mcfleshmans

[mcfleshmans]

Shane, Layla, signage

Shane and Layla moved from Oklahoma to Appleton yesterday.  Help us welcome them when you’re in the neighborhood.  Yes, I made sure they had fish fry last night as an appropriate introduction to their new home.

And here’s the sign they brought.  This left everyone speechless.  

L-R: Carpenters Nick & Mike, Bobby, Shane.

It’ll hang directly over the east entrance.  Lit for easy visibility from The Ave.

Back story - Shane was part owner of Butner Brothers sign company in Oklahoma, and has sold his part to be our brewer and partner here.  Please tell anyone, anywhere, about this company.  

We are forever in debt to Shane, his brother Casey, and everyone at their company for working with us on this. 

The design itself represents the work of a lot of people.  Jackie Johnson (Appleton) did the lion’s share and Brent Johnson (Oklahoma) adapted it for signage.

Tech specs - 

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First four beers

Behind-the-scenes look at our sell sheet coming together:

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Mild  Angel

Which one should I get?

·     Dark Mild/English

·     Dark bread malt flavors

·     Session ale/Quaffable

Tell me a bit more about this one?

This dark,  low ABV ale is flavorfully malt focused and refreshing.  It has a slight fruit aroma under the  toasty malt tones.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and another thing?

Historically  any unaged beer was called a Mild, however the Dark Mild as a style emerged  during the early 20th century.  Milds are low strength ales that tend to be a bit less hoppy than  Bitters.  These beers are generally  served on cask.

Angel statue pub something name stuff…

Special stuff about ours, process, ingredients,  etc.…

 Public House Pint

Which one should I get?

·     Dry Stout/Irish

·     Roasty/Coffee

·     Medium-light body, creamy  mouthfeel

Tell me a bit more about this one?

This is your  traditional pint for pint’s sake!  Smooth and drinkable with very malt forward, pronounced roasted flavor  and aroma, similar to coffee or unsweet chocolate.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and another thing?

This style  began as the fuller, creamier, and heavier Porter, even originally called the  Stout Porter.  This style emerged  around 1810 and diverged into its own category in the late 1800’s as a  greater emphasis was put on darker malts as Black Patent Malt became more  easily available.  

If you order  a pint with no more specification, this is what will be placed in front of  you, after a few minutes wait for the proper pour of course.

Special stuff about ours, process, ingredients,  etc.…

   Tall Mast

Which one should I get?

·     English IPA

·     More hop, less fruity than  a Pale Ale

·     Earthy hop flavors

·     Bready malts

Tell me a bit more about this one?

Pale British  ale with dry finish and hoppy aroma and flavor.  Caramel and toasty notes in both aroma and  flavor with strong earthy, spicy hop notes.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and another thing?

English IPAs  have less intense hop flavor and aroma and more pronounced malt flavor than  the typical American version.  The IPA  or India Pale Ale style was invented to ship to India, which did not have the  water profile or the raw ingredients to produce beers favored by the British.  Hops serve as a natural preservative so the  combination of a very well attenuated ale with additional hops helped ensure  these beers arrived ready to be enjoyed.

This beer  draws its name from the ships that carried it from Great Britain to India.

Special stuff about ours, process, ingredients,  etc.…

 Pirate’s  Cove

Which one should I get?

·     Munich Helles/German

·     Malty, grainy-sweet

·     Gold

·     Creamy white head

·     Lager

Tell me a bit more about this one?

Malt forward  lager that’s not overly sweet and balanced by low amounts of hops that should  not be noticeable alone.  Clean fermentation  with clear appearance, sustained head, and a malty-sweet aroma.

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and another thing?

This pale  bottom fermented lager was created by Spaten in 1894 to compete with the  popularity of Pilsners. Most German lagers were much darker prior to this  time but the popularity of clear glass steins led to the search for more  visually appealing, lighter colored lagers.  Comparatively, Helles tends to be lower in hop bitterness than the  average Pilsner.  Essential for the  summer beer garden experience.  It’s  the most popular beer style in southern Germany today.  The Pirate’s Cove bar stood between our  building and the bike shop next door.  Sadly it burned down in the 80’s but we love tradition and couldn’t  pass up the chance to pay homage to a fellow watering hole.

Special stuff about ours, process, ingredients,  etc.…

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More than “just” great beer

If you’re opening any sort of business, be sure to have someone on your team with a background in financing, banking, and accounting.  Someone with an eye on such “minor” details have helped fuel the craft beer movement.  

For us, that person is Cindi Jackman.  She’s the most qualified and intelligent person one could ever partner with in these roles.  She’s also my sister.  

Cindi couldn’t be more different than me in all the right ways.  But where it counts (see mission statement), we are absolutely in sync on the future of this company and our community.

This would not be happening without her.  Period.  We could not be more thankful for her tireless efforts to this point and in the future.  

Owning a professional brewery is so much more than making great beer.  We’d be glorified home brewers without Cindi!

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Thank you!

Last month’s move to create a “liquid czar” appears to have received enormous backlash.  Thank you so much for contacting your representatives!  And thank you to the WI Brewers Guild for getting the word out.

Today at 4pm, it gets even better.  LRB316 will be introduced by representatives Tauchen, Zimmerman, Kooyenga, Macco, Kitchens and Senator Harsdorf which would remove archaic restrictions on brewers.

Full details released later today, but here are the bullets: 

-Brewpub capacity doubled from 10,000 BBLS to 20,000 BBLS -Brewpub locations doubled from 6 to 12 -Brewers allowed to sell intoxicating liquor on-premises (wine and spirits)

The third one is especially important to us.  There is no need to divide the liquor, beer, and wine categories.  We should be able to support other local crafts whether it be beer or otherwise.

Get the word out, folks!  Here’s some language you can use.

“We support this opportunity to modernize antiquated statutes” “We’re excited to see a piece of legislation that advances the free market” “We appreciate the opportunity to work with our legislators to create additional bills that will loosen the restrictions placed on our small business”

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Is there anything more satisfying than demolition?  Al and Isreal making quick work of the 2nd floor.

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Industry Update

Craft beer looks to be settling into a steady 6% growth.  With so much competition (2 brewers open each day!), looks like local loyalty is where it’s at.

Bigger breweries (including large craft breweries) are having to get extremely creative.  But local breweries have local stories, and absolutely no beer is fresher.

Two points to keep an eye on: 1-The hop world is at an interesting place.  Brewers have contracted a lot of ‘em (in case you haven’t noticed the 30-some-odd IPA styles these days!).  The issue is that growers are pushing their resources to fulfill these contracts.  

2-Quality is paramount, and big brewers can ‘out-quality’ the small ones.  Their ‘craft’ beers are excellent.  And their access to ingredients and shelf space is huge.  So none of us can afford complacency:  life is too short to drink bad beer!  Or make it for that matter.

There has never in history been a better time to be a brewer or fan of beer.  Keep your breweries honest, and let’s never stop sharing ideas ... over pints.  Cheers y’all.

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/ɡəˈmo͞otlikˌkīt/

Gemütlichkeit is roughly translated from German to English as cordiality and friendliness.  Or as coziness and well-being.  For us, it also conveys the idea of social acceptance. 

To grasp its full meaning, you’d do well to imagine a friendly neighborhood pub or a beer garden with all their regular patrons.  A place where ­­folks meet to chat about the day’s events and tell familiar stories over a pint or two.  Think of sharing your favorite foods with friends and family, or seeing a great local band in your hometown at a familiar venue.  

This word has been on our minds lately as we near our ground-breaking on the construction phase.  We can’t wait to make tangible the images conjured by its meaning.  Prosit!

(Photo by Peter Fröhlich.)

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Our name

Last night a friend admitted over a pint that they just “got” our name.  She thought we were “Irish-ing it up” by adding Mc to an already Americanized spelling of a German family name.  So let me take a moment to explain.

The truth is, my wife is a McCoy, her mother a McClennan, her sister is now a McGrath, and so on.  The cycle was broken when she married a German descendant.   

If we’re being authentic, prior to our ancestors arriving on Ellis Island, McCoy was spelled Mccauh, and Fleshman was Fleischmann.  

I think that also speaks to any American influence our brewery is sure to embody.  And we will never fully replace the pub in Tadcaster, nor Koln’s picturesque beer gardens.  Wouldn’t want to!

Our story is our own, but it is inspired by these and so many other historic brewing regions.  We think there is a lot to learn from the way good beer and good intentions bring communities together.

So, Prosit!, Sláinte!, ... , or Cheers!  

Regardless, good health, good life!

(This guy is great!  Watch The Irish Pub documentary if you haven't.)

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The Perfect Pint

What makes for the perfect pint is infinitely complex and subjective (including your choice of company at the time!), but it’s rarely excusable to drink from the bottle or can.  The importance of the glass cannot be overstated.

“The right tool for the job” applies; or in this case, the right glass for the beer and occasion at hand.  

Sometimes it’s tradition, like quaffing Oktoberfest from a stein.  Sometimes it’s to enhance the beer, as with barleywine sipped from a tulip glass, which traps and maintains the foam as you swirl the beer around to the benefit of aroma.  And sometimes it’s just because the glasses stack nicely.  Consider the ubiquitous light lager served in the straight-side pint glass.  

The glass your beer is served in affects your whole experience with that beer.  

Take the nonic pint glass for example.  The slight bulge near the top of these traditional glasses decreases breakage when stacking them; it also improves your grip when you’re holding the glass.  Being they’re so practical, the nonic pint became the preferred glassware in English pubs.  It is now the glass of choice for traditional English beer styles such as English Bitters and Porters everywhere. 

Functionality aside, the sight of an English Mild in a nonic pint with a perfect foamy topper is classic.  Gazing upon one is known to have the side effect of inducing thirst!

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Habitat for Humanity

The McFleshman’s crew has been chatting recently about our favorite charities, and we keep coming back to Habitat for Humanity.  Apart from really resonating with us, it also has a deep connection with the craft beer movement.

Habitat is a nonprofit housing organization where people partner  to build or improve a place they can call home. The best part is that Habitat homeowners help build their own homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage.  Our local Fox Cities chapter puts it best:  “when families have decent housing they can afford, many of life's other challenges become more manageable.” 

Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter have been Habitat’s most prolific supporters for decades.  They initiated the Carter Work Project which is an annual home building blitz organized by Habitat for Humanity that has helped more than 3,800 families move into safe, affordable shelter in 14 countries. What an amazing career they have had, and not done yet!

But what about the beer connection?  In 1978, Jimmy Carter signed the bill (HR 1337), which legalized home brewing "for personal or family use". The importance of that moment to the craft beer movement cannot be overstated.  According to the Brewers Association, some 90% of the pioneer craft brewers started out making home brew.  Just check out the number of breweries opening since then:

Click here to learn more about Habitat for Humanity.  Look to us to be a conduit to this great cause.

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Shane

Anyone can mix up water, malt, hops, and yeast, but it takes quite a bit more to create a truly delicious beer.  One that reminds us why beer has been with us as long as civilization itself.  Brewers have been making beer to fortify and bolster us for quite some time.  A craft brewer’s job is to know how ingredients and process impact the product, and how to tease the best out of each batch. Shane has been doing just that for over 8 years.

Shane started out by stumbling upon the local homebrew shop, taking a beginner brewers class, etc, etc (sound familiar??).  He has spent countless hours learning the history, science, and process of making beer.  The best way to learn is through teaching, and he has taught many a home brewer the black art of all-grain brewing over the years.  He even managed to inspire a love of beer and brewing in Layla along the way (despite all the gear and detritus taking over their home! again, sound familiar?).

Ever the chef, his love of cuisine gives him a knack for combining flavors and textures in unique ways, whether food, beer, or otherwise.  This guy knows pairings!

Shane is currently training at a traditional German brewery, and will be our head brewer.  He will also be our pilot plant manager, which may as well read “guy who gets to make 30 gallons of whatever he and the customer want -- just because!”  He has a deep respect for traditional styles, but he also embodies the spirit of the ever-changing American craft-brewing scene.

He and Layla will be heading up from Oklahoma next year.  (I clearly haven’t belabored the reality of WI winters.)

I’ll leave you with the Brewers Association pairing guide.  Shane’s playbook, you might say.

http://www.craftbeer.com/attachments/0000/0533/beerandfood.pdf

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Calumet Brewing Co.

You guys might like to know that the building was originally a cheese company (what, in WI?).  It then became the Calumet Brewery in 1934 just after Prohibition, and was later operated by several beer distributors (including Blatz).  

We were pretty excited to know the place already had beer in its lineage.  Shoot us a message if you have any stories about the building. 

The Calumet Brewery moved to Chilton in 1936, and closed its doors in 1944.  Those were tough times.  The large lager breweries were playing a game of Monopoly, consolidating left and right.

In 1990, Bob Rowland opened a brewery of the same name and in the same town--when there were only 150 craft breweries in the US!  They host a great beer fest every year in Chilton worth checking out if you haven't.

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Who are we?

We read our mission statement every day.  Try to anyway.  It spells out the values of everyone involved.

So who is “everyone”?  It’s high time we start introducing you to all of the people making this happen.

Meet Layla Cowper.  Not to place higher importance on any one role, but servers and bartenders are the last people to touch the beer consumed in the tasting room (before you that is; well, usually).  They make us look our best by ensuring the beer is served with impeccable care and expertise.

I could not be happier than to have Layla command that role.  “Smiles are free!” she tells me all the time.  And her knowledge and passion run deep (she’s training to be a Cicerone; think Sommelier of beer).  

She reads people well, too:   She understands if you’d rather have a contemplative pint or two.  If you want to know every gory detail about the beer you’re having, trust me, she’s got that covered.

She will be holding me to her standards.  She works for you, and I answer to her.

Did I mention that she is moving all the way from Oklahoma for this gig?!

More on that fella to her right later.

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Found a brewhouse!

Most craft breweries are set up to make beer like the English do.  But some of the most historical methods originate in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic.  

Throughout Germany, one can find magnificent ales and lagers brewed in various regions, some for over 1000 years.  And to the east in Prague, lies the birthplace of pilsner beer.

During our current craft beer renaissance led by the IPA, we think it’s a good time to revisit methods and equipment of old.  So we bought a retired Czech system.  She’s gonna take some attention, but we think the capabilities and size make her perfect for the beers we love.

The brewhouse won't arrive for a while, but as a sneak peak of sorts, here’s a similar one from the same manufacturer.  Here’s to hoping it turns out half as shiny as this one.  (As for keeping it shiny, my apologies in advance to our brewers!)

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Us!

Some of us anyhow.  This picture taken after we put our first beer into barrels, and those barrels into a climate controlled box behind/under us.  (Somehow reminds me of George Carlin’s comments on the butter warmer.)  Bottom: Ben, Carl (both from Appleton Beer Factory), Bobby; Top: Daniel, Al, Deanna.

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Low and slow

Some beers take time.  A lot of time.  (The same could be said of a brewery I know!)

While our buildout continues behind the scenes, our neighbors at the Appleton Beer Factory have lent their equipment and expertise to brew one such beer for us.  

So there it is.  A goal: open our doors before this beer demands its release.  Can’t wait to introduce you to these barrels’ contents!

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Our mission statement

A word cloud of our mission statement:

And of the business plan: