[quote="sprague11"][/quote]
Just touching on Halo again for a second. if there's anything they're doing that can be considered flawed, it's being creative. there aren't any standard, plain Jane beer they're doing that would cater to typical Toronto beer drinkers OR that would possibly highlight their brewing abilities. and i'm quite fine with that. They've gone the "Sculpin" route of playing with fruit additions. that's currently their thing. complicates beer and recipes. in the end, i can see Toronto 100% falling in love with that schtick.
Halo's space is very nice. clean, small, nice, simple.
Halo and Bandit (and others) did the same thing: branding and logos were made well before the beer was launched. which is fine. Halo didn't launch glassware prior to opening, and that always makes me raise an eyebrow. like, why bother? let the beer speak for itself. i do like the Bandit glassware, except their logo's a ripoff of something. can't put my finger on what it's stolen from, but, in my mind, it's 100% a rip off of artwork already out there. i apologize if i'm wrong.
there's nothing wrong with not being a beer guy and getting into the industry, as long as it's for the right reasons. we have enough beer folk getting into the industry for the wrong reasons. yes, passion's a dumb reason to sink hundreds of thousands of dollars into a brewery. a business plan PLUS passion is the smart way to go.
I've seen pictures of the Bandit taproom and it's a total headscratcher.
fermentors open up into the bar. makes little sense to me when a brewery's that small. if you have to clean a tank on a saturday or sunday, how do you do it when a bar's operating right there??
FVs are also pressurized vessels. having those so close to employees? i've heard of tanks collapsing due to improper caustic cycles being run. makes zero bloody sense.
Duggan's Syndrome's different. it's similar to Paul Dickey Syndrome. guy did something once upon a time, and is now a hired gun for any deep pocket with money. doesn't really do much now, but hey, people who aren't in the know will hire them for a recipe.