Bubblings From the Fermenter
By Dave Perez
Well here I sit again, wondering what to write for the newsletter this month. Then I started thinking to my self, "They expect me to do this again!" I need a beer! No I need a good beer! So, that's what I'll write about, good beer.
As you may have seen in some of the recent emails, we are starting a "Preferred Beer Store Program". Obviously we will have to come up with a catchier name (because typing "Preferred Beer Store Program" over and over will get old quick). The availability is improving, as has been discussed in some of the email traffic, but we have a way to go to catch up to the other areas of the state. Many of us travel to Tallahassee, Orlando, Tampa and beyond just to get a cold and frosty or more likely a warm and tasty beer. In these towns there is a large selection of Belgians, American Micros and yes Jamie, some wonderful British tasties.
This is how we see the "Preferred Beer Store Program" (see, I'm already getting tired of writing "Preferred Beer Store Program") working. We enter into an agreement with a local purveyor of fine malted beverages and talk them into expanding the selection of said fine malted beverages in the Gainesville area. The local purveyor of fine malted beverages who has agreed to form this relationship with us is Mark of Gator Beverage. Mark and I have met several times to discuss the details of how this can be mutually beneficial. Our needs are simple. We want a greater variety of great beer. Mark's needs are just as simple. He wants to sell great beer and make a profit. So how do we help each other?
Gator Beverage will provide us with his distributor's lists (with wholesale prices) so we may select 2 or 3 "Beers of the Month". Mark will scour the seven seas (does Florida have seven seas?) to seek out said selected beers each month and provide several cases to the club for a discount (the wholesale price plus a set markup). We buy da beer! Ain't that simple! Well actually there is a little more.
Gator Beverage will create shelf space with a sign stating something like, "Beers Recommended by the Hogtown Brewers". We would have our logo and contact info there as well, so interested parties who want to know more about us, or the beer they are drinking, can speak to us. We could also do tastings and post a descriptive write up for those beers, ala Jackson, Prost, and Perez (I know, I know, so grandiose).
Now we have to do our part. Like I said we need to buy the beer. We can't and of course won't force anybody to shop at our Preferred Provider, but we will STRONGLY recommend you shop at Gator Beverage. Mark does not make a lot of money on these small, specialty beer sales and takes on some added risks. So, if we want to keep great new beers coming into Gainesville we have to make it worth his while. Yes, we will still buy those great out of state regional beers like Kalamazoo, Stone, and New Belgian, when we travel out of state. However, in Gainesville, we should shop at Gator Beverage. It seems like a win-win for Hogtown Brewers and Gator Beverage! Hopefully, this winning spirit will begin this month. If all goes well, I will bring a few cases of the first selected beers to our club meeting on March 29th. I will send out an email or two announcing the beers and their prices, the week of the meeting. I hope you all are as excited about this plan as I am! If not