BrewDog Acquires Stone Berlin

Yep, you got it.

 

I like the jest but you're misrepresenting me. I am not saying that there was a problem with one cause. There might have been a million reasons, but for me it's an issue of their focus. I was taken aback by Greg claiming that "the construction industry in Berlin is broken" and focusing on the opening of the brewery in a statement about the sale of the brewery. Of course their initial setbacks mattered and impacted their financial health. Initial setbacks normally being par for the course for an experienced team. A runner's shoe lace can come untied and he can claim that he lost the race as a result. Yeah, the lace didn't help matters, but if the runner was really out of shape then his success didn't hinge on the laces. Assuming that they had a decently sensible plan to begin with regarding their output - if Stone in Europe could perform at their expected volume, we wouldn't be having this conversation no matter what contractor issues they faced.

I am of the opinion that "Too Big, Too Bold, Too Soon" is a very carefully worded headline that intentionally could be interpreted as either "we misplanned" or "they weren't ready for our greatness." They know what they are doing in this regard.

 

As a person who has participated in generating a number of business plans 'misplanning' happens all the time. You just hope that in aggregate there is sufficient margin in different places to be able to 'overcome'. Was Greg Koch experienced enough in building breweries in Berlin/Germany? The simple answer here is: no.

I agree that Greg knew Stone Berlin would not be an overnight success. Did he financially plan properly in this regard? My guess to this answer is: no.

Cheers!

 

I've been wondering how many of the major obstacles (both logistical and cultural) were discovered after Stone was in too deep to bail out. It's pretty easy to look back and see major issues with this project. I just wonder at what point did they start to realize "Oh shit, this isn't going to work like we thought."
I'd actually love to read a book about the project.

 

There's been a ton of brewery openings across Europe in the last few years and it seems like alot of the breweries have been good at playing catch up with the US craft beer market, pumping out new beers in the new trendy styles. I also think that freshness and being brewed locally are aspects which have become more important in recent years. The big name US craft brands have had their day already, to an extent, and now it's time for more of the local brewers to enjoy some hype and impressive growth. But already you are seeing breweries which have expanded rapidly on the backs of strong initial demand only to see it taper off once they have made significant investments in capacity to meet this demand. Some breweries do manage to achieve impressive growth even after expanding their capacity (for now at least...), whilst building their reputation and brand. But it's becoming a crowded market place and growth at least in Sweden isn't as strong as it used to be just a few years ago. So alot of the problems which are facing US craft breweries at home are being felt also in Europe, from what I'm seeing.

 

the movie/documentary referenced in stones "press release" was filmed by a german and follows the project through many such "oh shit" moments, apparently

 

Buncha copy cats...

 

What strikes me as odd about that claim is that, had anyone ASKED, I'm sure they could have gotten some good insights into how the construction business works in Berlin. Hell, every single Berliner knows about the debacle around the BER airport...and that took 15 years of planning with construction starting in 2006. And the thing STILL isn't open. Ya think there might be some issues?

 

Couldn't say. I've no access to the numbers, as @JackHorzempa pointed out.

But I'd also say that in the absence of further information it remains quite possible that without unbudgeted major expenses and/or unbudgeted major time delays their Berlin volume might have been sufficient to stay in the black, even if not showing a profit.

 

This would be one point at which arrogance/hubris comes into play. "We've done it before, how difficult can it be?"

In cross-cultural situations, as you've pointed out more than once, there are hidden assumptions just waiting to bite the unwary.

 

Always ready with the "gospel":

Your beer is inexpensive!

Your construction industry is broken!

Good thing Berlin finally got the news....

 

"Wir haben alle einen Fehler."

oder

"Wir alle haben eine schwäche."

 

Same here. Junior year of college at a Halloween party in 1984.

 

This part of his blog post made left me relatively unsympathetic to their plight. Greg did admit Stone's shortcomings and their own failures in honest fashion, but he should have just left it at that rather than trying to shift some of the blame onto the Berlin construction industry, and the general German beer market.

I was staying in Schoenberg last July. There was a craft biergarten, BRLO, about ten minutes out, max, and it was great. Right in the city. Getting out to Stone was a hassle and just not worth it. As you said, there's some good German beer to be had all over the place.

 

I don't think Greg's open letter was arrogant at all. Actually, I think he was very modest and took the blame for the failure (as well as the construction companies -but he was honest). Greg, to me, has always been an outspoken and truthful guy and he had a dream and it didn't work out. I give him and Stone props for going for it! I think it was an amazing idea to bring Stone to Europe. Just because it didn't work out shouldn't be taken as a negative on Greg or Stone Brewing. And I doubt this has anything to do with 'selling out' for dollars. Just my take.

 

I clearly don't know the numbers or the reality they were facing (and what Stone knows about building a brewery brand makes anything in my head look like a speck of dust), but I feel like I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that better production numbers would have ultimately kept them going because the opposite makes them look worse.

Remember when Anchor was going to build a second facility at Pier 48 that was going to quadruple their capacity? When they got further into the project, they got a better sense of just how much of a hill they were going to have to climb to make that area structurally ready. They stalled for a long time. Then they eventually bailed. Could you imagine if they moved forward regardless?

Anyway, Stone Berlin opened years ago but Greg is blaming contractors and saying that he's "taking the bullet." People who feel like they were part of the problem don't "take the bullet."

 

As long time construction engineer (30 yrs), I can also say that remodeling anything is extremely expensive and takes much-much longer than anyone expects. New construction is hard enough, but remodeling an existing building is 100x more complicated. I worked a major build at Wiesbaden and it was years behind schedule and far over the initial cost ($90M vs the initial $35M).

 

yeah, as I mentioned earlier, a buddy of mine got his doctorate in historic preservation in Germany. the stuff he alone told me gave me a pretty clear idea ofhow involved and hard -- and MAJORLY expensive -- it'd be to take on such a project in an already notoriously bureaucratic country like Germany.

 

Do the numbers between 2015 - 2017 include production from the Stone Berlin brewery?

 

Perhaps @StoneBrewing will answer your question.

Cheers!