"Anything less than the best is a felony." --Gilles Deleuze
We’re back for the highly-anticipated second round of our wildly successful League of Partygoers & Elegant People membership program, and 2017 is looking absolutely outstanding. We have a slew of insanely delicious beers in the works, 2 new locations slated to open in the coming year, and a year of experience and feedback under our belts. Ready your faces.
First of all, I can’t thank Tom enough for inviting me to speak today. If you had told me 4 years ago—when my brewery was just a stack of paperwork and a bunch of naïve dreams—that I would be delivering the keynote address at a CCBA conference, I would have said you were out of your goddamn mind. But in a year of unlikely outcomes, here I am. And I’m deeply honored to be speaking to all of you today. I feel tremendous gratitude and respect for the hard work you all have done. This industry has—in the most literal way possible—made my dreams come true. And many of the people in this room laid the foundation for that success. That interconnectedness is what I’d like to talk about today.
We are stoked out of our frickin’ minds to announce the next major research facility in our ongoing investigation into the art of partying: Leisuretown. Prepare your mind, body, and soul for a garden of earthly delights that will span over 31,927 square feet in downtown Anaheim.
We’ve been covertly working with the geniuses at The LAB (the urban development masterminds behind the Anaheim Packing District, LAB Anti-Mall, and the CAMP) to create a mind-bending craft beer mecca such as the world has never seen. Here’s what we’ve got planned:
Anheuser-Busch InBev is in the midst of a PR push, the goal of which is to soften resistance to their craft brewery acquisition strategy. Sadly, credulous beer writers aren't asking any of the right questions, so I feel a need to respond.
The sacrificial lamb in this takedown is Aaron Goldfarb's recent piece for Serious Eats entitled, "What 'Selling Out' Allows a Craft Brewery to Do.” I'm picking this one because it covers most of the bases on this issue, which makes it convenient.
Releasing 3 new year round beers was a thing. A major thing. A thing that consumed much of the time, energy, and brainpower of many of the people in this building. These beers also embody our collective approach to decision-making better than anything else we've made. Let me explain.
