it’s been one hell of a December for us at my brewery. 🍼My wife is expecting our third boy in April, this creates a feeling in the back of our mind that amplifies every set back, every slow day of business, everybody unexpected cost. 🚐We had to trade in her paid off vehicle for something with third row. 💨The first week we were hit with a snowstorm and she drove into the ditch. 💸We were hoping to be able to wait to buy studded snow tires, but after that we had to, $1500 on a credit card 💸💸💸The next week my trucks transmission went out, several weeks of one vehicle and $7600 on a credit card. A huge windstorm took out our sons trampoline, blew away our dog kennel and fence, bbq grill, and knocked out our power for 4 days Couldn’t get any kegging or canning done due to no power ⚖️We got a notice that since hiring our first employee in June we forgot to get workers comp insurance and may be fined up to 4000 dollars. My wife feels terrible about this one because she was going through it at one point and we decided we didn’t need that first employee in early summer and then forgot to do it for the later ones. The state decided to raise all alcohol related fees and licenses by 60 percent.!! That special time of year where my wife has to do quarterly taxes, reporting, and end of year reports all at the same time Meanwhile we’re trying to give my sons a good Christmas 🤮And now our whole house is sick with a cold from hell… But I never lost sight of how lucky I am that I took that leap and started this brewery. In my previous life I would be working for a wage stuck in a hotel away from home, or delivering Amazon packages 12 hours a day 6 days a week until Christmas Eve. Making my wife deal with all the unexpected problems of life at home, and no matter what you’re doing they will come. The freedom, and flexibility affords me to be there To tackle the problems as they arise To pick my son up from school so my wife can continue working on her reports To hug my wife when she gets a bad news email, or an unexpected bill drains the account

I no longer drink, but I do sometimes consider the possibility of adding beer brewing to our product mix. Is anyone in the group doing anything along these lines? Is brewing too complex a task to approach it as side product?

Hey @Grant Lee - look what came up in my feed this morning: https://www.idahostatejournal.com/freeaccess/opinion-small-town-paradox/article_2d7f7af4-9dbe-49f7-a744-c1604d7a5526.html