Wednesdays have always been an important day for us at Port Brewing. When I launched this venture (with my three other partners) back in 2005, we met every Wednesday from 4 to 7 p.m. to recap the previous week’s operations and, more importantly, agree on the long-term goals necessary to grow a brewery business. In... View Article
We’re blessed here in San Diego. We have always had a world-class zoo. And while our sports teams continue to be more rotten then Hamlet’s Denmark, our zoo (and lately breweries) continues to be held in the highest regard. I have very fond memories of the zoo. Like many San Diegans, my youth was populated... View Article
Jim (not his real name) was the very first employee I was forced to let go. He had shipped a box of beers out for Christmas to his family. There is nothing wrong with that except, of course, they were some of our rarest offerings and he hadn’t paid for them. That’s a pretty simple... View Article
Recently, I got a Facebook message from Joe, one of my numerous post-college roommates. Turns out, he and his partners own a bar in Downtown San Diego, where they are in the process of renovating the upstairs space to include a new beer bar concept. While Joe’s interest in opening a beer bar was not... View Article
In September while traveling through Seattle, I sat down with my friend Alan over a beer, and our conversation turned to hiring other people’s employees (H.O.P.E.). We sparred about the process and rules associated with respect to help-wanted and H.O.P.E. I offered my most recent experience of having a brewer hired away from our operation... View Article
From my perspective, it was a pretty standard Brussels Saturday morning. I squinted at the alarm clock in disgust, cursed the hastily drawn curtains in angst for their radiating personality and lamented the wisdom found in ordering just one more Duvel at last call. Thank God the Sultans of Kebap operates a sensible late-night catering... View Article
I just returned from my therapist, and he says I’m fighting a newly discovered discontent known simply as GBA (Grumpy Brewer Affliction). It’s not contagious, but given that I’ve been in the craft brewing business for almost 20 years now, he’s not surprised I caught it. Apparently, I am one of many brewers (young and old) who... View Article
Seventeen years ago, I earned my first brewing gig as an assistant brewer at a startup brewpub in downtown San Diego called Cervecerias La Cruda. Like many apprentice brewers of that era, I was a great consumer, but I was greener than the Jolly Green Giant when it came to brewing knowledge. I knew what... View Article
