Kickstarter 2.0 and Life
I wanted to take the time this weekend and write about the surge in our Kickstarter and some other things that have been going on with Alexandria Brewing Company in general.
Kickstarter 2.0
If you follow us on Facebook or Twitter, you may have noticed that we just hit $15,000 of our $20,000 goal for our Kickstarter campaign. This is nothing short of amazing! We still have two weeks to go and it has been extremely humbling to know that we have the community supporting us the way we do. I have said it on every update on our Kickstarter and it has been said on many times on our Facebook feed, but I can't say it enough, thank you. Your generosity and support makes the toughest parts of this seem easy.
As many of you know, this Kickstarter campaign is more about having a show of community support than actually raising the money. However, the money will be nice. The money that we raise from the Kickstarter will go directly into the taproom. If you read my last blog entry, you know what we plan on building. If we were to go with Plan A, hitting our Kickstarter goal may mean opening with the beer garden completely finished. If we have to go with Plan B, this could mean having a few vintage pinball machines and knocking down some walls to open the space up.
First and foremost is the quality of our beer followed by a positive experience by our guests. Then finally, all of the bonuses that will set our taproom apart. If we have to start with Plan B, most of our resources will be put into our brewing equipment and upgrading the existing structure to handle our brewing equipment. With that said, we still have a bad ass taproom planned. Hitting the Kickstarter goal will take this taproom to the next level.
Alexandria Brewing Company
Some of you may know that I am big on doing what I can to give back. Recently, I had the chance to spend some time in West Virginia meeting some veterans, sharing my journey, and trying to help others get on a better path. While doing this, it gives me time to reflect on my own journey and how tough life was for me for a very long time. It is really strange that something as little as changing your point of view can change your life and lead you to doing something like starting a brewery. So, to all of those who I met last weekend, thank you for being open and making that first step into taking your life back. I know this isn't necessarily brewery news, but it is part of what we are about as a company.
We also have been working with the City of Alexandria to make things go smoother when we are ready to move. Zoning is a weird thing and is something we are becoming very familiar with through this whole process. The City of Alexandria is committed to working with us. I have to believe that a large part of their support comes from the strong start to Kickstarter 2.0. This goes to what was stated above, your backing of us has been unbelievable.
Finally, if you haven't seen this on Braxton's, P3's, Cincy Brewcast's, Bad Tom Smith's, or our Facebook feeds or on our "Upcoming Events" tab, we have a collaboration beer coming out on 11/5/2016. We brewed this beer in collaboration with Braxton, MadTree, Rivertown, Bad Tom Smith, and Fibonacci in honor of a good friend, Mike Cisneros. I was fortunate enough to meet him through Cincy Brewcast. Some of you may know that I have been on their podcast 2 times now, but we really did another show that has never aired. This was with two guys I consider good friends now, Eric Tanner and Anthony Stoeber of Brewer's Buddy. I believe we spent more time talking off microphone than on and we shared some really good beer that day. Honestly, the whole show went wrong as far as what was planned, but turned out to be a fantastic experience, at least for me. I walked away feeling honored to have Mike in my life. Less than two weeks later, he was gone. This hit me hard. This beer is the very least we all could do to pay tribute to a person who has done an amazing job of banging a loud drum for the Cincinnati craft beer scene. His partners in crime, The Gnarly Gnome and Tina Cisneros (also people I consider good friends), have really stepped up their game. They were both a crucial part in making this collaboration happen, but it wouldn't have happened at all without Monica Bowles of People. Pints. Purpose. While I would like to believe we were all thinking of our own way to remember Mike, Monica was brining us all together to do it.
So, a little bit about the beer and why we decided on what we did. Mike's favorite style was a true pilsner followed by a black IPA. We all met at Bad Tom Smith after a long series of emails. We talked about several options and decided a true to style Czech Pilsner. Most people don't realize it. The pilsner originated in the Czech Republic. The Germans may be known for perfecting it, but they did so in Pilsen. It is often considered the toughest beer to brew because you can't hide behind anything with it. If a brewer makes a mistake when it comes to temperature, timing, or pH, it can ruin this beer. We did "Big Cis" with all pils malts and all Czech Saaz hops. It is a single decoction brew, keeping it traditional as possible. Mike's nickname was "Big Cis." It is only fitting to name it after him. We brewed it at Braxton, but each brewery involved hopes to release our own variant every year. I hope to combine his favorite styles and do a black pilsner without pushing it to a schwarzbier. We'll see. Anyway, I will be a Braxton on 11/5 celebrating this beer and celebrating Mike. I hope to see you all there.
Okay, sorry for the length. I just had a lot to get out. If you stuck with me for the whole thing, thank you. Please keep sharing our Facebook and Twitter posts and help get the word out. I look forward to seeing you at Braxton on November 5th.
Cheers,
Andy Reynolds