The best laid plans

“I didn’t realize that we had to consistently create different events, and keep our thumb on it all the time to be creative,” said Suellen Vickers, who purchased the business with Lori Clough. “I thought just having a brewery that made good beer and a talented, creative team would be enough.”

Getting people to the brewery and getting people to know about it and become fans is a daily struggle. Even today folks walk in and say they never knew there was a brewery in Delmar. But Clough, Vickers and their team pushed the brewery as a destination, even letting a guy set up a table to sell food and barbecue there, while they evangelized in the restaurants, bars and liquor stores.

It worked so well that they couldn’t grow as they had anticipated. The plan had been to distribute far and wide, but a combination of market factors and the incredible demand for local beer reduced their range, but entrenched their brand as a staple. Another surprise was that making whatever beer you like only will take you so far.

“I didn’t realize that it was going to be so trendy,” Lori said of the craft beer culture. “I never looked at the industry that way.”

Beers become popular for sometimes no reason whatever and then brewers have to choose whether to participate in making the beer or not. Pumpkin beers were like that. This summer, Blood Orange IPAs came into vogue. So, while there was a little something to the “If you build it they will come” model, there also was some distance between the way 3rd Wave wanted to grow and what it would take to get there. Craft brewers fight wars on two fronts: keeping the established beer drinkers engaged and convincing new people to try craft beer.