KEGSSSSS!!

Good news, aka our new kegs, arrived last Friday.  After about three weeks of enduring the debilitating stress of living day to day with our kegs, we more than doubled our cooperage, bringing our total number of kegs to 201.  This should be enough kegs to service about 50 accounts.  These are all kegs that we own.  From here on out we won't be purchasing kegs any more, but instead, renting them.  Like I have written before, you need about 4 kegs per account.  If we were to have cider in 200 accounts, we would need about 800 kegs, which at $100/keg, we'd be looking at $80,000 in kegs.  Obviously we don't have 80 grand to sink into kegs, which is why we're going to rent now.  We have 330 of these kegs coming, which will give us well over 500 kegs.  Very exciting...for us at least.

I'd like to reiterate our thanks to everyone who showed up at Brian Boru last Saturday.  It was great talking to everyone, and we appreciate your support and kind words about our cider.  You drank a ton of it too.  We had a great time and if you're the owner/manager/bartender/influential-because-of-the-massive-quantity-you-drink at a bar, and you want us to come do a promo night, give us a call or email and we'll come party like it's the spring of 08'

Side note: we promise not to actually party like it's the spring of '08, and for the matter, the entire duration of our 4 years in college.

Double side note: We have been invited to do a tasting at Bates by the good Dean Tannenbaum.  I hope you have a sense of humor sir, because strong doesn't even begin to describe how strong the irony is that I, along with Ben and Tyler, will be invited back to Bates to PROMOTE drinking.  We obviously won't be funneling Beast Ice, but still...

Triple side note about sense of humor:  About four years ago I was sitting in the Dean's office at Bates College being read an email that I had sent to my dorm.  Two grown adults were reading an email that included such topics as urination in the elevator and defecation in the hallways of our dorm, all in reference to the out of hand drinking that populated Parker Hall, forcing me to admit that my mockery of the situation was in bad taste and poor humor.  Straight faced, line by line, looking me in the eyes.  The jury's still out on that one...

Got Fur?

I am writing this is a state of insanity (not linsanity, just plain old insanity).  Occasionally I have a day that is pure computer work.  Ben has been working in the mill doing mad scientist experiments with the cider, while Tyler is out selling.  I've been staring at my computer screen for the better part of 8 hours trying to tie up odds and ends, as well as finding out how much money we actually need to do everything we want to do.  The odds and ends remain untied, and the answer to the latter question is more than we have.  One day you're on top of the world, planning global expansion, the next day you're ready to cash out the bank account, fly to Costa Rica and disappear.  Unfortunately our bank account account could probably only get me a Greyhound bus to Philly, so for now, I forge on.

I have a few things to note.  We have a couple events coming up that we would love people to show up to.  This weekend we'll be at Amalfi on the Water in Rockland for a Blue's, Brew's, and BBQ event from 1-5, so if you're down for beer, music, cider, and bbq come on by.  Sunday we'll be at Gridiron in the Lewiston, not sure of the time, but we'll let people know via facebook.

Also, the following weekend we will be hosting a meet and greet and Brian Boru in Portland starting at 5:30 on SATURDAY.  Unfortunately you will be meeting and greeting us, but on plus side, they have really good food and drinks.  Again, we'll be posting all this stuff on facebook, so stay tuned.

Last but not least, for those of you who don't live in Maine, let me give you a taste.  The other day I was driving out of Brunswick and I saw a pickup truck in the side of the road.  The back was open, and inside there were at least 30 dead foxes.  Probably closer to 50.  However, when I pulled around, I saw a large decal of a fox on the side of the car, and for whatever reason it all made sense to me.  Keep on keeping on Maine...

Grapefruit and push-ups

First and foremost let me say to all of our friends who are fans of the new york football giants, enjoy it.  That's all I have to say on that matter.

Moving on to matters of cider, we're still waiting on our new kegs, which is holding us back a little.  We're like a sprinter in those relays with the batons (4X100?), we're running just in front of the guy behind us trying to grab the baton (kegs for the metaphorically challenged), waiting to get going full speed.  Hopefully we end up like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzSpPaCIG0g, and not this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12a5O94riKU.  I realize that I went completely rogue on that metaphor, but I think you get the point, and watching 3 minutes of people hurting themselves in track and field is better than a mishandled baton pass.  If you take anything from that paragraph, it should be that as soon as we get our new kegs, we're going to burst out of the gates (a close second is that hurdles absolutely makes for the best track and field blooper, see: second link 0:54.  If we fail as a company, I want to do it just like that guy.  I'm not sure what the cider industry equivalent is, but I would find it and own it).

As I usually do, I'll give you a little insight into our lives.  Our Fall activities were apples and football.  We've moved on to grapefruit and push-ups (we are obviously still into apples, but the days of picking ripe macouns off the trees in the Manter's orchard are behind us).  On any given day we eat as many as ten grapefruit.  If you haven't gotten into grapefruit in a big way, I highly recommend it.  If not, you are outside of your mind.  I could write about grapefruit for hours, but maybe I'll save that for a new start-up.  Grapefruit Aficionado Quarterly?  Stay tuned.

Our other hobby right now is push-ups.  You might be asking yourself, why would Ross Brockman, Ben Manter, and Tyler Mosher, three of the most muscular guys in the game, want to tack on even more mass?  Simple.  Biceps equals success, have you seen this guy?  Oh, he's not successful?  Maybe I'll just grow long hair like this guy.  Really?  Him too?  I guess I'll do this?

THE WORLD DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!!!!!!!

 For those of you keeping score, last weeks correct answers were:
1. Ross
2. Tyler
3. Ben