Earthen Ales benefits from a brewing industry supply chain that has already been well-developed, and a production process that has been the subject of scientific study for hundreds of years. Aside from water, our primary ingredients are malt, hops, and yeast, which can generally be delivered to the brewery within a week of ordering. All of our beer will be brewed on site, and most of our beers will be on tap two weeks after they are brewed, though the occasional lager or strong beer will take four weeks to reach maturity.

Suppliers

Most of our malt will be sourced from Country Malt Group's (CMG) South Holland, IL distribution center, though we also plan to source some Michigan-grown malt from the new Great Lakes Malting Co. in Traverse City. CMG malt will typically be ordered in pallet-full quantities, which will be sufficient for two to three weeks' production initially. Over time, we will move to ordering two pallets roughly every two weeks.

Hops require slightly more advance planning than malt, as many popular varieties are available in significant quantities only by contracting in advance with suppliers. These suppliers include distributors like Country Malt Group and Yakima Valley Hops, as well as local growers. We will contract for the majority of our projected hops needs through a larger supplier to ensure availability. Fortunately, in the short term, there is a good variety available on the spot market and from other breweries that have over-contracted for their needs. (For instance, we have already had an offer for excess hops from our friends at Eternity Brewing in Howell.)

Yeast is available in both dried and liquid formats, and we will use both depending on the needs of each specific beer. Dried yeast from Fermentis will be sourced from BSG CraftBrewing. Liquid yeast will be sourced from White Labs, Wyeast, or Brewing Science Institute, as some of our favorite strains are only available from one of these suppliers.

Brewing Process

Most of our beers will take two weeks to go from raw ingredients to finished beer. Aside from careful cleaning of tanks, pumps, and lines to ensure that beer is free from off-flavors, the most labor-intensive step in the brewing process is the brew day, where most of a beer's flavor characteristics are determined. Over the course of the six to eight hour brew day, malt is mashed, sweet wort (pre-beer) trasnferred to the boil kettle and boiled with hops, hopped wort is cooled and transferred to a fermentor, and finally yeast is added to ferment the wort into beer.

Over the course of the next seven days in the fermentor, the yeast will transform the hopped wort into young (or "green") beer, and in the case of our IPAs, additional hops may be added in the fermentor. After several days each of warm and cold maturation, the beer is transferred to a serving tank to be carbonated and served to our customers. If the beer is one that we are selling to retail establishments, we will also fill some kegs from the serving tank to be sold to retail accounts (self-distributed) or, as we grow, to a distributor. When we have another beer ready to move into that serving tank, we will fill kegs from the tank to make room for the next batch coming through the pipeline, and we will serve the rest of that first batch from those kegs.

One of the advantages that our taproom will always have is that we have complete control of our product, from grain to glass, so we can ensure that it is treated well and arrives at the tap in optimal condition.

Earthen Ales beer is innovative and balanced. The beers are inspired by quality ingredients, flavors from the food world, and classic beer styles. With over 130 batches brewed together to date, our recipes have been vetted through competition and sharing with fellow brewers, both amateur and professional. A planned beer list, including seasonals, is available above, under the 'Business Plan' heading.

Most of our beer will be sold as draft on-premise initially in pint ($4.50 for 16 oz.), half-pint ($2.50), and sampler ($1.50 for 4 oz.) sizes. Draft beer will also be available for takeaway in 64 oz. growlers and 32 oz. "growlettes." Finally, we will also package special release beers in 22 oz. bottles for sale in the taproom. Pricing will depend on the particular beer's production costs, but will generally be $10-15. Slower taproom sales in late winter will create time in the production schedule to produce these special beers for release during the busier summer months.

For regular visitors to the taproom, we will also offer Mug Club Memberships that include a $1 discount on pints and discounts on growler fills.

During the winter months, we will sell half-barrel and sixth-barrel kegs of our winter seasonal (Darkbrier Wheat) to area bars and restaurants, for $100 and $65, respectively. We will also sell a limited number of kegs of our summer-only Sweetbrier Wheat to local bars to help familiarize seasonal drinkers with our product.

Earthen Ales anticipates opening in spring/summer of 2016 as an 8.5-barrel brewhouse with seating for 80 to 100 patrons. Beer sales will increase rapidly between the first and second year of operation - projected at over 75%. In opening the taproom, we are looking to start operations with a brewhouse that is fiscally sustainable for the brewery in the long-term.  The 8.5-barrel brewhouse allows for Andrew and Jamie Kidwell-Brix to serve both as taproom staff and brewers for Earthen Ales, streamlining staff costs in the initial opening months and fostering a stronger connection between the makers of the craft (the brewers) and the customers (the drinkers of beer). 

Locating in the Traverse City area means co-locating with several other breweries and wineries in the area. This is an asset to Earthen Ales and to the state of craft brewing in Michigan. A confluence of makers, producers, and growers is building in the Traverse City area. Earthen Ales sees the addition of hop growers, maltsters, and breweries in the region as an opportunity and would like to grow and support the allied businesses and industries in the region.

If opportunities to expand arise, Earthen Ales will deepen its roots locally rather than simply increasing production volumes. This may include deeper connections to Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties and the budding hop and malt industries in the region. Expansion options will emphasize producing new beers, developing ingredients such as specialty malts, and connecting customers to the brewing process beyond the pint. One such possibility is an inn located in an agrarian setting that connects customers with local beer ingredients and brews experimental beers on-site. Additional opportunities may include co-location with a local maltster and/or hop grower in the region to integrate multiple levels of the beer-making process on the same site.