Howdy, friends! We've got some big, fun news to share this week, which - you guessed it - means we're gonna start by talking about a whole bunch of other unrelated stuff at length before we get to the "hot goss."
Ah, to hell with it. We! Have! A! Canning! Line! It's gonna mean a lot of Learning Experiences™ for the ol' production staff, which generally manifests in the form of a whole lotta noodle scratchin' and tweakin' settings and honestly a lot more shouting at inanimate objects than you'd really expect (and, if you know us, you probably already expect a considerable amount). Anyway, we're hoping that this will be (or at least appear) pretty seamless for all y'all, but there's bound to be a hiccup or ten and some weird side-effects, but the point is that we're super stoked that we're in control of our own destiny or whatever! And just to "clear the air" on some questions y'all might have, here's some Q&A!
I thought you were already canning?
We were! We are! When we started canning, we signed on with a mobile canning company called State 64, which is run by a group of downright great people. And mobile canners, for those of you not "in the know" basically just roll up to our digs with their own canning line (and cans, and trays, and - in the case of State 64 - a kitchen sink that's supported by milk crates) and hook up some hoses to our tanks and can our beer for us and go about their merry way. We thoroughly enjoyed working with State 64, but at some point over the summer we decided it was Time To Move On, and we started the oddly-arduous process of ordering a piece of equipment.
What made you switch from State 64?
Honestly? 90% of it was scheduling. They're busy folks (unsurprisingly, a lot of breweries leaned pretty hard into canning once that whole pandemic hit) and we can only schedule them for two days per month, which can do a pretty mean number on our production schedule. Plus, State 64 is doing a pretty big service to the industry by making canning accessible to hella small breweries (like us), and if we can free up some of their schedule then that makes way for somebody else to be able to get their beer on shelves.
We were! We are! When we started canning, we signed on with a mobile canning company called State 64, which is run by a group of downright great people. And mobile canners, for those of you not "in the know" basically just roll up to our digs with their own canning line (and cans, and trays, and - in the case of State 64 - a kitchen sink that's supported by milk crates) and hook up some hoses to our tanks and can our beer for us and go about their merry way. We thoroughly enjoyed working with State 64, but at some point over the summer we decided it was Time To Move On, and we started the oddly-arduous process of ordering a piece of equipment.
What made you switch from State 64?
Honestly? 90% of it was scheduling. They're busy folks (unsurprisingly, a lot of breweries leaned pretty hard into canning once that whole pandemic hit) and we can only schedule them for two days per month, which can do a pretty mean number on our production schedule. Plus, State 64 is doing a pretty big service to the industry by making canning accessible to hella small breweries (like us), and if we can free up some of their schedule then that makes way for somebody else to be able to get their beer on shelves.
You mentioned "weird side-effects." What would those be?
The most obvious side-effect is actually tangentially/confusingly related to the pandemic (and maybe the ongoing trade war with China and/or the tariffs on imported metals? Unclear) and anyway the point is that we'll be temporarily switching to plastic four-pack holders. Long story short, cans are super hard to get right now* and our current can supplier (one of the few suppliers who is willing/able to supply us) only sells cans as a "package deal" sort of thing (cans, lids, trays, pakteks), which means our hands are tied for a bit. But never fear! We're gonna keep the ol' "ear to the ground" and figure out a way to get back to the old cardboard/environmentally friendly carriers that we all know and tolerate.
Anything else we should know?
Probably! Most importantly, this also means that we're no longer tied to our previous twice-per-month can release schedule, which means we're able to release new cans all the time! We won't, but it's exciting to know that we could.
The most obvious side-effect is actually tangentially/confusingly related to the pandemic (and maybe the ongoing trade war with China and/or the tariffs on imported metals? Unclear) and anyway the point is that we'll be temporarily switching to plastic four-pack holders. Long story short, cans are super hard to get right now* and our current can supplier (one of the few suppliers who is willing/able to supply us) only sells cans as a "package deal" sort of thing (cans, lids, trays, pakteks), which means our hands are tied for a bit. But never fear! We're gonna keep the ol' "ear to the ground" and figure out a way to get back to the old cardboard/environmentally friendly carriers that we all know and tolerate.
Anything else we should know?
Probably! Most importantly, this also means that we're no longer tied to our previous twice-per-month can release schedule, which means we're able to release new cans all the time! We won't, but it's exciting to know that we could.
Oh! And! Lastly! We've mentioned a time or two that we're hiring, and we figure it bears mentioning that we're formally/officially/finally closing applications this Friday! We assume anyone who wants to apply has already done so, but this here's last call for your last chance! Apply here.
* This is probably more "inside baseball" than most of you really care about, but the main reason (that we've heard, anyway) is that since all 7,000 breweries in the country had to abruptly switch to "to-go only" for their service model, that created a huge spike in demand for cans, without much surplus production capability. On top of that, canned beverages are becoming more popular in other market segments (or whatever the Business Guy term is) like coffee and kombucha and those weird beer/fruit puree blends that explode and hurt people if you let them warm up, not to mention the increase in popularity of hard seltzer (which is big enough that it's attracted the attention of several Global Megacorps, and which is also served almost exclusively in cans), which - coupled with the increase in cost of imported aluminum - adds up to can shortages, particularly for people who aren't buying them by the literal truckload (which would be us).
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