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Coachella Valley Brewing Company's Secret Ingredient: Local Produce [Public Record, The (Riverside, CA)](Public Record, The (Riverside, CA) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Rancho Mirage Attorney David V. Humprhey. and his wife Jamie, a professional event planner, were sitting in their backyard one day wondering why there were no craft brew labels here in the Coachella Valley. It seemed like an odd omission in an area with a dominant tourist economy that hosts so many adult beverage-friendly events. So they started looking at the number of big events and the number of tourists that visit each year, and put a business plan together. Everything penciled out perfectly except for one thing - they didn't know how to make beer. So they put the plan on the shelf. A few years passed and through a friend of a friend the Humphreys met Chris Anderson, a member of the Coachella Valley Homebrew Club, a local association of home beer brewing enthusiasts who get together to exchange recipes and techniques. It turned out that Anderson had once been head brewer for two large craft breweries in Alaska: Midnight Sun and Moose's Tooth. Humphrey said he and Anderson hit it off immediately, "I liked Chris' ideas and his concept for the business. He has a phenomenal knowledge for beer and the process behind making beer. He's had a lot of commercial brewing experience. He's also a professionally trained chef who graduated with a degree in culinary sanitization, which is ideal for a brewery because everything needs to be super clean. You have to be able to control the bacteria because you're working with another bacteria - yeast. He's won tons and tons of blue ribbons and gold medals. And he's got a great reputation in the craft brewing community." The team started the build out of the Coachella Valley Brewing Company (CVBC) in a 7,000 square foot Thousand Palms industrial warehouse earlier this year. Now close to completion, they hope to have a grand opening sometime in May. The craft brewing industry grew 15 percent in 2012, according to the industry's trade association. Craft brewers sold an estimated 13,235,917 barrels of beer in 2012, up from 11,467,337 in 2011. Craft brewers currently provide an estimated 108,440 jobs in the U.S., including serving staff in brewpubs. (One barrel is equivalent to 31 gallons). With 310 microbreweries opening in 2012, how will CVBC distinguish itself in the marketplace "Our beers will feature local ingredients. There's almost nothing that you can't find produce wise in the Coachella Valley. So, for example we have a beer called Desert Swarm made with honey from killer bees" He said the flying insects are collected by a local bee "exterminator" who relocates them to a beekeeping farm in Coachella where he harvests the honey. CVBC has also partnered with Cabazon-based Hadley's Fruit Orchards to supply Medjool dates for a beer they'll call Dubbel Date. Another beer will blend spruce chips brought in from Idyllwild. Some brews will be offered seasonally, while others will be offered year around. CVBC has already made agreements with valley restaurants to feature the product on tap and the beer will be bottled for distribution in both local and out-of-market retail outlets. This is good news for the half dozen or so employees the company expects to hire in the first year. Humphrey said the out-of-market distribution should eliminate the seasonal layoffs that are typical in other kinds of valley businesses. According to the company's Facebook blog, "right now we are only accepting resumes for certified beer servers. Once we get up and running we will eventually be looking to hire some experienced outside sales reps, delivery personnel, brewers, cellermen, staff for bottling and canning operations but again that need won't arise until summertime." Humphhey said the barriers to starting a brewery are high. "It's not something that somebody with $300,000 can get into and be successful at." The industry's regulation begins at the oddly named TTB, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau. Once you get a license from this Federal agency, you apply for a license with California's ABC (Alcoholic Beverage Control). But the real hurdles lie with "a whole bunch of different county and state agencies that don't work together that you have to negotiate through," he said. The process is long and expensive. CVBC did have some assistance from the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP) and the Small Business Administration, in getting the word out about the business, but he said it would have been helpful to have one point of contact in dealing with all of the levels of government agencies and their competing interests. Wes Ahlgren, CVEP's COO said, "CVEP works hard to act as a liaison between small businesses and the various organizations and public agencies to broker pro-business solutions that ultimately are a win-win for the small business, the jobs they create and the communities they benefit." With a background in event planning for such notable organizations as the NFL, NBA and MLB, Jamie Humphrey will put her expertise to work on marketing and promotion for the firm. An exact opening date is still in limbo while the company waits for additional government approvals. (c) 2013 Desert Publication, Inc. and Sharon Apfelbaum |