Customer Reviews

Brewing Up a Business: Adventures in Entrepreneurship from the Founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book is well named - its more about entrepreneurship, and not very much about the beer industry, and frankly, its about Sam, and Sam's business, and what Sam thinks about Sam's business. There is a great deal about Sam's incredibly brilliant product strategy - and it **is** a brilliant product strategy!

If you are interested in the brewing industry / business, there is not so much here.

The book is entertaining although not that informative, and reads like many new age business books. The founder has been tremendously successful. Suggest "beer school" if you want to learn about critical factors in brewing industry.

I am a big fan of Dogfish Head beer and when I found out that brewer and entrepreneur Sam Calagione wrote a book about his company I was anxious to read it to see if Calagione had any interesting tips on the business of brewing and how he has made the Dogfish Head brand practically a household name among both beer geeks and beer critics. What I discovered with this book is that Sam Calagione has some good advice to offer brewing/restaurant entrepreneurs and others who have a pressing urge to start their own company. He has tried many different things, and his penchant for the unusual has proven to be a great success and it forms the backbone of his business.

Calagione spends the majority of this book discussing Dogfish Head Brewing from the early days of formation all the way to the point of maturity. He talks about his own business model and how it has helped transform his company. He talks about everything from innovation to employee morale to profit sharing to community involvement. He shows how his model of success has worked for his type of business and how the same model can be applied to other types of businesses as well.

This book see- saws back and forth between business guide and autobiography but it leans more toward the business side of the equation. Calagione frequently offers up his own company as an example of which business tactics work and which do not. Calagione has achieved a great deal of success but he has the humility to admit that he has also made his share of mistakes. He points these out in the book where appropriate, showing how a misstep here and a miscalculation there added up to exponential problems down the road and what you, the fledgling business owner, can do to avoid making the same mistakes.

Sam Calagione offers some good, basic advice on starting and running a successful company. His writing style is easy to read and his approach to business is a little different from other books of the same genre. Business books can often get boring and tedious to read but this one manages to keep the reader's attention through its simplicity and its personable style. It can get a little bit repetitive from time to time but the advice offered is generally sound and what Calagione says makes good sense. Also, one needs to keep in mind that this book is intended more as a business book for a newly minted entrepreneur. More experienced professional will not find very much useful here. Its targeted audience is the new or soon- to- be- new- small business owner.

One small disappointment with this book is that it's a business guide more than anything else. The reason I say this is because I was hoping to find out more about the man behind Shelter Pale Ale and Chicory Stout and not just a book about starting and running a company. Calagione does share a few personal moments from his past, like his expulsion from private school; his passion for beer; the role his wife has played in his success; etc. But other than this, the book is more about business than anything else.

"Brewing up a Business" is, overall, a good book for the budding entrepreneur and for beer geeks of all stripes and colors. Sam Calagione writes well and he offers up a good deal of humor to keep the book from getting too serious. He has achieved a great deal of success with his Dogfish Head Brewing Company and he wants to share this success with small business owners everywhere. With the right passion, innovation, and drive, a small company can achieve greatness and Sam Calagione is a tribute to this fact.

I remember waiting in a long line for a 2oz sample of the Worldwide Stout. As a beer fan, I recognize the creativity and richness of Dogfish Head's products whether it be 90 Minute IPA, Raison De'tre or Festiva Lentina. There are quite a few beers I still need to get my hands on.

If this book was limited to the description of the history of the company and its marketing strategies, I'd give it 5 stars. They are clearly experts at creating products their niche group of customers want and are adept at limiting qualities to create more demand. The description of "Randall the Enamel Animal" and stories of bottles exploding because the corks were to large definately appeal to beer geek crowd I belong to.

Where it falls short is when Calagione offers his advice on how to brew up a business. The resiliency he has shown by learning from mistakes is inspiring as well as the dedication he shows to his customers and workers. The emphasis on had work is similarly admirable. But the how to start and run a business tips are pretty straightforward and do not add much to already established mantras.

I like how he used Buddhism to describe how he is focused more on the doing than the materialistic aims of business. He admits to being somewhat ADD, and like the ADD nature of the book, he jumps to this idea but then jumps to another one. The book gets repititive at times as it repeats the ideas of catering to customers and workers over and over as if readers need conversion. The "We at Dogfish Head" sentences get a bit preachy sometimes. Also, Calagione should take into account that not each reader will be involved in business. "Your business" is repeated frequently.

For those who know nothing about a business, the descriptions of what forms a company's value, how a board operates, and how to reward employees can be helpful. But there is nothing really advanced here other than practical tips. It is also sketchy how Calagione got the money to start his business. The book jumps from Calagione having a successful home brew at a party with Ricki Lake to his company already being started. Until he provided some details near the end, I consistently wondered how he paid for the startup.

Clearly, the book is directed towards people interested in business but it is more effective when it tackles topics beer geeks like myself want to read about. The business aspects are a bit preachy and I'm not sure the "oft centered" crowd wants to hear Lee Iacocca or Donald Trump speak. We want the humorous tales, the struggles and the beer.

I am glad I read this book? Yes. But what's most interesting about it is his philosophy, or attitude about business. It was inspiring to read about how Sam started his business when the odds were against it, how he felt and what he thought about during that time. But this book is not really a "how to" book. And it does get a little preachy, repetitive, and at times sounds more like an advertisement for Dogfish Head. He is obviously pleased with himself.

So why buy this book? The reasons are three-fold:

Firstly, if you have any interest in what makes Dogfish Head, Dogfish Head, you're a candidate. This book provides a peak at the mind behind the movement, the creation of the brand, and the hard years that made the company. It will give you a look at what's behind the label, behind the bottle, and into the blood, sweat, and tears. Chances are you already know how unique the beer is, but you may not know why.

Secondly, if you have an interest in starting your own business, of any kind, there is something for you in here. It must be said that, though this book centers on starting a small business, it should be used primarily as a springboard to bigger ideas not as a blueprint. Sam introduces a large number of ideas from which to develop your own strategies and fit your own needs. To his credit, he never explicitly tells you what to do (though occasionally what not to do) which is positive because your business should have your personality in it, not Sam Calagione's. Again to his credit, he provides the reader with his own sources during his years of preparation. Books by other entrepreneurs which will help flesh out any idea. He also gives his OWN credit to the many people that got him and Dogfish Head where they are today. That is not a common theme in the world. Again, this book is not for you if you're looking for advanced strategies or specific business models. But it's a fantastic starting point.

Lastly, this book is wonderful for literature's sake. Even someone with no deep interest in beer or business can appreciate it. I've passed it on to several who have. Sam's superb writing style, along with his stories and anecdotes, serve both to keep the book entertaining and to illustrate and emphasize his points.

Honestly, there is no reason not to own this book. Anyone and everyone can learn something from its pages whether it be a major revelation, or a minor insight. Dogfish Head's motto is "Off-centered ales for off-centered people," but this book hits it dead on.

Love the beer but found the book to be more a rambling stream of consciousness that doesn't really have a point. It really seems to be just Sam's rambling thoughts and recollections of his startup. There are some great anecdotes woven through the book (and I'm sure he has plenty that aren't shared). He goes over some of the many questions that any startup should answer but the business advice in the book is fairly basic. At the end of the day I'm not sure what the point of the book really was supposed to be as several subjects are visited repeatedly. It dosen't go into the brewing in any depth and there's certainly not enough substance to call it a business book. If your a really huge fan of the beer you may have some interest.

I'm a brewpub owner and a professional brewer and the book was inspiring. If you're thinking of starting your own business or if you already own a business I highly recommend this book. Sam is a great writer and after reading "Brewing Up a Business" you will understand why DogFish Head is so successful.

I bought this book looking for a little more insight into developing a microbrewey but found although it is interesting, it is full of platitiudes concerning what I would call "business culture." The author has had unbelievable success as an enterprising brewer but the book does not translate this into any advice for someone who hopes to follow in his footsteps. Read it for the story and for sheer enjoyment but don't look to it for any kind of blueprint to microbrewery business success.

I love Dogfish Head. They are what started me on the road to craft brewing. Their beer is the most unique on the market and arguably the best too. I've met Calagione a few times, even got his autograph on a Dogfish t-shirt. He is somewhat of a personal hero.

The book is full of interesting tid-bits on the DFH story. I think every beer you want him to talk about is covered, though not too in depth, which is better because it's a business book, not a brewery book.

The only beef I have with this book is on Page 1 Sam talks about hating to read business books about when the company goes public, & the phrase "maximizing shareholder value". Then throughout the rest of the book though you'll read constantly the nauseating corporate lingo: Mission Statement, Vision, Goals, etc. Those of us who work in corporate America know and distrust this verbage. Maybe since Sam never sat in a cubicle he didn't realize how vomit-inducing this is. And on almost the last page, Sam brings up considering taking DFH public! Blasphemy.

Overall an interesting read & well-written insight into the behind-the-scenes DFH business. Could be a good guide for any entrepreneur: go ahead and be crazy but be serious about the business. It's in this that the book is not as off-centered as the brew. It can't be. Must be a good thing.

Well done Sam.

Just like yeast turns sugar into alcohol, Sam Calagione turned his passion for great beer into one of the most innovative brewing companies in America (if not the world) - the seminal Dogfish Head brewing company.

Calagione proves that mammoth budgets and mainstream business models are not requirements to take a dream and turn it into a business. Calagione started Dogfish Head with a less than ideal 10 gallon homebrew setup in the restaurant to make the beer for the brewpub. He also started his brewery in the sleepy state of Delaware when the micro beer craze was dying down in the US. Dogfish Head now brews batches in excess of 6,000 gallons, has multiple brewing locations, and distributes its beer across the US. It also has preserved if not strengthened its revered following. Crazes die off but demanding palates will always cry out for bold beers with character.

The book is a must read for anyone venturing into business for themselves. I'm a longtime homebrewer and the brewing aspect of the text is a great bonus but definitely not the premise. On the flip side, a beer nut or brewer will likely enjoy the book for those aspects. The author puts his passion and the customer first, explains the virtue of filling the gap between the perception of your business and reality, and a myriad of other things that one should and must consider. There are also many enlightening elements in this book (for example - an innovative group of people is much more powerful than an inventive person). I suspect the seasoned entrepreneur could find much value in this book as well.

Calgione writes in an open and experienced voice of someone who has been there and done it. It's obvious this guy loves what he does and knows the business inside and out. Pragmatic, Passionate, and Creative. If you are going out on your own, this book should part of the preparation. This book tops my list for the year hands down. Good show!