“What do you drink, my lord?” “Beer, beer, beer.”

That’s how it goes, right?

Anyway: if you’ve forgotten that our fancypants tapbox is now fully functional then you may have also forgotten that we’re using our 10 taps and a dream to feature brewery-only specials as we’re able.

The first, Espresso Whale, is still available! Rudy whipped up more than he has in the past, because it’s a poor sort of celebration where the beer runs out quickly. We’re open tonight 3-7 and tomorrow 3-8, so stop down and get some!

Now then, next Friday is also the Swans show at the Tralf. Just as we did with Preacher Man, we’ve made a beer for the event because, well, because we can. More Information, a stout for the summer, will be debuting there, but if there’s any left afterward it should be available at the brewery the next week.

Convenience!

The beer delivery machine

The dirty secret of owning a brewery is that a large portion of your job involves moving containers full of liquid from one place to another. (Most of the remainder is spent heating up other containers full of liquid to varying temperatures)

We self distribute, which means that when you have a pint of us at a bar it got there when Ethan put the keg in a van, drove it to the bar and then took it inside. This was easy when we were only available at Cole’s, Mister Goodbar and Blue Monk: toss a few kegs in the van, drive a mile down the road and you’re done. Now we’re available as far away as Lewiston, meaning more stops on one delivery circuit, so a certain amount of planning is in order.

Enter: a new van! It’s much bigger is and generally more suited for the hauling of beer around. Loading it up for Bidwell is particularly nice, since there isn’t as much creative stacking that needs to be done to fit everything inside. Chris cleverly came up with “the Alcohauler” as a name for it, though it looks like Rudy’s “Dan the Van” (thus forcing us to always refer to me as “Dan the Man”) might win hearts and minds.

I didn’t know they regulated ditches

From the very start we’ve declared that a huge part of our “Embeer Buffalo” motto has been that we want more breweries to open. This might seem strange, a business calling for competitors, but it’s really not: a rising tide lifts all boats, after all. Even beyond that, brewers are by far the friendliest people I’ve ever met, so much like “children with Scottish accents” I welcome all opportunities to create more of them.

Soon we’ll see this goal reached again: Big Ditch has announced their intention to operate out of Ellicott St (by the way, Buffalo News, hi, we’re on the west side). Just as we did, they’re going to have to get a zoning variance: the hearing will be July 24th, and we wish them the best of luck! ZBA, these guys are legit. Give them the thumbs up.

Am I saying this just so Matt will be distracted and more easily conquered in Risk Legacy? Of course not!

Well, maybe a little.