Beer On Demand

Brewing beer for the public is way different than brewing for myself. Even though as a homebrewer I brewed a lot of beer for personal consumption (over the legal 200 gallons per year, don't tell anyone) it's no where near what I'm brewing now.

Our new label design and brand logo

A typical volume per month at this time of the year is 120 gallons, with the trend and current production capacity at 160 gallons. But we still don't have a lot of history to use as a compass, and I'm still in the process of determining how much beer is needed in inventory based on the demand from month to month. Our current standard line-up is: Pale ale, Belgian tripel, Dry stout and Imperial IPA. I've tested a couple other styles over the last year and they didn't receive the high praise that our current four beers get. My plan is to brew our same seasonal beers again this Summer to be released in the late Fall which are the Barley wine and Russian imperial stout. I may brew another Belgian strong ale too.

San Miguel is a tourist destination, not only for American and Canadian visitors but also many Mexicans that want to leave the big cities of Mexico City, Queretero and Monterey for the quaint, picturesque and historic San Miguel. They all come in droves starting in the late autumn and their numbers rise and fall until late spring. Eventually, the flood of visitors tapers down to nothing during the very hot months of May and June leaving the restaurants and bars to chase after the local population desperately hoping to survive the drought.
Because of this flux in population, I have to consider how the seasons will play out, when the demand slowly climbs for craft beer, then transitions into a feeding frenzy to be followed quickly by a deserted town.



Before Mash Paddle

After Mash Paddle

This year has challenged my ability to predict how much beer to have in stock to meet the demand without overstocking a perishable food product that could quickly pass it's 'best by' date in this hot climate. The last thing I want is surplus inventory. I want beer that is as fresh as possible for the best taste. I want to turn inventory quickly, limiting the opportunity for spoiling bacteria that may have been introduced to the bottled beer to get a foot hold and showing up in the worst ways. I also have to consider the ratio of sales (money) to purchases (replacing materials for producing more beer) which is tight and requires a perfect balance to keep the brewery operating financially.

If I estimate the need for product too low I'll run out of inventory. Consequently, I won't have the sales to generate the cash for purchases. Along with this, our customer base gets pissed off because they have to tell their regular clients (now demanding Dos Aves) that they are out of stock. It can get ugly. Case in point, I didn't brew enough in December because I saw that we had plenty of inventory. In January sales were high and by the time I got production up and running we ran out of a couple of styles of beer in February. Currently, I'm killing myself, brewing back-to-back batches, twice a week and wondering if I'm going to have too much beer in April. Stop the madness.

Will I have this figured out anytime soon? I hope so, and at the same time the business is growing rapidly and this needs to be taken into account also.

In the mean time, I predict that we will max out our system and facility by the end of Summer and our search for a larger space to brew in has begun. Ideally, this new place will be about 4 times our current size allowing for a cold room and office. At the same time, we are getting quotes to fabricate a 3 barrel system. We will continue to brew without the benefit of a glycol system but that need is clearly on the horizon.

Our brewery is small and we're still working out the logistics but it's pumping out some really tasty beers. If you're in SMA in the future, contact me for the short tour and a sample of our efforts.

P.S. I'll be teaching a brewing classes on March 16th. at the brewery if you want to join us.
Cheers!