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I watched the show last night and found it interesting, I'm sure I was talking to Rupert at the BIY in cork.

I'd agree with TBN on the the price structure. I thought they should have been going for a cheaper model too.

If he's successful he'll soon run out of his own hops and barley and that could be a serious issue when he's using the home-grown angle as part of the marketing strategy.

"Taf":1jpo7ntm wrote: Think this might be the fella in east cork, but can't find the thread, so not sure. [/quote:1jpo7ntm]

this is the link to the other thread on this one
[url:1jpo7ntm]http://www.irishcraftbrewer.com/Community/viewtopic.php?p=36461#36461[/url:1jpo7ntm]

"n1mbus":10z4f3vj wrote: I'd agree with TBN on the the price structure. I thought they should have been going for a cheaper model too.[/quote:10z4f3vj]The other thing is, I don't it's possible to set RRPs for beer in Ireland and have retailers stick to them. Overheads and business models vary wildly.

its been a really interesting process being made to think about it all from start to finish. In regards to the price nothing is set in stone yet. Those price points were the recomendations of the marketing company that rte paid for. The reality is if you follow a normal business plan you will be squeezed to hell by the big retailers and distributors - there is no way to compete without sacrificing quality. I'd prefer to sell 100 bottles of kickass beer a week than 10,000 bottles of rubbish.

It was interesting that they kept on mentioning that it was to be an organic beer. I'm an organic farmer, my hops are organic, but my beer wont be certified and I wont use the word. My dream is to be self sufficient in hops, but this will not be a reality for a few years. This years harvest is as dodgy as hell. In regards to export, its something maybe for the future - my brother sells oysters direct from the farm in cork to restaurants in london. This would seem to be the obvious route to take. I really dont want to end up in a situation where I have to rely on other distributors etc etc.

In terms of unbiased public opinion - as soon as I have the next brew ready I'll let you all know and we'll organise a tasting night either here or in cork and you can all give me your take on it.

thanks for all your interest guys ! let me know when you are meeting up in cork

Rupert have you looked into selling you beer in corny kegs to publican, popular in the states it allows faster turnover of your beer, direct point of sale at the bar?

Its a good idea ! My local pub wouldnt like to take the risk on a full size keg, but loved having the corny keg for the filming. The gas pressure used in the pub is much higher so the conditioning process might need to change a bit maybe to ensure it doesnt over carbonate - experimentation needed for that I think. I'm planning to focus on selling the beer in cork to start with - maybe once those places were happy and selling bottles they would try a corny keg.