MNB interviewed on branding a brewery by The Business of Beer
John over at The Business of Beer sat down with us as part of his new The Startup Dialogues series. We talked about building a name, logo, and packaging for a new brewery. Check it out. Leave a comment. Heckle the locals.
Happy New Year! (but no brewing)
Approximately 67% of our Monday Night brewing team is still on vacation. With this in mind, we thought it best not to leave our brewing fate in the hands of Joel.
I think you will agree. See you all in 2010. Or, according to the Chinese calendar, The Year of the Atlanta Brewery!
So… what day is it exactly?
A curious Monday-related sign spotted on the “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks. Sounds like someone needs a website that tells them when it’s actually Monday. Because “Monday” can sometimes sneak up on you. For instance, is today, for all intents and purposes a Wednesday, more of a “Monday”? Something to think about…
Monday Night recap: “The driest ice around” edition
Brewing TOTALLY HAPPENED last night. We brewed up a slightly fuller version of our Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale. It should come as no surprise that Joel required assistance most of the evening, even when performing simple tasks such as holding a flashlight.
Those of you who came last night may have noticed that it felt like winter outside. Fitting, given that yesterday was the winter solstice. We did our best to combat Sister Winter with a roaring fire. Seriously. This fire was roaring like a lion.
In other news, this marked the first Monday with genuine MNB-branded t-shirts for sale. Not those Chinese knock-offs that have been circulating the streets. A general rule: if the prices on MNB gear seem too good to be true, they probably are. Just the other day I was walking down Peachtree and some dude offered to sell me a Monday Night t-shirt for NEGATIVE FIVE DOLLARS. “Friend,” I told him, “There is no way that is legitimate apparel. Also, I question your margins.” Our genuine American Apparel shirts are only $10, which may sound too good to be true. But I assure you it is just good enough to be true.
And finally. Justin brought over some unused dry ice for us to play with. Joel about peed his pants he was so excited. Don’t worry, we didn’t let Joel do HALF of the things he wanted to do with it.
Thanks to everyone who came last night! We’ll see you all again in 2010 – the year of our launching.
It’s the most… shortest brew day… of the year…
Ah, December 21. The winter solstice. When the sun rises at noon and sets at 3pm. The perfect time to brew our Drafty Kilt with a recipe updated for the first time since… May? April? I could tell you, but I’d have to open the recipe file, and that would mean opening Excel. Which I try to stay away from. That’s Jeff’s domain. We’ve given this beer a little more body, which in our opinion is all it needs before full-scale production.
Come join us tonight at 8pm. It is in fact Monday now. We’ll have a little beer on tap and a little fire on the back porch. Maybe a big fire if the porch goes up in flames.
We will also have our brand new t-shirts on sale for $10. Bring cash or a check. They make great gifts. They make even better wrapping paper for other great gifts.
Ormsby’s opening up on Atlanta’s Westside
Yet another boon for beer on Atlanta’s Westside. Ormsby’s is opening its doors today. According to their website:
Ormsby’s, a classic neighborhood tavern found in Atlanta’s west-side. A warm, welcoming and comfortable gathering spot with a full bar that features an extensive craft beer selection and classic cocktails along side a fresh pub menu. At Ormsby’s you will be able to enjoy a wide range of traditional games including: Backgammon, Bocce, Darts, Pool, and Shuffleboard. So please come on down; join us for a drink and game or two (or three).
Their beer list looks good, and their food menu looks to be well in line with the gastropub fare cropping up at places such as The Porter, Leon’s Full Service and Book House Pub.
According to Sara, the highly reputable SweetWater intern, Ormsby’s is headed by a former SweetWater “Beer Pimp,” Michael Goot. Color me excited. If anyone has a chance to get down there before we do, please post your thoughts in the comments section. I like to salivate on my keyboard whenever possible.
Interview with a Retailer: Flip Burger boutique in Atlanta
One of my favorite neighborhood spots of Flip Burger boutique. It’s a mere block from my house and the landmark by which I reference where I live now (as no one seems to have heard of Berkeley Park but everyone seems to have heard of Flip). The place is mad crazy busy all the time (it’s business time all the time, you could say) but the owner Barry and manager Sebastian sat down with me during a slight lull one afternoon to answer a few questions.
1. We’ve all seen the tremendous success of flip, I go by here almost every day and it’s rare that during lunch or dinner there is not some sort of line spilling out the front door onto the sidewalk. What has been the biggest challenge of this success you’ve seen?
Barry: Typically a restaurant has time to get used to doing what they do and they can do that comfortably as they gradually get busier. Right out of the starting gates it was very busy and we had to learn quickly. Now the challenge is how do we keep this feel where it is independent and hip and the quality is there with the eccentricities that make this place great — how do we duplicate that and transition into another location. The lines are getting shorter as the kitchen gets better and the food has gotten better but it’s allowed us to shorten the lines.
How has flip marketed itself?
Barry: We’ve done zero marketing and I haven’t spent a penny on any type of advertising. And we like that grassroots approach because it’s genuine. There’s nothing worse than contrived advertising. That’s been the most rewarding thing as we’ve gotten busier and busier and to know that it’s because we’re doing a good job and people are enjoying the experience.
While you’re definitely not a beer place, you have a nice list that’s not standard fare. One of my friends (with inferior beer preferences) recently ate at flip, and while normally a Miller/Bud kind of guy, the waiter talking him into trying Three Philosophers and he loved it. What types of things do you take into account when building a beer menu?
Sebastian: Our first thought was to make sure we have the local Atlanta beers – Sweetwater and ABC, then we wanted to cover the oldest of US breweries, which is Yeungling, and really is considered a staple for many people. And from there our list is not that big so we looked for flavors that complement our food. I wanted to do it with as many craft breweries from the US as made sense. We have the Full Sail session, which is a lager but made to be a pre-prohibition style and they also put it in this stubbly bottle like it used to be. We’re not trying to be the cutting edge, but we want to give them some interesting beers.
Barry: My top priority is for everything to have synergies. I want everything including the beer to complement the menu. We try to keep it outside the typical box of what you expect in a restaurant, we try and do burgers that no one really has and have the beer menu complement thats. I want there be a wow factor behind everything we do.
Waitress pops in and says “So you’re saying I’m different than what anyone else has”
Barry: I know you’re different? in a bad way (Everyone laughs)
You seem to care about this community (Berkeley Park) and this city. They say location is everything but how did you pick this spot?
We know we wanted to be in some sort of up-and-coming area and in a free-standing location, but honestly it’s a bit of luck that we ended up in this location. It’s perfect though, and creates a bit of an oasis where you have all of auto repair shops and then there is flip and it just intuitively felt right. I’m super happy that the neighborhood has embraced it and that I see all of you in here and that we get that support.
Atlanta is a very loyal market. There are a lot of big New York chefs and they’ve really struggled getting into this market, but I’ve spent my whole career in this city and I think my time here has paid off, not only in how it’s helped us do things the right way but in the ways the community has supported us.
Flip has done a great job dressing up accessible fare, bridging the gap between the normal and the gourmet. It reminds me of what a lot of microbreweries are doing, creating accessible “stepping stone” beers, like Sweetwater 420. Have you seen a trend in Atlanta towards gourmet food, and if so what do you think is behind that trend and how do you see it evolving?
Absolutely. You have Top Chef, Food Network, and all of these things bring chef-driven dining, as well as more complicated foods to the masses. The whole idea behind flip was that I’ve got 15 years experience in fine dining (as does Sebastian) and it’s very disconnected from the mass market. But it doesn’t need to be. You know, it’s stuffy, it can be stale. There was this huge vacuum in the market. You have fast food and fast casual, and fast casual is really just food as cheap as you can make it that you just dress up a little bit. I wanted to create a restaurant that had, at its core, the hipness but with the ingredients of a fine dining restaurant, but making it all much more approachable. So instead of dark environment we’ve made this a really light high energy environment. Really flip isn’t about burgers. It’s about high quality fine dining food for $15/head vs. $40 or $50 a head. I just chose the burger because I thought it was a very approachable medium? It’s just two buns and what can you stick between them. Well you can stick lobster sorbet in there. You can do whatever and Richard [Blaise] really complements that because he really thinks outside the box.
What’s your favorite beer/burger pairing on the menu?
I’d say the UFO Hefeweizen with the tuna burger. You have that slightly citrus flavor that’s fresh and it complements the spiciness of the tuna perfectly. I like the nuttiness of the Newcastle with the RB que burger.
Barry: I’m a Stella drinker at heart. So Stella and any of the above.
When will we see more locations?
2nd one is definitely in the works and hopefully a 3rd at some point. Next one will probably be somewhere over on the Eastside.
Image courtesy of CodePoet5150