http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100708-141907 Yes its that time of the month again - the sales figures. At his high desk Keith sits with quill poised as he crunches the figures for yet another month of the brewery.
And what a month it’s been. As the sealing wax slowly drips onto the parchment to be impressed by the company seal it is clear that things are looking pretty good for the brewery.
In fact June has been our best month ever. Sales on the island have been buoyant and off the island we have shifted more beer than ever before.
Lets hope is a sign that double dips are not going to happen and we are continuing on the path to recovery.
I don't suppose the world cup made a big difference to our sales. Just people feeling a bit better about things and splashing out on quality beer.
]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100705-104925 That's generally the way things operate here. It seems that this island honesty travels with the beer.
An Edinburgh couple were unloading their car in the capital's swanky Great King Street, a mixture of posh flats and student flats occupied by children called Annabel and Henry in the main, and out came their half drunk case of Colonsay 80/- Ale. That is to say there were six full bottles in the box.
It was overlooked and left on the pavement overnight --- from 9pm until 10 the following morning it sat there unattended and untouched. We like to think a little bit of island honesty travelled with it. In reality the Henry's and Annabel’s were so piddle on Pimm's they didn’t even see it.
]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100630-104746 http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100614-103906
The first is the bottle size. We reckon we are now the only brewery producing beer in pint bottles, Mr Google has been unable to tell us different. There is a reason the entire brewing industry has changed and that is cost and conformity. Costs we are aware of conformity by the very nature of the business is not something we strive after. However as fewer brewers, i.e. 1 - us, use pint bottles demand goes down, manufacturing is less so supply is limited and cost goes up. We think we are going to have to go to 500 mls like everyone else. Bob, who is good at this sort of thing, has searched high and low and come up with a rather smart bottle that we can all see potential for. So if we change the bottle we have to change the label, not least because we will be 500 mls not 568.
So do we rebrand the product with a makeover or do we just include the latest legislative requirements on our old label and bash on. All this and its only Monday.
]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100606-190231 http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100605-185800 In fact so fascinating was the bird no one was paying much attention to the chat - apart from a general feeling of apprehension over propsects for the coming months. Lets face it selling beer that is not cheap in a recession is always going to be difficult. We are activcly considering new plans, see below, but in the medium term there are real challenges.
]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100530-185518 The lady we liase with is coming across soon to see various folk round the island and us - wait till she sees our shopping list!]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100523-184825 Chris has long been in the brewery black books for his inability to drink a pint of any beer without swilling it round in the glass and inspecting it first. Now he has a whole black book chapter to himself for starting every sentence with the words "Angus says" or "at Skye they don't do that they do this....."
But we must say the whole "consultant" experience has been a good one giving us a bit of a shake up and exposing us to a way of thinking that is hard to see working, as we had been doing, in isolation. We are slowly coming to realise that perhaps it is not such a daft place to have a brewery after all. ]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100521-173339 Angus MacRuary asked us up for the second installment of "not that way you numpties - this way".
Basically he's offering to show in practice the contents of his recent report. Its been a very good experience and one we are learning a huge ammount from.
There is a chance - just a chance - that a new beer is going to come out of all this. Watch this space - or better still get Google alert to do it for you and save getting bored.]]> http://www.colonsaybrewery.co.uk/blog/index.php?entry=entry100518-205521 We're not on the board directly, and anyway were too busy to go to the meeting today. However we have eyes and ears everywhere on this island. Apparently (A word used much on Colonsay to signify that which is about to follow is at best speculative and at worse downright invention) someone notice they were a brewery short of a meeting and asked that omission be dealt with for further gatherings. "After all", said our champion, "the brewery is the jewel is the island's crown".
To be fair we had never thought of ourselves in that way - but now you come to mention it .............
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