This week, we had something very transformative happen at Round Guys Brewing Company: our new canning line arrived!
The unload was an adventure. Thankfully, Tretter Manufacturing on Cannon Avenue was able to drop everything and fix our forklift extenders in the nick of time. Installing a new piece of equipment requires all sorts of coordination of contractors and training. It will be so worth it though, because this machine will do up to 35 cans a minute, and it has lots of bells and whistles to help us improve our end product.
We’ve been doing canning since 2013, and this is the third canning line I’ve operated. The increase in speed and efficiency will allow us to supply more cans to more stores and sell to more people. It’s the type of machine one might refer to as a game changer, and I am absolutely terrified. Well, maybe terrified isn’t the exact word, but it will help me get started.
Paul Brown wrote in Forbes that "Entrepreneurs are not risk takers. They are calculated risk takers." This never stops. Maybe some of my fellow brewers are immune to it, but I doubt it. We roll the dice daily, or rather, we take calculated risks every day. This canning line represents the largest loan that Round Guys has ever taken out. Its like going from a single-A baseball team to triple-A in a week. You want to play in a bigger stadium, but you also don’t want to strike out in your first at-bat. You know you are ready, but the butterflies are still active. It’s very exciting!
Every brewery of every size goes through this at least once. For me, its important to keep that in perspective. In this crazy world of social media, perspective often gets lost. We are currently entombed in a culture of comparison and critique.
When we opened in 2012, every beer drinker with twitter and Untappd became a critic, and sometimes a particularly brutal critic. I had to turn off twitter notifications to stop obsessing. I’ve stopped reading Yelp! reviews of my business. There is zero benefit to me. As an added note, there is new evidence that you cannot trust negative reviews. If someone really has constructive criticism, its not difficult to go to our webpage and send an email.
One of my Facebook friends and fellow brewery owner, Brandalynn Armstong, posted this today:
“Be authentic. Own your [stuff]. Comparison culture is a trap.”
I’ve been thinking about that post all day, and trying to understand why I felt I had to write about it in today’s column. I remember feeling bad, seeing pictures of beer nerds lined up for can releases and wondering how we could generate that buzz. I would see breweries that started after we did getting upgrades or new tanks, and I’d let that affect me. I was spending too much time focused on the wrong things. Over the last year, I’ve worked really hard to get comfortable with where we are as a brewery, and where I am as a brewery owner.
Uncrating that canning line today has me very excited for our future, and the future of beer in Lansdale. While I have a brand new shiny piece of equipment to play with, I also have a deep reverence for how far we have come and how much further we have to go. Today, I realized that while we’ve been at this for almost 7 years, I can’t compete against anyone but myself. I’ll never win if I compete against others. We still have two plastic fermenters, and that is ok. We still have the same Frankenbrew Brewhouse that we started with, and that is ok. We started the same year as Free Will and Neshaminy Creek Brewing Company. Free Will makes more beer in a month than we make in a year. Neshaminy Creek makes more beer in a week than we make in a year, and that is okay too.
Cheers!
Scott Rudich is the head brewer and co-owner of Round Guys Brewing in Lansdale, PA. Rudich is heavily involved in the local beer scene, and was awarded the Brewer Award at the 2013 StarChefs’ Philadelphia Rising Stars Gala. If you have any questions or comments, please email them to [email protected].
See also:
Round Guys: A Shift In The 'Why'
‘Ür Brewery’ Coming to Downtown Lansdale in May
An 'Underground' Look At Entertainment In Lansdale
McAllister's Brewery Prepares To Open In A Familiar Location
Well Crafted Sees Huge Turnout for ‘Soft Opening’
