Exciting Trip to Denver
We have submitted our letter of intent and are in negotiation on the economics of the lease with the landlord, price per square foot, tenant improvement, the whole nine. We have also secured an attorney to pursue a letter of determination from the head of Arlington County Zoning. This letter would confirm our business points on the lease and provide the precedent for approval to occupy the premise. Although nothing in life is guaranteed, this would provide a much needed stepping stone on the road map to opening the first packaging brewery in Arlington Virginia. More importantly…I just got back from my trip to Denver, which aside from visiting family and having a blast, was an excellent business trip for the brewery. I had the blessing of traveling out to the three largest Colorado microbreweries during the workweek and meeting with management and observing operations first hand. I was blessed to meet with the owner of Breckenridge Brewery, the head of quality control/assurance for Avery Brewing company, the head brewer at Great Divide brewing company, and the packaging operations manager for Twisted Pines brewing company.
Far and away, the best business meeting to take place was with the owner of Breckenridge brewery. He was able to provide insight into our plan, give us some pitfalls to avoid, and provide feedback on our market since he’s a former Fairfax resident long ago. Not only did we receive the chef’s tour, we were able to talk about the growth of Breckenridge and the impact Colorado has had on the microbrewery scene. It was a truly insightful meeting and we sincerely thank everyone at Breckenridge for their time and the great beer!
Avery Brewing Company was also an exceptional meeting. Talking with the head of quality control and quality assurance (QC/QA) was a great way to vet our packaging concept of operations. The lab manager provided us with suggestions on how we can avoid common problems in packaging and gave us a standard operations procedure that Avery uses.
Many people ask me, “Mike, how do you think you’ll be able to create upscale craft beer in Arlington? Will people be willing to pay a premium?”
I took the liberty of photographing the cellar menu from a nice downtown restaurant in Denver…. Yup those prices are accurate! Craft beer is already accepted as an upscale thing in Denver in the upscale areas. If you walk into a liquor/beer store in Denver, you will find too many craft beers to choose from. Craft beer drinkers regularly purchase 22oz bombers at a price point of 8-15$ per bottle and are happy to do so. So the next question is, “Why not in Arlington?” I firmly believe this unrecognized market in NOVA is the next frontier for microbrewed beer in Arlington VA. Metropole is committed to making that happen and looks forward to satisfying this market gap.
As usual, thanks for all the support! Cheers!
-Mike Katrivanos