Colorado Boy Immersion
The evolution of an idea
We had this friend when we lived in Palisade, Colorado, where I opened the Palisade Brewery. Anyway, she was a psychic and kept wanting to do a reading for Sandy and I. We relented eventually and what I remember most is she told me in my future I would become a teacher and a mentor. That made me think of the Big Brother program, which while great, I never saw myself in that role.
Fast forward a mere 6 years, and I would be doing exactly that. I should say that teaching actually started when I made the video Frankenbrew back in 1995 and started helping fellow brewers with their projects. This is something that Bill Carver of Carver’s Brewing in Durango, Colorado did for me. I’m sure it’s what all of you do with your fellow brewers as well. It’s just the way we swing.
Well, after having Colorado Boy in Ridgway open for a year as a brewery only selling beer and giving away popcorn, we were just breaking even. This was by then 2009, and the economy wasn’t that great.
So I decided to make my help for brewers more formal and create a school. This way I would not only do a better job helping fellow brewers, but the school would also provide extra income for our little brewery.
We set the school up differently than other courses. Students would come and spend a few days doing everything that they would normally do in a brewery, but we would add more.
Help design their project
Source their equipment
Teach how to run the business in a profitable way
Teach inventory control
Teach our business operating system
Give beer recipes
Give food recipes if they were doing pizza (we started selling food in 2010)
Continue to work with them on their brewery until they were open and beyond
When we talk to potential students we let them know it is a mentorship program and we ask that after they open their brewery, they will help future students as well. We have our own student forum where all our past students help each other with questions on all aspects of brewery operations. It has turned into a very cool fraternity, and so far there are about 130 breweries around the world that are part of it.
What I like about the forum is the information provided by students is fresh, as they have recently gone through licensing, POS systems, labor issues, and promotional ideas. Typically, my input into the forum is just one of a dozen answers to a student’s questions. I learn as much as they do.
We haven’t raised the tuition cost in the last 13 years and I find that how we show students our system for glycol chilling saves them twice the cost of our school. Now we teach the course at either Colorado Boy in Ridgway or Montrose and also Big Choice Brewing close to Denver. The choice in where a student takes the class all depends on the students needs, so we can match up the location that will fit closer to the type of brewery the student is planning.
If this sounds like a shameless promotion it’s because it is. If you would like specific information about the course and your project, please reach out to me.