tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post8292443940192861994..comments2024-03-09T04:57:25.956+00:00Comments on HardKnott Dave's blog about stuff: Mad MarchAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-28908050438226609012016-03-14T10:25:49.189+00:002016-03-14T10:25:49.189+00:00Chris,
Very happy to get beer to Durham. It is ac...Chris,<br /><br />Very happy to get beer to Durham. It is actually closer to us than Newcastle. Give me a shout - dave at hardknott dot com.<br /><br />Mordue seems to be fairly difficult to sell over here, making cask swaps difficult. We have had van swaps before, which can work, where Morgue sell their beer direct, we sell ours direct and we each deliver for each other swapping loads at the cafe at the top of the A66. However recently Mordue haven't been able to get the volume over here.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-3872797263632014632016-03-14T09:53:20.407+00:002016-03-14T09:53:20.407+00:00Dave - if you can get some HK beer to Durham there...Dave - if you can get some HK beer to Durham there's cash waiting! (Being a cash only pub means it's much easier for us to pay CoD rather than having to bank it and remember to pay the invoice a week or two later... Can understand that this isn't the case when a business grows, though.) Regular swaps with Mordue??<br /><br />I'm also unsure about the best before date situation. We've had beer from the same batch that was much better a week or three after its best before, and equally some stuff that was crap with weeks to go (could this be a case of the best before being applied to the delivery date rather than the brew date??)ChrisMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09088526990457894540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-74378769540957814902016-03-13T09:37:55.286+00:002016-03-13T09:37:55.286+00:00Kieran,
"How about buying a couple of pubs?&...Kieran,<br /><br />"How about buying a couple of pubs?" - great idea. Give us a clue where I'd raise the cash...<br /><br />Steve,<br /><br />The reason we are not in Yorkshire so much is because we determined that to make money we had to stop distributing directly to such distant places. It seems it is no more profitable to use middle men as the discounts needed tend to negate the advantages, and on top of the we then become just another brewery on their list. The idea that giving a discount and passing the sales over would reduce our work in some areas and reduce the risks too. Volume would grow, we'd get more exposure and so we'd grow the business. Margins would be lower but impact on overheads would be reduced.<br /><br />In reality the risk has increased and the volume has dropped. I have always argued that we are brewers, not a logistics company. Seems I need to learn that we HAVE to be a logistics company too. So, the wholesalers do not agree that Hardknott.... was one of those elite brewers that would be pretty hard to not drink if it was on. We'd best take on the wholesalers then, rather than work with them.<br /><br />Geez, this should have been a blog post in it's own right!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-60397332421758283042016-03-13T09:28:43.902+00:002016-03-13T09:28:43.902+00:00Stonch, I do try not to be bitchy, except where I ...Stonch, I do try not to be bitchy, except where I detect deliberate attempts to aggressively and selectively damage my business. Copy my USP, after having previously told me my USP was bollocks. But I'l mention no names and rarely do.<br /><br />There are a lot of great micro-brewers out there, and some who I do not think are quite so great. Universally, I think there is a camaraderie that kicks in when there is a particular common problem. There are some routes to market, both middle men and on-sale outlets alike, that really just need to be taken out of that game. They ultimately scavenge financial value out of the market in various forms of underhand payment delaying tactics or commercially unviable schemes.<br /><br />Some brewers seem to want to support it. I've decided not to. Brewers are already unpaid tax collectors (as are all businesses, we just have the added headache of beer duty) Margins on beer are low, and I do not give a shit what anyone want's to say about that, they are, frankly, too low. To add to that the risks of delayed or even failed payment is something that we cannot afford to shoulder.<br /><br />Of course it could quite rightly be identified that it is just business and survival of the fittest is the order of the day. I am personally monitoring my options in this regard. They say a good entrepreneur is one that can recognise a game they stand a chance of winning. The jury is out in that regard for me.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-49479524338178635872016-03-12T15:40:07.600+00:002016-03-12T15:40:07.600+00:00Round here the dry January effect seemed to be str...Round here the dry January effect seemed to be strongly outweighed by a ' the students are away but we didn't really notice that in December cos the locals were on a bender ' effect. And the 'we are all a bit skint after Xmas ' effect. By time students were back pubs were heaving with only a quiet week or so. The appeal of trying something new will always work in favour of new kids on block but hardknott I'd have assumed was one of those elite brewers that would be pretty hard to not drink if it was on. Kind of assumed reason we didn't see more hk in Yorkshire was down to you selling too much locally. Steve thhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09333603007794500499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-17651335990624975772016-03-12T13:56:28.216+00:002016-03-12T13:56:28.216+00:00actually "dry january" seemed to go abit...actually "dry january" seemed to go abit better round these parts, compared to last year where pubs seemed to be empty all month and really struggling, there was notably busier trade,beer turnover and people out drinking in pubs, so my impression was maybe people are getting a bit tired of all those charity things, but everywhere is different.<br /><br />I did drink a Figgy Pudding in January, but it was a bottle so I dont know if that counts, but it was the first Hardknott beer Id had for 3 years...though that was a bottle too (anyone remember the Sainsbury Great British beer hunt) you have to go right back to January 2012, so four years !!! to find the last Hardknott pint in a pub in this part of the country I had. kind of sums up the problem I think.<br />Stonohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02656315721111561414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-63785204315041328772016-03-11T19:40:37.806+00:002016-03-11T19:40:37.806+00:00Great read.
How about buying a couple of pubs? If...Great read. <br />How about buying a couple of pubs? If you own the pubs they have to buy your beer ;0Kieran Lyonshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10309306469722070363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-65462553819831861132016-03-11T18:16:05.603+00:002016-03-11T18:16:05.603+00:00With apologies to Phil. This comment below came in...With apologies to Phil. This comment below came in via email to my phone. I tried to publish it but hit the "delete" option by mistake. Blogger doesn't seem to have an undo function.<br /><br />"Bloody 'dry January' - one less sin FFS. Hates it, we do.<br /><br />"That apart, I think you and a number of other breweries with similar kind of age profile are in a really difficult position, fashion-wise - what you need to do, to consolidate the image of HK & build it further, is "more of the same only better", but that's not a story! "Wild and crazy" is a story, "guerrilla marketing" is a story, but they both carry the risk of falling flat on your face - and distracting from the real business. It's a tough one, & I wish you well with it; I'll certainly have HK on the list the next time I'm in Morrison's or M&S."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-60865708872322505752016-03-11T14:13:06.936+00:002016-03-11T14:13:06.936+00:00can't remember when I last had one but I do li...can't remember when I last had one but I do like it and often drink it if I see it. Unless there is a cheaper more boring one, then I have that. But otherwise, I'd neck one if I saw it about.Cooking Lagerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02830924433230427226noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-15344730045496908742016-03-11T10:06:19.823+00:002016-03-11T10:06:19.823+00:00A very interesting and candid post. I can see the ...<br />A very interesting and candid post. I can see the combination of January, consumer abstinence and the serious flooding have combined to cause you problems. I hope it picks up for you. I found in my own business that things don't really cheer up til April.<br /><br />One thing I must comment on:<br /><br />"us brewers talk, it's best to pay our invoices really"<br /><br />Yes the problem is brewers do talk, and when they talk to customers - pub operators - it's usually to slag each other off. Nobody seems willing to acknowledge just how unbelievably bitchy microbrewers are. Also there are so many breweries that a pub operator who wants to be a very slow payer of brewers can just move on to using others.Stonchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07001578598975666535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-73859637296768409162016-03-11T08:30:35.007+00:002016-03-11T08:30:35.007+00:00I have clear recollection of drinking one of your ...I have clear recollection of drinking one of your beers this year and tweeting about it, it was so good. Like Mordue, would choose your beer with confidence. Hang in there.<br /><br /><br /><br />This is the year I spend proper time in Cumbria. Think it'll be a great summer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-53709071306972207372016-03-11T07:46:44.550+00:002016-03-11T07:46:44.550+00:00Thanks Tandy, any help at all is greatly appreciat...Thanks Tandy, any help at all is greatly appreciated. Even just encouragement is nice.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11319272987951077205noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-65016348081923813042016-03-11T07:44:01.317+00:002016-03-11T07:44:01.317+00:00Excellent and insightful piece Dave. I always buy ...Excellent and insightful piece Dave. I always buy your beer when I see it and had never until now thought of you as "forgotten". <br /><br />I'll do my bit. Later this morning I'll ping a couple of ails off to a couple of my favourite free houses.<br /><br />Chin up. The problem with fashionability is it is fickle. Quality always is preferable but we can't take it for granted. You need to buy quality for if to continue to be available. Tandlemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06804499573827044693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-43206773441434135452016-03-11T01:31:30.411+00:002016-03-11T01:31:30.411+00:00A slight aside — I still can't work out what&#...A slight aside — I still can't work out what's up with BB dates on casks. I get 4 weeks, 6, 8, 12... six months... on fined casks. No pattern to it. (I get up to 9, even 12 on unfined stuff.)<br /><br />Is it the finings? If so then why still so much variance?<br /><br />On some other stuff I have more to say, but won't do so at the moment. Sleep must be attempted.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05793695136930190566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2446074078505386356.post-9001492697692180942016-03-10T23:06:55.688+00:002016-03-10T23:06:55.688+00:00If the beer's going to move slowly fine it on ...If the beer's going to move slowly fine it on dispatch not when racked, and do the best before from fining date. Edhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13844169940650659196noreply@blogger.com