New Year’s Update

I am reflecting on this New Year’s Day, thinking of cliches (hoppy New Year? Happy New beer?) with last night’s imperial stouts a lingering memory. It was quite the year for Bogus, but my thoughts are of renewal.

You may remember I was all excited about a location back in October. That fell through when some folks bought the building. It also taught me a lesson in how callus some people are when it comes to business. Over the course of the epic real estate search, I’ve come to discover that my ideal building has nearly mutually exclusive requirements: industrial aspects (concrete floors, roll-up doors, high ceilings…) as well as retail requirements (good location, enough parking, correct zoning…). I did get a chuckle from the post of another brewery going through similar struggles.

So, in the spirit of renewal (and in the interest of getting the hell going), here’s a new thought: what if we operated a brewery and a tasting room that were in separate locations? The tasting room would be downtown Boise and the brewery could be anywhere. And what if we included a few more local artisans in the tasting room? Maybe another brewery or two, a winery… rotating food vendors? Like an incubator for the up and coming. And I know I’d love to pair some Bogus brews with locally made vittles.

But what do you think? Is this something you’d get behind? Or would you rather be imbibing at the site of the brewery itself, even if it’s not quite as pleasant of a bicycle ride? Send me an email or drop me a note on facebook. The idea is growing on me, but I’d love to get your feedback. Remember the old adage about real estate: location, location, beer.

Naturally, FrankenBrew has been getting a workout as well. Most exciting has been a foray into sours. I opened up a bottle of my first crack at funky assuming that I should probably open it up at arms’ length, dump it down the drain, figure out what went wrong and how to change it for next time. However, the smell didn’t make my eyes burn, so I braved a little sip. And then another and another. Hot damn, it was tasty! Needless to say, I’ve got another rye saison on the way with some lambicus bringing the funk. I’ve also been experimenting with a mole stout (needs some work), smoked red (fantastic) and about 4 different IPA variations.

I’m pretty excited by the growlers in from Hydro Flask (soon to be delivered to CSB members!) and new T-shirts (shout out to Deadwood Designs!). Check ’em out here.

Here’s to 2013 – may it bring you many things frosty and hoppy!