Keeping Together

I know she is out in New Mexico now but thought I would share this bit of sad news for Keeping Togethers situation,since she was a part of the Chicago beer scene for a bit. Hopefully it will all turn out well for Averie and her dream of opening the new brewery. Fundraiser by Burial Beer Co : Help Averie save Keeping Together (gofundme.com)

 

I find it odd they don’t name the supplier that’s going under…
I also find it odd that they paid 90% without receiving anything first. Let that be a lesson kids.

 

I imagine that's probably not too far off from how manufacturing works, but I'm sure for those more deeply ingrained within manufacturing there may be heftier safeguards or more toothy contracts that perhaps she didn't know to secure. Then again, bankruptcy kind of throws everything in the air and tends to screw the people who are still solvent. I'd love to hear more from others who actually work in both fields, manufacturing and bankruptcy law, or whatever sort of law applies here that is.

 

I've been party to some large, expensive, built to order machinery and it's never been less than 50% of the cost up front. And none of it has been anywhere the manufacturing expense and complexity of a custom brewhouse. That's a shit load of custom welded stainless and I'd wager that the new brewery going under before taking delivery is a lot more common than the manufacturer going down.

 

50% is common. 90% is a rookie mistake. Maybe they got a "discount" for paying 90% up front. Two things that would give me pause- (1) This happening during a supposed craft boom in 2018 https://vinepair.com/booze-news/brewing-equipment-manufacturer-goes-bust/ and (2) How much surplus equipment (much of it low mileage) has become available in the past 4 years? Sure having the latest and greatest bells and whistles is great, but in this market why not get surplus equipment for much cheaper? Your loans at these rates would be a lot less and you can get the bells and whistles in a few years if the business takes off.

 

I'd imagine, based on the type of beer she makes, that they felt they needed a custom brewhouse. Definitely not the most fiscally responsible choice, but I'm also not sure that it's uncommon terms. The only time I've been involved in a purchase that involved custom welded stainless steel we had to pay 20k out of the 30k total price. That barely covered the initial materials and outside fabrication of the parts and the entire cost of the vendor's employee time and expenses was deferred until delivery.

What are the margins on custom brewhouse equipment? I don't know. I also don't know who the supplier was or what their history and reputation were. If it was an established supplier with a good reputation then it's very understandable. If it was a newer company that didn't have a strong history of delivering then it was definitely a foolishly large risk.

 

Half Acre Lincoln isn't a custom brewhouse, it's Ska Brewing's old junker from the early 2000's. So...

I can't claim to know every aspect of this, of course, but one common thing I would advise:
Cough up the money for a proper attorney to read your paperwork (what's up Metro!).
It amazes me the amount of people who think spending up to $10,000 on attorney's fees is a waste.
$10,000 is a smaller amount that $500,000 correct? I admit my calculator app can be rather wild sometimes.

 

Metro definitely should have had an attorney involved for the RE deal if they didn’t already.

However in the case of Keeping Together vs Losing Everything a contract for equipment doesn’t mean anything if they already have your money and go bankrupt… if they have no money to honor the contract there is no money to give back…

 

This also raises a lot of questions about the intended business model here. $500k is 2-3x what I would have expected a brewery like that could reasonably support - it’s a hell of a lot of saison, even at $25/bottle

 

Very good point but I would *hope* a discussion focusing on such a disaster potentially occuring would happen before signatures. Again, who's to say.

90% up-front seems heinous to me.

 

I've always countered the "xyz - is the lifeblood of craft beer" comment with "women with REAL jobs, is the lifeblood of crat beer".
*That is to say men have suckered them into sponsoring making their "passion" their work. Someone has to be financially responsible.

Where these people get their money and the amount blows my mind on a regular basis.

 

was she brewing at lincoln or balmoral?

 

Lincoln. Shared space with the Wyld Cove line.

 

RIP

 

Fundraiser at Four Moon Tavern in Roscoe Village for Keeping Together:

https://www.instagram.com/p/C_BQvHgxr9p/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

Does anyone know what and where she has brewed this year that would have her as one of three finalists for vinepairs brewer of the year?
https://vinepair.com/2024-next-wave-awards-finalists/

 

To be there with GOAL and Brujos is wild. I don't care for either, but i know people go crazy for them. Never even heard of this brewer/y till now.


she got award cuz of Wokeness probably.

 

Is that in response to @HouseofWortship or the nomination?