a way to do it in accordance with all laws, and boy am I glad.

Full disclosure: Use of the Noble Brewer coupon code below will give me a small commission. This does not affect my superb review of Noble Brewer’s service. I think it’s awesome. That’s why I signed up. That’s why I called up the CEO, Claude Burns and asked him to give MicroBrewr audience a discount.

Anyway, I saw Noble Brewer on Twitter, and I didn’t really get what they were up to. Months later, after some more Twitter action, I went to their site, and my jaw dropped.

How the craft beer club works

Noble Brewer sends quarterly shipments of homebrew to your door.

Noble Brewer sends quarterly shipments of homebrew to your door.

Noble Brewer interviews dozens of homebrewers and selects the very best. Then they connect the homebrewer with a commercial brewery to make a limited-release batch of the homebrewer’s award-winning recipe.

And you get it at your front door.

Your beer subscription arrives each quarter, with two beers in four, 22-ounce bottles. It comes with a short bio of the homebrewer and cards for taking notes, so you can fill it out and send it back to the brewer and let them know what you thought of their beer.

I’m glad somebody finally figured out the whole TTB, brewery license, alcohol-across-state-lines thing. Because I have a few friends who home brew, but now I have more friends whose homebrew I get to try!

Can you tell I’m still a little excited about beer by mail?

Listen to: Noble Brewer on MicroBrewr Podcast.

What’s in the beer subscription box?

Noble Brewer Dudeling was brewed by Jonathan Fuller.

Noble Brewer Dudeling was brewed by Jonathan Fuller.

A few days ago I received my second shipment of my craft beer subscription box. It came with my free t-shirt and two Spiegelau IPA glasses. After a frenzy of excited social media posts, I sat back in the shade of the back porch and enjoyed a California Farmhouse Ale by Jonathan Fuller.

Who’s Jonathan Fuller? Get to know him or any of the brewers on Noble Brewer’s website. I filled out the card and sent back my detailed assessment of his handiwork. It’s great, by the way!

It’s a craft beer club. With homebrew.

That’s homebrew. To your door!

Homebrew, presents in the mail, what could be better?

 

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MicroBrewr 019: Marketing a flagship beer with Roswell aliens, with Sierra Blanca Brewing Company.

MicroBrewr 019: Marketing a flagship beer with Roswell aliens

In this episode, I talk with Rich Weber from Sierra Blanca Brewing Company and Rio Grande Brewing Company in Moriarty, New Mexico. Rich started Sierra Blanca in 1996, added the Alien brand in 1997, and bought Rio Grande Brewing Co. in 2006.

Rich had been homebrewing since 1987 and was already working 100 hours a week at his own restaurant, when he started Sierra Blanca. He hired master brewers to mentor him for the first 2 years and has been growing steadily ever since.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of aliens crash landing near Roswell, New Mexico, they released Alien Amber Ale in 1997. Today, Alien Amber Ale accounts for 40% of sales among their 9 beers.

Rich talks about his company and provides some key insight to the 1947 Roswell UFO incident.

He offers some great advice about:

  • Working 100 hours a week
  • Marketing and distribution
  • Branding ideas
  • Gaining knowledge from visiting other breweries

Listener question:

From Marc Stafford: Why do you do what you do?

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

Your Free Audio Book

An upcoming beer style:

Session beer

Other resources:

You can reach Rich Weber and Sierra Blanca Brewing Company at:

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher. When you subscribe, it’ll let you know when there’s a new episode, you won’t miss a thing!

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

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MicroBrewr 017: work with customers to make award winning beer, with Birdsong Brewing Company.

MicroBrewr 017: Work with customers to make award winning beer

In this episode, I talk with Chris Goulet from Birdsong Brewing Company, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Chris and some friends were so impressed by 21-year-old homebrewer, Connor Robinson, that they started a brewery to showcase his beers.

Birdsong Brewing Co. was just the fourth production brewery in Charlotte. Although they have been operating less than 3 years, they’re making award winning beer using customers’ ingredients, and they’re leading craft beer in the Charlotte metropolitan area.

Birdsong will soon expand into a larger facility with a brewhouse 3 times the size of their current one. “Happy staff make happy beer,” says Chris. So they used lessons learned, to design floor space for efficient workflow.

Chris tells us the story of their award-winning Mexicali Stout. One of Birdsong’s regular customers, Jason, brought in a bunch of peppers from his home garden. The “talented, secret genius brewer” threw them together with locally-roasted coffee to make what would become one of their most popular seasonal beers.

Chris also shares some great advice about:

  • Making agreements with the landlord
  • Educating the customer about unfiltered beer
  • Hiring a well-connected salesperson

Listener question:

From Erik Cotten: Is it local?

Book recommendation:

Check out the entire list of recommended books, click here.

Your Free Audio Book

An upcoming beer style:

Saison

Other resources:

You can reach Chris Goulet and Birdsong Brewing Company at:

If you like the show, please subscribe in iTunes or Stitcher. When you subscribe, it’ll let you know when there’s a new episode and you won’t miss a thing.

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

Subscribe on iTunes             Listen to Stitcher