The Microbrewery Handbook

Chapter 1Before You Begin

THIS IDEA BEGAN on Church Street in Asheville, North Carolina, in 2015. I realize the irony of this specific street locale, probably as some kind of Freudian nod to the higher power we needed to see us through on this journey.

My business partner, Reed Odeneal, the brewing operations expert in our two‐man team, lived there at the time and we were actually exploring opening a brewery, this thing that we used to joke about as co‐workers a few years earlier that we both knew would never come to fruition.

Except now it might. Or at least we were meeting to talk about it. A shift in my job responsibilities in Pensacola, Florida, was pending, and while my job wasn't in jeopardy, it was enough of a spark in timing to give this wild idea the smell test. I had returned to Pensacola, my hometown, about a year before, and I knew if I were ever going to do this, our best chance to be successful would be in this market that I knew well and knew was undersaturated compared to the burgeoning craft beer industry happening nationwide.

He was smart, with a professional background in IT and tons of homebrewing experience. I had grown up around business in my family and spent more than a decade in journalism, bringing at least a decent understanding of branding, communication, and marketing as well as some connections and credibility with local investors. Neither of us had ever opened our own business before.

But we texted about it. We split up some research for a few ...