I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but the story within is my excuse.

I’ll get into the details in a second, but here’s the meat of it: Mad Haven is on hold for the time being. I don’t have a set timeline to pick it back up, but I do plan to open it one day. That day is just not today.

Here’s the story:

I’ve been dragging my feet for a while now. It took me a long time to realize that I was holding the project back, and then a long time to figure out why. Basically, I have entrepreneurial ADD. Or, in different words, I have commitment issues. The thought of going after all the funding Mad Haven needs is exciting; the thought of spending all that money and being locked in to one idea for the foreseeable future is terrifying.

Right now, I’ve got a full time job, I run Denver off the Wagon, do freelance web development, and lead a somewhat-too-active social life. I don’t believe I currently hold the focus I would need to run the brewery, only a brewery, and nothing but a brewery. Shit, I don’t feel confient I could keep a dog healthy right now. Or a plant.

So that’s the gist of it. I’ll come back to this. I’ve put a bookmark in this book. Dog-eared the page. I want to very, very badly open a brewery. I just don’t think I’m ready yet.

“But PJ!” you might exclaim. “Whatever will you do instead?”

Well, dear reader, I’m glad you asked.

I’m going to focus my energy into Denver off the Wagon. The site has incredible momentum right now, and an absolutely amazing crew behind it. If you live in Denver and haven’t hung out with the contributors for the Wagon, do yourself a favor and find them, and then drink with them. They impress me every single day with their words, stories, experiences, and ideas. The site would be nothing without them.

To this point, we really didn’t have any goals or benchmarks for the site, but I’d say it’s doing well against any metric one might throw at it. The site started in February, and it has already won 5280’s Best Blog and the Westword’s Best Booze Blog. Our cadre of booze-laden writers has grown from 12 to over 30. We’ve got events. We’ve got t-shirts.

Shit, we’ve got a lawyer.

And this is 10 months of drinking and writing and drinking.

Next year, I’m going to push the site, the contributors, and the idea a lot further. It’s going to be big, and it’s going to be awesome.

Beyond that, I’m going to keep homebrewing – thought it’s honestly been a while since I’ve brewed – and keep making crazy recipes that taste awesome and make you go “hmmm.”

I’m going to do all that I can to help my friend Nick Nunns and his brewery TRVE be a massive success. I hope that I can learn from him and his venture, and that that will fulfill my need to start a brewery for the time being.

I’m also going to continue working full time, and continue doing freelance, and continue coming up with too many new ideas. And one or two of them will hopefully stick, and I’ll make billions of dollars, and buy you all a beer.

Anyway, that’s it for now. Please please please continue asking me questions, and I’ll provide answers where I’m able. I’ll post back here when I decide I’ve got the laser focus I need, rather than the shotgun focus I have. If you ever want to grab a beer and talk about brewing, raptors (they scare the shit out of me), or any other topics, or you need a website, an editor, or just want to see my beard, feel free to email me at pj [dot] hoberman [at] gmail [dot] com.

Thanks for reading, and cheers.