Posted on 07.29.11

Five Entrepreneurial Lessons From Brewing Craft Beer

by Rob Lynch

Celebrating Mightybrew’s Three Beer Anniversary and the Opening of Brew Camp. Let’s Make Beer!

Three years ago, we invited Jared Saunders, founder of Little Green Cube and expert craft brewer, to teach us how to brew our own beer. Rather than send holiday cards, we thought it would be cool to share our homemade brews with clients and friends. And naming the beers and developing labels showcased our creativity. Mightybrew was officially born. We even won some awards on those early efforts.

It also jumpstarted an idea that Jared had kicked around for almost a decade, which was how to change perceptions that brewing your own beer was difficult. Determined to demystify the beer brewing process, Jared, a graphic designer, and Whit, our developer, partnered up and together they created Brew Camp, or as one customer called it, “a general store for beer.” 

Brew Camp is both a retail store and online destination designed to make brewing homemade beer simple. Everything Brew Camp does walks you through the four-step process for making good beer - Boil, Ferment, Bottle, Enjoy!

Onsite, Brew Camp provides Whit and Jared approved equipment - they have used or currently use it - and ingredients to brew beer. The equipment is quality, but economical. The ingredients are available in individual packages (Jared and Whit will measure them for you) or can be purchased in a prepared kit. For just over $100, you can have 50 bottles of your favorite beer in just four weeks.

Online, Brew Camp will provide step-by-step instructions as well as educational videos from both Jared and Whit and customers for brewing beer. Onsite, they offer classes taught by home brewers and local breweries. In fact, Jared hosted the first official Brew Camp class today. For more information regarding classes, email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Jared often says beer’s ingredients, when placed in the right environment, just want to be beer. Sometimes being an entrepreneur works the same way. Here are some lessons learned:

Let Ideas Ferment

Jared started brewing his own craft beer in college because Utah’s liquor laws at the time wouldn’t allow him to import out of state beers. He bought the Brew Camp domain name eight years ago. Jared met Whit in 2008 when he was tapped to teach us the basics of brewing beer, his first foray into teaching home brewing techniques. The outcome was our first holiday batch and the rest is history.

Follow Your Passion

Jared recently said, “It’s ten o’clock at night. Normally I’d be wanting to fall asleep, but right now I wish I had just woken up so I could have another 16 hours of this.”

Go Above and Beyond

• One customer requested a special strain of Wyeast smack packs. Brew Camp special ordered it specifically for that customer and now regularly stocks it.
• Another customer wanted to prepare a pumpkin spiced ale to give his wedding party for his October wedding. Jared and Whit searched for a recipe that they wanted to brew, bagged all the ingredients, and emailed the recipe along with suggested preparation.

KISS (Keep it Super Simple)

• Brew Camp provides on average two equipment options to eliminate the stress of guesswork. For example, it offers one thermometer. The best thermometer.
• Brew Camp measures the ingredients individually or provides already measured beer kits.

Set up camp in familiar grounds

• Brew Camp soft launched at North Center’s Ribfest, offering a 10 percent discount for anyone who walked through the door. Approximately 55,000 people attended this year’s Ribfest.
• It also co-sponsored Andersonville Green Week’s Home Brew Competition with Hamburger Mary’s and Mightybytes.

It has already paid for its first month’s rent and beyond.

Brew Camp is located in the North Center/Ravenswood area among the growing population of Chicagoland breweries and distilleries. Its address is 2039 W. Belle Plaine Ave.

Check out our first brewing experience together: