Out there

Your opportunities to enjoy Universale increase by the day! It’s now available at locales as close as the Fremont Dock, kitty-corner to FBC (don’t knock the food – I can personally recommend the refreshingly un-mayonnaisey Cesar salad) and as far-flung as The Roanoke on Mercer Island. In between are the Pacific Inn Pub, The Dray, The Park Pub, Naked City, The Local Vine and soon Duck Island Ale House, the Latona Pub and where ever else Matt can charm his way into during his rounds tomorrow. See the Find Our Beer section of the site for links and more current updates.

The Phinney Neighborhood Association Summer Beer Tasting on Saturday was a lot of fun! The PNA and its “beer committee” (as fundraising gigs go, I’d say that’s got to be one of the funner ones!) put on a stellar event – great diversity of breweries, festive yet not yahoo scene, and tasty, alcohol-mitigating snacks. Too bad we didn’t win any awards. Thanks for the invite, Chardell!

It's weird to shift into the actual selling of beer. Every new account is a celebration and it was thrilling to deposit a thousand bucks today. Is this what writers experience when they finally see their novel on the bookstore shelf (that's me!)? For me personally, it's about our private life -- Matt's ambition, my hope, his talent, my fears – resolving itself in the public realm, that's the weird part. It's been like a season of Domestic Boot Camp, with early episodes including lines from me like: What do you mean you want to quit law? Um, who's going to pay for this? If I wanted to go into small business, I wouldn't have wasted my time being poor in academia and public service. I'm more into wine. I'd rather do something Meaningful.

Well, I've found meaning in this journey and Matt has followed his passion and this is our little IPO. This must be what it feels like to be in a bar where people know your name.

Cheers!

News Flash!

Universale Pale went on tap TONIGHT at Park Pub on Phinney Ridge! That's us, third from left.

Matt also delivered to The Dray on 65th in Ballard (on tap tomorrow, Thursday) and Duck Island Alehouse on Aurora at 73rd (on tap the week after next).

Assuming Matt can take a break from brewing tomorrow for deliveries, Universale will also be served at Naked City Brewery and Taphouse (Greenwood at 85th) tomorrow night.

Bottoms up!

30 kegs of beer in the walk-in, 30 kegs of beer...

They’re racking (that means filling) the kegs right now with the first edition of UNIVERSALE PALE! It’s a crisp, hoppy but not too hoppy, maple syrup & honey-colored elixir with girl-pleasing hints of malt. “Don’t say that!” Aaron yelled, as if pleasing girls weren’t a good thing to do in this heavily-populated craft beer market dominated by male consumers. “Say ‘well-balanced’,” encouraged Kemp. Matt Lincoln, our new brewer, noted the “light citrus nose.” I could try channeling Robert Parker and say something like, “classic Northwest blend of spice with a feminine malt roundness on the back-end (he’d probably say ‘finish’).” But beer is difficult to describe – you just know what you like. And I think you will.

Ta da! Monday, right on schedule. Photos forthcoming.

In Business!

Howdy Folks!

I’m sorry I’ve been so lame about posting recently. I’ve been pretty busy managing Richard's re-election campaign, tending to Matt’s excruciating sciatica, performing quality-control on the batches in the tanks, and swimming, biking, and triking with the kids. But because it appears that people actually read this blog, I hereby commit to posting EVERY MONDAY, if not more frequently. I’m also loading content on the rest of the site so you’ll have something new to read during lunch. So here’s what’s going on:

Test Batch Two, a beta run of our flagship Universale Pale, was delicious and was served at the Fremont 5K and Briefcase Relay and the Washington Brewers Festival at St. Edwards Park to appreciative crowds. It’s gone now. I’ve never been around commercial beer production and I’m amazed how fast a 30-barrel tank will disappear – you people are lushes!

We brewed what Matt is proud to call the first batch of true Universale Pale a week ago and it’s ripening in the fermentation tanks right now. If all goes well with those little yeasties in the next couple days, we’ll be kegging it this week and getting it out to our very patient accounts soon thereafter. And growlers will be for sale in the retail space – price and sales hours to be announced.

This may come crushing disappointment to you – it is to me, that’s for sure – but we have come to the decision that the tasting room will not open any time soon. With so many bars and restaurants eager to sell our beer, we need to focus on our wholesale business. We have a gorgeous space with splendid views in a totally happening neighborhood full of beer lovers but we don’t have the bandwidth right now to do everything it will take to make the tasting room structurally sound and comfortably appointed. So we’re putting off that part of the business until production, sales, and revenue are regularized. It’s a shame to miss out on this summer’s drinking season but the good news is that if we play our cards right, we could have everything, including the roof-top deck, ready for next summer.

This does not mean that we’re putting off the PARTY – on the shop floor, amidst the tanks. Details forthcoming. You can dress for the occasion in one of our swanky T-SHIRTS -- including cute women's cut -- available now.

By the way, on June 17, King 5 did a piece focusing on our symbiotic relationship with our sub-letter, Blue Marble Energy, who uses our spent grain to make their product. Check out our TV kiss here.

If you’re a member of the 36th Legislative District Democrats (FREMONT, Queen Anne, Ballard, and beyond), I urge you to attend their endorsement meeting on July 9th and show your support for the greenest guy on City Council, Richard Conlin (of course).