What was supposed to be a few days of mountain
biking and just hanging out with the family in the Las Vegas area finds me, sadly, flat out sick but thinking about the past and the future. My
wonderful wife says that maybe “the hectic year you have had is finally
catching up to you.” We both know 2013, unlike the Mayan calendar, has a lot on
it.
It’s almost been two years since anything has been posted on
this blog. So here is some reflection:
We have brewed more than 36 beer styles in less than three
years. This past year we added a pretty
large firkin/real ale program to our mix.
It’s cool, it’s unique, and we push to, someday, let Utah politicians
allow Utahans to try an Epic full strength beer firkin, or any of our kegged
beer for that matter, in our home market.
We purchased several hundred firkins and send them to 12 markets around
the US. A primer on Real Ales here: http://www.nerax.org/home/what-is-real-ale.html
we also did some kick butt Zwickel Lager’s, we loved them and QC’ed a few casks
at the brewery but it seems that the market isn’t into them yet.
Also in 2012 we expanded our cellar significantly, got our
custom hop back installed, added about 20 local jobs, had the planning
commission split on our local expansion plans, had an average of 24 beer styles
in our coolers at the brewery for our great local customers, won more medals
for our beers, started distribution in my hometown of Los Angeles, hired our
first out of state sales representative, started exporting a little to Japan
and Brazil, finally had the USPTO grant our Registered Trademark for Epic
Brewing, and a bunch of other stuff. Time
to wrap this part up, reminds me of a road race once when a guy yelled at me
when I kept looking back “stop looking back, the race is in front of us now!” Solid advice!
So looking down the road for 2013:
·
Adding at least one more 80 barrel fermenter
into our Salt Lake City brewery; Kevin thinks he can fit two in
·
Attempt to get our Salt Lake City expansion
plans approved by the City
·
Start brewing in Denver by April; yes we have a
space, look for a press release later this week
·
At least
two new killer beers for 2013
·
Begin distribution in Washington State and
Nevada, and the balance of Colorado!
·
A possible Gastro Style Pub somewhere in Utah
Here’s a cheer to the New Year, may we all succeed in our
goals and live the dreams we make for family, friends and ourselves! And thanks for your continued support of our
small, family owned craft beer business.
