Now might not seem like the best time to start a business. But if ever there was a company and a product for troubled economic times, it might be Monday Night Brewing and its two ales.
The Atlanta-based craft beer company launched this week, offering Eye Patch Ale and Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale in about two dozen taverns around the metro area.
The three principals in the venture -- Jonathan Baker, Jeff Heck and Joel Iverson -- didn't plan their rollout with economic calamity in mind. Their sideline project has been five years in the making. They're not turning back now, though. Baker even quit his day job as a marketing consultant a month ago to put a full-time hand on the business.
Getting their product into retail establishments after so much time building the brand and refining the beers was an experience.
"It's been a roller coaster ride," said Baker. "It's kind of like you're waiting in line to get on the ride for five years. Then you get on and it's scarier than you thought. But at the same time, it's a lot of fun."
Monday Night Brewing is taking a go-slow approach, although expansion is planned. The ales, which are contract-brewed at a South Carolina brewery with excess capacity, aren't available in bottles at package stores. That's anticipated, although the owners don't have a firm timetable.
Industry analysts said there are opportunities for high-quality microbrewers in what is a highly competitive marketplace and Baker said Atlanta doesn't have as many local craft brewers as some other locales such as Colorado.
"There is room there," he said.
The Brewers Association, the trade association representing the majority of U.S. brewing companies, released strong mid-year numbers for America's small and independent craft brewers. Dollar sales were up 15 percent in the first half of 2011, excluding brewers who left the craft segment in 2010. Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 14 percent for the first six months in 2011, compared to 9 percent growth in the first half of 2010.
