Black Hollow Brewing - DSM, IA

Discussion in 'Midwest' started by BottleCaps80, Oct 17, 2014.

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  1. BottleCaps80

    BottleCaps80 Initiate (0) Jan 12, 2013 Iowa

    Thought we could have a thread specific to talking about this brewery and what they are doing, since any discussion I've seen has been in the Iowa Beer Distro News thread.

    Anyway, did anybody get the chance to make it to the Cheese Shop last night to sample their beers? Would be interested in hearing what you thought. I'd love nothing more than to have a great sour/wild brewery located in Des Moines, ala Side Project, Jester King, Crooked Stave, etc., which it sounds like is the ultimate goal of this brewery.

    With Kevin Hall at the helm (former brewer at Court Ave Brewing), I think these guys will make very, very good beer and I hope they are able to achieve their goals through their Indiegogo campaign, which seems to be doing fairly well so far. I contributed and I hope others do as well. Cheers to Iowa beer!

    http://thekevinhall.wix.com/blackhollowbrewing
     
    #1 BottleCaps80, Oct 17, 2014
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  2. BottleCaps80

    BottleCaps80 Initiate (0) Jan 12, 2013 Iowa

    I guess if anything, they have a pretty cool logo.:slight_smile:

    [​IMG]
     
    #2 BottleCaps80, Oct 17, 2014
  3. SaulTBauls

    SaulTBauls Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2013 Iowa

    Their labels looked really cool too
     
    #3 SaulTBauls, Oct 17, 2014
  4. Ri0

    Ri0 Initiate (0) Jul 1, 2012 Wisconsin

    @BottleCaps80 so you want an expensive sour brewery in IA? :wink: I think you meant to compare this brewery to the fine things that O'so is doing right now at a reasonable price. :slight_smile:
     
    #4 Ri0, Oct 18, 2014
  5. Spinrathen

    Spinrathen Initiate (0) Dec 18, 2013 Iowa

    A de garde price point would be fine by me.
     
    #5 Spinrathen, Oct 18, 2014
  6. SaulTBauls

    SaulTBauls Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2013 Iowa

    Trading for high value beers does not make one expensive. Jester Kings beers are very reasonable and if Black Hollow can make anything in the realm of Crooked Stave, I'd be more than happy to pay that premium.
     
    #6 SaulTBauls, Oct 18, 2014
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  7. Roudy1

    Roudy1 Initiate (0) Sep 29, 2012 Iowa

    Let's not put the cart before the horse here yet guys. Crooked Stave? Jester King? De Garde? These dudes haven't even brewed a batch of beer in the brewery yet. Don't set your expectations at Crooked Stave. Let's start by hoping they make beer that is good first! Best wishes to the Black Hollow guys!
     
    #7 Roudy1, Oct 18, 2014
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  8. BottleCaps80

    BottleCaps80 Initiate (0) Jan 12, 2013 Iowa

    No. I just want a brewery in Des Moines that brews sours and primarily sours. Pipe dream would be that they brew world class sours. Kevin knows how to brew beer and brew it well. I'm just hoping he can brew sours well too and will hopefully be able to find out for myself before long.
     
    #8 BottleCaps80, Oct 19, 2014
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  9. Spinrathen

    Spinrathen Initiate (0) Dec 18, 2013 Iowa

    I mentioned De Garde as a price point I would prefer to that of crooked stave. Beer wise they aren't there yet, but what I sampled was quite tasty.
     
    #9 Spinrathen, Oct 19, 2014
  10. Roudy1

    Roudy1 Initiate (0) Sep 29, 2012 Iowa

    Nice. I wasn't knocking them by any means. I'm excited too. I mean, we all know they can't pump out sour whales like CIB, but hopefully they're good.

    What did they have at the tasting?
     
    #10 Roudy1, Oct 19, 2014
  11. Spinrathen

    Spinrathen Initiate (0) Dec 18, 2013 Iowa

    They had a sour refermented on cherries, one on peaches, a sour stout and a tomato basil sour. The cherry, sour stout and basil sour were all very good. The peach was lacking a bit of punch, but wasn't bad.

    Cheri tart changed my life bro, the whale of all whales.
     
    #11 Spinrathen, Oct 19, 2014
  12. oldsyd

    oldsyd Zealot (514) Oct 27, 2006 Iowa
    Trader

    Where is BH located? DSM? Crowd funding campaign wrapped Saturday.
     
    #12 oldsyd, Nov 24, 2014
  13. 4DAloveofSTOUT

    4DAloveofSTOUT Grand Pooh-Bah (4,064) Nov 28, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    When is this place going to be open to the public????? :slight_smile:
     
    #13 4DAloveofSTOUT, Nov 24, 2014
  14. MickeyTheHead

    MickeyTheHead Initiate (0) Jun 1, 2014 Iowa

    Anyone heard any recent updates on Black Hollow?
     
    #14 MickeyTheHead, Dec 11, 2014
  15. jjohnston884

    jjohnston884 Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2007 Iowa

    Considering the crowd funding campaign didn't go very well, I wouldn't really expect updates for awhile
     
    #15 jjohnston884, Dec 11, 2014
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  16. Spinrathen

    Spinrathen Initiate (0) Dec 18, 2013 Iowa

    Maybe they shouldn't have been trying to crowd fund a cellar reserve membership at over $2.5 an ounce. Talk about delusional.
     
    #16 Spinrathen, Dec 11, 2014
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  17. jjohnston884

    jjohnston884 Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2007 Iowa

    Is this a sign that Iowa has hit the saturation point? Too many startups scaring away investments?
     
    #17 jjohnston884, Dec 12, 2014
  18. Spinrathen

    Spinrathen Initiate (0) Dec 18, 2013 Iowa

    If say in this particular case the investment wasn't a very good opportunity
     
    #18 Spinrathen, Dec 12, 2014
  19. dragonaut

    dragonaut Initiate (0) May 29, 2005 Iowa

    I agree, I like these guys and what they're trying to do but I looked at what they were offering relative to the large sums they wanted people to chip in and couldn't justify it. Hope they get a small business loan or otherwise get their brewery started so I can give them money in exchange for beer. They could do a CSA/CSB model like Begyle in Chicago. I'd love to support that.
     
    #19 dragonaut, Dec 12, 2014
  20. BottleCaps80

    BottleCaps80 Initiate (0) Jan 12, 2013 Iowa

    I think they would have had a much more successful crowd funding campaign had they done more to promote their product. From what I recall, they had a single tasting at The Cheese Shop in Des Moines, as a "kickstart" to their campaign. I heard that went over pretty well, and afterward was when they got the good majority of their funds. All they seemed to do was use social media (Twitter and Facebook) to send out daily messages to "help them build their dream" and "buy our swag" and that didn't really seem to be too effective.

    They certainly have a vision, and I assume the talent, to be successful as a brewery. But in order to get people on board to support a Wild/Funky/Sour brewery in Central Iowa, you have to let them try and taste the product they are investing in. Those types of beers aren't easy styles for your average beer drinker (even craft beer drinker) to get into, so I can see apprehension in supporting a sour brewery by average joes, which leaves you with a target market of basically major beer geeks who have had and enjoy sour/wild beers. Without the average joe knowing what they are buying, you'll get little support. If they had held weekly tasting (even if they were pay to drink events), they would have gotten more $$ I presume.

    I too, hope they are successful, as I would love to have a brewery like that locally and would fully support them by buying and drinking their beers (as long as they aren't reminiscent of CIB).
     
    #20 BottleCaps80, Dec 12, 2014
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