Sorry to hear. I dream of opening a craft cocktail bar but it's (obviously) a high risk venture and I'm certainly thankful for not having to navigate ownership of that type of venture during this covid craze!

Sorry for your loss.
#CovidSUCKS

It is amazing the risks that people take to pursue a dream. Good luck on your next venture. You may have a different attitude about the experience a decade from now.

WorkBoots09 said:

---

We celebrated 2 years of business back in February, then closed March 15th.

---

Whew. Sorry man.

How much of that timing had to do with COVID?

What was flawed from the get go for you, if you don't mind expounding? Sorry for the business loss.

Sorry to hear that. The brewing industry chewed me up and spit me out as well. It's a hard way to make a living. Despite wanting so desperately for it to work out because it's a passion that will never go away, it's a career path that certainly has its flaws.

Is there a bright side to this?

FIDO*98* said:

---

Sorry to hear. This was recently written by a Friend of mine who owns New Braunfels Brewing Co. He has struggled as well and may be done in by covid. Not an easy way to make a living for sure

How NOT to start a F***ing Brewery

---

Sorry to hear that. I've been in there a few times since moving to town a few years ago and enjoyed it. But I enjoy sours.

That being said, that brewery was in an expensive real estate location without large volumes of direct pass-by foot traffic because it's too far away from the main drag. It didn't have a large tasting area or live music/party-type events that typically drive traffic to breweries. If you don't have traffic, it's better to use a more remote location and focus on that wholesale.

Just my completely uneducated opinion. I'll order his book and give it a quick read during this COVID madness.

For the OP, sorry to hear that. I know it's a brutal industry but this will be a great experience you'll look back on with fondness some day. You learned a lot and that will come in handy whatever your next venture is.

Will give the podcast a listen!

Sorry to hear y'all closed.

Edit: Looked y'all up. We're not too far away, but unfortunately never made it out.

I need to do a better job of finding all the new breweries near me.

Sorry to hear that. My buddy is likely about to close his wine shop in Houston. Told me yesterday he wasn't renewing his insurance with me.

rlb28 said:

---

Sorry to hear that. My buddy is likely about to close his wine shop in Houston. Told me yesterday he wasn't renewing his insurance with me.

---

Which wine shop and why?

Ornlu said:

---

WorkBoots09 said:

---

We celebrated 2 years of business back in February, then closed March 15th.

---

Whew. Sorry man.

How much of that timing had to do with COVID?

---

https://www.facebook.com/newmainbrewingcompany/posts/1865765740221450

closed almost a month ago.. doesn't look like much relation to Covid.

 

He mentioned it was March 15th. That's technically before shelter-in-place was ordered but it wasn't before people were voluntarily avoiding public places.

On 3/15, it was pretty easy to see that we were headed for shutdown. If he was "on the fence" already, I'm sure having the enormous specter of a shutdown on the horizon would have made an uncertain decision more certain.

Sure, I can make assumptions but I'd rather hear it in his words.

based on what i read, it was mostly due to an inability to strike a new deal with the landlord.

Ornlu said:

---

He mentioned it was March 15th. That's technically before shelter-in-place was ordered but it wasn't before people were voluntarily avoiding public places.

On 3/15, it was pretty easy to see that we were headed for shutdown. If he was "on the fence" already, I'm sure having the enormous specter of a shutdown on the horizon would have made an uncertain decision more certain.

Sure, I can make assumptions but I'd rather hear it in his words.

---

As Aggie00 pointed out, it says pretty clearly on his post that on March 15th, he couldn't come to a deal with landlord.

That has been the reason for probably 98% of brewery shutdowns in Denver area in recent years; They opened 5 years ago, many of them in areas going through very early stages of gentrification, the real estate market has exploded since then, and landlords want way more rent.


All these brewery owners could only wish they were like little machine (I think that's who it was) in denver, who made the super wise decision to purchase their space.. and now 5 years later, they sell it for multiple times what they paid.

Can't do that now though, market is way too high.

schmellba99 said:

---

Plus, frankly, most smaller breweries tend to have beers that just aren't good and are focused on a very small percentage of the population. It's not about being different or neckbeard so you can look down your nose at everybody else, it's about creating a product that appeals to the masses, even if you think those masses don't have refined taste or whatever understanding of the nuances of the brewing or distilling you have.

But mostly it is the draconian stupid laws that Texas has with alcohol and not being able to sell on site and having to go through the mafioso distribution system, etc.

---

In the case of NBBCo, I think you nailed it. Kelley is a good dude, but, he has gone further and further down the niche path. Even the brews I enjoy there I rarely want more than one and only every now and again. Some of his early offerings were quite good for session drinking and those aren't even found there today. It's been hard to watch up close as they were among the first neighbors we met and some of our first friends in NB

FIDO*98* said:

---

schmellba99 said:

---

Plus, frankly, most smaller breweries tend to have beers that just aren't good and are focused on a very small percentage of the population. It's not about being different or neckbeard so you can look down your nose at everybody else, it's about creating a product that appeals to the masses, even if you think those masses don't have refined taste or whatever understanding of the nuances of the brewing or distilling you have.

But mostly it is the draconian stupid laws that Texas has with alcohol and not being able to sell on site and having to go through the mafioso distribution system, etc.

---

In the case of NBBCo, I think you nailed it. Kelley is a good dude, but, he has gone further and further down the niche path. Even the brews I enjoy there I rarely want more than one and only every now and again. Some of his early offerings were quite good for session drinking and those aren't even found there today. It's been hard to watch up close as they were among the first neighbors we met and some of our first friends in NB

---

i love a lot of the specialty beers some of the breweries pump out, but they need to have some solid mainstays if they want to keep me interested and drinking their stuff on a normal basis.. Great examples of this are Austin Beerworks and Redhorn. I love most of their staples, but they do a lot of specialty beers too.

schmellba99 said:

---

Buck Compton said:

---

FIDO*98* said:

---

Sorry to hear. This was recently written by a Friend of mine who owns New Braunfels Brewing Co. He has struggled as well and may be done in by covid. Not an easy way to make a living for sure

How NOT to start a F***ing Brewery

---

Sorry to hear that. I've been in there a few times since moving to town a few years ago and enjoyed it. But I enjoy sours.

That being said, that brewery was in an expensive real estate location without large volumes of direct pass-by foot traffic because it's too far away from the main drag. It didn't have a large tasting area or live music/party-type events that typically drive traffic to breweries. If you don't have traffic, it's better to use a more remote location and focus on that wholesale.

Just my completely uneducated opinion. I'll order his book and give it a quick read during this COVID madness.

For the OP, sorry to hear that. I know it's a brutal industry but this will be a great experience you'll look back on with fondness some day. You learned a lot and that will come in handy whatever your next venture is.

---

The beyond stupid Texas liquor laws make it that much harder.

Plus, frankly, most smaller breweries tend to have beers that just aren't good and are focused on a very small percentage of the population. It's not about being different or neckbeard so you can look down your nose at everybody else, it's about creating a product that appeals to the masses, even if you think those masses don't have refined taste or whatever understanding of the nuances of the brewing or distilling you have.

But mostly it is the draconian stupid laws that Texas has with alcohol and not being able to sell on site and having to go through the mafioso distribution system, etc.

---

Nailed it.

You need very deep pockets. Going into distro puts you against everybody else, battling the big craft and macro.

Niche means a good location with a lot of tap room biz. But good location usually is $$$.

If anyone went into biz in the last 6 years...God help you.

Been listening to the podcast here & there. Sorry about your luck. Really disappointed I never got up there to visit. Seemed like a really awesome place.

Been following your updates for the last few years on Facebook (we used to work together at the Visitor Center), and am sorry to hear y'all closed. Wish I could have made it up from Houston.

Listened to your podcast about the opening and closing. Thanks for sharing.

AggieOO said:

---

FIDO*98* said:

---

schmellba99 said:

---

Plus, frankly, most smaller breweries tend to have beers that just aren't good and are focused on a very small percentage of the population. It's not about being different or neckbeard so you can look down your nose at everybody else, it's about creating a product that appeals to the masses, even if you think those masses don't have refined taste or whatever understanding of the nuances of the brewing or distilling you have.

But mostly it is the draconian stupid laws that Texas has with alcohol and not being able to sell on site and having to go through the mafioso distribution system, etc.

---

In the case of NBBCo, I think you nailed it. Kelley is a good dude, but, he has gone further and further down the niche path. Even the brews I enjoy there I rarely want more than one and only every now and again. Some of his early offerings were quite good for session drinking and those aren't even found there today. It's been hard to watch up close as they were among the first neighbors we met and some of our first friends in NB

---

i love a lot of the specialty beers some of the breweries pump out, but they need to have some solid mainstays if they want to keep me interested and drinking their stuff on a normal basis.. Great examples of this are Austin Beerworks and Redhorn. I love most of their staples, but they do a lot of specialty beers too.

---

see real ale Fireman 4 too. You could even argue shiner bock is this way. The bock is the staple and then they branch out to a bunch of different stuff as a hook.

FIDO*98* said:

---

schmellba99 said:

---

Plus, frankly, most smaller breweries tend to have beers that just aren't good and are focused on a very small percentage of the population. It's not about being different or neckbeard so you can look down your nose at everybody else, it's about creating a product that appeals to the masses, even if you think those masses don't have refined taste or whatever understanding of the nuances of the brewing or distilling you have.

But mostly it is the draconian stupid laws that Texas has with alcohol and not being able to sell on site and having to go through the mafioso distribution system, etc.

---

In the case of NBBCo, I think you nailed it. Kelley is a good dude, but, he has gone further and further down the niche path. Even the brews I enjoy there I rarely want more than one and only every now and again. Some of his early offerings were quite good for session drinking and those aren't even found there today. It's been hard to watch up close as they were among the first neighbors we met and some of our first friends in NB

---

Yes, everything they make is uber niche. I went in for a tasting about a year ago and while a lot of the beer was interesting, there wasn't anything I wanted to drink a whole pint of.

Guadalupe is somewhat niche but they also have some solid staples.

5 Stone is my favorite local brewery.

http://www.newmainbrewing.com/

Interesting website.

They kept the logo and overlaid card suits on it.

62strat said:

---

Ornlu said:

---

He mentioned it was March 15th. That's technically before shelter-in-place was ordered but it wasn't before people were voluntarily avoiding public places.

On 3/15, it was pretty easy to see that we were headed for shutdown. If he was "on the fence" already, I'm sure having the enormous specter of a shutdown on the horizon would have made an uncertain decision more certain.

Sure, I can make assumptions but I'd rather hear it in his words.

---

As Aggie00 pointed out, it says pretty clearly on his post that on March 15th, he couldn't come to a deal with landlord.

That has been the reason for probably 98% of brewery shutdowns in Denver area in recent years; They opened 5 years ago, many of them in areas going through very early stages of gentrification, the real estate market has exploded since then, and landlords want way more rent.


All these brewery owners could only wish they were like little machine (I think that's who it was) in denver, who made the super wise decision to purchase their space.. and now 5 years later, they sell it for multiple times what they paid.

Can't do that now though, market is way too high.

---

Sure... but what you are describing sounds more like their business was a real estate spec and not operating a brewery.

ATM9000 said:

---

62strat said:

---

Ornlu said:

---

He mentioned it was March 15th. That's technically before shelter-in-place was ordered but it wasn't before people were voluntarily avoiding public places.

On 3/15, it was pretty easy to see that we were headed for shutdown. If he was "on the fence" already, I'm sure having the enormous specter of a shutdown on the horizon would have made an uncertain decision more certain.

Sure, I can make assumptions but I'd rather hear it in his words.

---

As Aggie00 pointed out, it says pretty clearly on his post that on March 15th, he couldn't come to a deal with landlord.

That has been the reason for probably 98% of brewery shutdowns in Denver area in recent years; They opened 5 years ago, many of them in areas going through very early stages of gentrification, the real estate market has exploded since then, and landlords want way more rent.


All these brewery owners could only wish they were like little machine (I think that's who it was) in denver, who made the super wise decision to purchase their space.. and now 5 years later, they sell it for multiple times what they paid.

Can't do that now though, market is way too high.

---

Sure... but what you are describing sounds more like their business was a real estate spec and not operating a brewery.

---

isnt that what a lot of businesses are? You think McDonald's value is in slinging burgers?

Ragoo said:

---

ATM9000 said:

---

62strat said:

---

Ornlu said:

---

He mentioned it was March 15th. That's technically before shelter-in-place was ordered but it wasn't before people were voluntarily avoiding public places.

On 3/15, it was pretty easy to see that we were headed for shutdown. If he was "on the fence" already, I'm sure having the enormous specter of a shutdown on the horizon would have made an uncertain decision more certain.

Sure, I can make assumptions but I'd rather hear it in his words.

---

As Aggie00 pointed out, it says pretty clearly on his post that on March 15th, he couldn't come to a deal with landlord.

That has been the reason for probably 98% of brewery shutdowns in Denver area in recent years; They opened 5 years ago, many of them in areas going through very early stages of gentrification, the real estate market has exploded since then, and landlords want way more rent.


All these brewery owners could only wish they were like little machine (I think that's who it was) in denver, who made the super wise decision to purchase their space.. and now 5 years later, they sell it for multiple times what they paid.

Can't do that now though, market is way too high.

---

Sure... but what you are describing sounds more like their business was a real estate spec and not operating a brewery.

---

isnt that what a lot of businesses are? You think McDonald's value is in slinging burgers?

---

Sort of I guess for somebody... typically not for the burger slinger themself though? All I'm saying is buying land, a building, equipment to brew, etc, is a hell of a lot of obligation to brew some beer and pretty damn risky vs, a few year lease. Hell, you are trapping capital that could theoretically go into business growth when you buy a property vs. lease. Not saying it is always the wrong thing to do... but I wouldn't call it wise and if you are starting from scratch and have zero brand behind your brewery, it is a real estate investment and probably your bigger worry over whether or not your beer sells.