Lower Decks<\/a>. And it’s sort of a story between the two groups of people, the main characters, and the the cadets that are sort of their mirror image when they’re younger. <\/p>\n\n\n\nRiker is working with someone at the conn, and she’s firing at a probe that they shoot out into space. She aims at it, she locks it in, she fires, she misses. She takes another shot, and she gets it. And Riker says, \u201cBest to just set some parameters and let it float.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd that’s what I’ve been thinking about. I mean, I should actually pull that down off of Amazon and make sure I get that quote right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the idea is: we knew we want to make German style beer. We knew we wanted to remain independent. We knew we wanted to grow organically rather than playing games with money. And then within those parameters, we kind of just \u2026 saw what happened. Flywheel and Dynamo were first two beers and then Krankshaft hit the market in 2010. It immediately took the top seller spot, so okay — that\u2019s our flagship then. You know, we thought Flywheel would be. But Krankshaft wound up being our flagship, so cool. I mean it still fits all within our parameters, but we just kind of waited to see. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I’m more traditional in terms of small business where you don’t hit the market just doing what everybody else is doing. You look for a void to fill and then it’s your job to explain to people why what you’re doing is so great. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you haven’t had a Metropolitan Jet Stream, or any beers at their Rockwell taproom, what’s wrong with you? <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGDB: I am also curious about the decision to always and forever be a lager brewery — was that decision was based out of the love for that style of beer? Or was it the thought process of, in 2008 or 2009, knowing that \u201cthat’s what Americans are drinking, they’re drinking these lager beers and that’s what we need to sell in order to survive.\u201d<\/strong>TH: <\/strong>Right. You look at craft beer and [lager] was what was missing. And of course, doing our research, we found out that there are very <\/em>good reasons why it wasn’t a thing. It’s harder to make, it takes longer, it’s more expensive, you know, all those details. But to us, those are all things that we could turn into strength. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd the fact that Doug is such a skilled brewer — even then was such a skilled brewer. To us, it felt like, \u201cwhat the hell, we’re taking a risk — let\u2019s risk it and really go for it and really do something cool and do something that we can talk about.\u201d And then on the flip side of that, you’re also partly right — not so much in that that’s how American beer drinkers drink, but that’s how the world drinks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Globally, nine out of ten beers consumed is a pilsner. And that’s not just the macros throwing off the numbers. Across China and Northern Europe, Scandinavia — I just recently learned that Dortmunder Export is a very popular beer in Sweden. I had no idea. So it seemed like a risk in terms of American craft beer. But in terms of how humanity drinks, making a pilsner is actually a pretty solid choice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We knew we would have to wait it out or it may not happen — we may just have to explain to people, you know, forever and ever. But it turns out that we were kind of right. That eventually everyone comes around to something that’s super crushable, that\u2019s food friendly, family friendly and more and more people are trying their hands at lagers now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Metropolitan in the Reader, 2009. Provided by TH. <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGDB: Now that it\u2019s been a decade, was there a moment at any time in the last 10 years where you felt like maybe you could just like take a breath and say, \u201cOkay, I think this business is, is going to make it.\u201d<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\nTH<\/strong>: No. [laughs.] Nope! Failure is always an option. No, we are always working really, really hard. There’s always things we want to do. we want to hire more people, we want to enter more markets — <\/p>\n\n\n\nGDB: Well, I mean, there’s, there’s a difference between working hard on a business that is growing and working and workin on a business that\u2019s going to like shutter its doors if you miss a paycheck in the next quarter. Can you think of a time where you got to that <\/em>point, maybe?<\/strong>TH:<\/strong> I mean, we have come and gone from that point. I would say when once you’re profitable, and your cash flow is comfortable — that sounds kind of simple, but that’s when you’re actually like, super comfortable. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBut that’s usually when in small business, you take another risk. So, you know, when we got comfortable, we added beers, and then we got comfortable and then we added people. Then we got comfortable and then we expanded our distribution and stuff like that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I mean, in the simplest terms, when you’re paying your bills comfortably, and you’re profitable, you\u2019re stable. Keep doing what you’re doing, and keep keeping an eye on the market and things like that. But like I said, at this point: we have always been, at that point and ready to make another jump. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If we get to the point where we have like, three dozen employees and everyone is leading a good life? That’s fine. Let’s just keep doing that. <\/p>Tracy Hurst<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nGDB: What do the next 10 years for Metropolitan look like? Is it more focusing on Illinois and Wisconsin? Or maybe branching out? Maybe it’s going global? <\/strong>TH<\/strong>: We are definitely going to branch out to some new Midwestern markets this year. We were going to add Jet Stream to our package lineup but the government shutdown might affect our plans to do that. We’re going to build out this space for sure — we have room to make a lot more beer here than we are. And honestly, this place [the Rockwell facility] is where we can reach what you were talking about earlier: our business plan\u2019s theme. So like you don’t close, but your business can just operate at that level. And then you innovate in other ways. Because it’s important for small business to not get stagnant. <\/p>\n\n\n\nYou have to keep your eye on what the market is doing. You have to keep an eye on the community. And for all of us, this brewery is our vehicle, for sure. We all love our jobs, we love what we do. It’s easy to stand behind what we do. But we’re engaged in the local community, we’re engaged in the river cleanup efforts, we\u2019re engaged in the Chicago Brewseum<\/a> buildup. <\/p>\n\n\n\nWe like working with other small businesses like Metropolis Coffee<\/a>, Kyoto Black [Coffee]<\/a>… So we’ll continue to come up with new and fun things to do. But this is home <\/em>for the foreseeable future. We don’t have any plans to ship out of the Midwest. Ever, really. We don’t see the point. The local focus isn’t going to change and we feel more comfortable keeping our beer close to home. Let\u2019s just keep going and sharpen our skills in other ways related to what we do. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAnd honestly, if we get to the point where we have like, three dozen employees and everyone is leading a good life? That’s fine. Let’s just keep doing that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWe’ve edited this interview slightly for clarity and space. Tickets for Ten Years Lager remain on sale<\/a> and you should strongly consider attending and celebrating a major milestone for one of Chicago\u2019s most important breweries. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Ten years is a heck of a run for a brewery. We chatted with Metropolitan Brewing’s Tracy Hurst about their one-decade anniversary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":28808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[956],"yoast_head":"\n
Tracy Hurst & Metropolitan Brewing, Ten Years In - Guys Drinking Beer<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n