At the request of one of the other stallholders - a beef farmer from Renfrewshire - the Colonsay Brewery will be at the Milngavie Farmers Christmas Market on Wednesday December 5 - makes sense to lump that in with the Glasgow market on the 8th - two markets for one ferry fare, that must be very fair ho ho. Then only trouble is its fancy dress bah humbug.
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Just back from the Glasgow farmer's market. It was mild and cloudy with the ever present threat of rain. However it worked for us. This market is developing well with a large number of people becoming regulars- one guy even came back with his empty Colonsay Brewery Box for a refill - good on you mate.
It is a good market - you could go there and buy a week's worth of messages and not have to darken the doors of any multiple - plus you get the quality you are looking for or else in the finest traditon of these events you can go back next market and play merry hell. We have not had one of those yet.
Our sales executive risked the wrath of the MD and had a special offer on cases of beer which went down well - there will be trouble when the figures hit the corporate balance sheet.
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5) Mainland sales are a priority and we hope to make real progress on this pretty quickly.
Money in the bank - well we are still unsure as to the profitability of the enterprise as the boss is still working on the accounts. Suffice to say, as I suppose with all new businesses, if the brewery had not been able to rely on the unpaid goodwill of its workforce, us, I'm not sure that it would have lasted much past May.
However as we move forward a return on our labours is anticipated - it will be interesting to see the figures.
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In the gathering darkness of a driech afternoon the directors of the Isle of Colonsay Brewing Company Ltd gathered round the boardroom table to make decisions.
The table was in fact a kitchen one, but apart from that it’s all fact.
The meeting marked roughly 6 months since the first brew and was designed to give a time for reflection and indeed to chart a new course through the troubled seas of the winter and early spring.
The mood of the meeting was good despite the fact the weather conditions had caused the coconut bars to go a little soggy.
In no particular order it was agreed:
1) The first six months had gone generally well, a great deal had been learnt the main lesson being just how much we all still have to learn.
2) The brewery capacity is to be increased by 50 per cent to allow for continual lager production. Because we ferment it for so long lager tends to cause a production bottleneck (no pun intended) to extra fermenting capacity will allow us to supply more than just the island next summer.
3) The brewery shop had worked well and there was room for tweaking the range of goods.
4) Rock sales were slightly disappointing but we had only decided to stock rock on a suck it and see basis (pun intended sorry).
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Alastair, see below, did tell one fantastic story - well 30 fantastic stories but this one really stood out.
It concerned his mentor in his first days many years ago as a brewery rep going round the on trade selling beer. Days would be spent going from bar to bar having a chat and a pint, taking and order and away.
He was shocked on the first day when his sales teacher left the final call and said now lets go for a drink.
"What have we been doing all day."
"that's one thing," said the man, "but now its time for a private drink."
Drinking in work time does not count, at least it didn't in those days.
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