UNLEASH THE BREW-RY!!

Tom never really understood the 'soft sell'.

Momentous days, friends, momentous days! Brewmaster Eric finds himself (albeit extremely briefly) unemployed, and during his much deserved two days off he plans on exploring his brewing career options...until 9am Monday morning when he has to go back to reality, that is.

Why the sudden drive to monetize the EVBC? Can it be that the sudsy zeitgeist of the East Village brewthusiast scene has moved him to chase down ultimate happiness at the helm of a brew pot? The short answer of course is yes, but as those of you who know Brewmaster Eric, with him there are no short answers.

Last night the lovely and talented Shwa Losben (pictured here doing god knows what to his guitar) invited me to meet and greet with the Brooklyn based micro-finance wunderkind over at Kickstarter.com. The idea behind Kickstarter is simple - you have a cool idea, but you don't have money. Out there, there's a whole internet worth of people who have money, but they don't necessarily have a cool idea....Kickstarter helps connect the dots! I was able to blend in with the varied and sundry artists and businessy types that dwelled within the hallowed halls of Kickstarter's hip LES office space (replete with ping pong table and back patio area that would clearly provide ample cigarette break space but with little privacy, thus forcing one to choose between nicotine and acceptance), and after a while I got nice and comfortable with the idea of talking up the East Village Brewing Company as my little pet project.

How would I monetize this precious start-up? Well, that part was tricky, so we mostly talked about other people. I met some teachers, some farmers, some staffers, some idea men, a few guys putting on a film festival and hell I even met a guy who's making local salsa available in your grocer's aisle come this summer. Everyone was great, and I left the party amped up to get my shit in order and move the EVBC to the next level. Hard part now is just figuring out what that is...I figure I can shoot for some kind of over-wrought Waynestock type story line that involves me breathing in some bad hops and speaking to the ghost of Dylan Thomas whilst attempting to win the love of an actress whose career has inexplicably survived well beyond its natural course (you think we can get Tiffany Amber Thiessen?). Sure the plot line is mostly slapped together samples of other movies and jokes that have been recycled from a one-trick-pony SNL skit long since past its prime, but goddammit if you're only 12 you don't KNOW that yet! The point is, I plan on sitting down this weekend wearing my see through green visor with some adding machines and a sketch pad, and hopefully it'll all come up roses.

To that end, Brewmaster Marshall and I have put in the next order for our next super-alcoholic offering: E-Vil Empire Imperial Stout. At a whopping 9-10% alcohol by volume, you won't know whether to hug us or puke. We only ask you don't do both at the same time. The 1st Street Wheat's coming along nicely, and whispers by the water cooler hint that there's talks of doubling our production rate in the near future. Time to take this show on the road! Time to get the EVBC out there! Time to unleash the brewery!