17. Christmas Beer & Christmas Cheer

Christmas in a Brewery probably sounds like many peoples idea of heaven. In reality our Christmas preparations have been long hours, huge "To do" and "To brew" lists, a little bit of stress and nerves.... and we've loved every minute.

        Our family and friends will know that we are usually very "last minute dot com" about pretty much everything however to get the shelves filled after such a busy summer season we knew we would have to think ahead. It all started back in October when we brewed our first batches of Cranberry IPA and Spiced Stout. After three or four weeks in the fermenter we were ready to bottle and label our first Christmas beers. We also brewed every beer in our core range to make up Full Sets, we redesigned our tasting notes with extra information about the beers and how to get the best from a tasting evening. We ordered new gift packaging, boxes and tape, extra glasses, T-Shirts and beanies and started printing labels and stamping gift boxes and beer mats ready for the first Christmas orders to come in. All this before the Calmac Winter Timetable kicked in! For the first time ever we felt the satisfied glow people must feel when all of their presents are wrapped as the last minute shoppers (including us) are desperately dashing round the shops on Christmas Eve! We thought this year we were really well prepared and we were looking forward to a slow buildup to the Christmas rush when we had an exciting invitation.

   Chris and Nicola Loye from Flavour asked us to have a stall at their Hebridean Fine Food and Drink Festival in Tarbert.

One thing we've learnt through moving to Harris and starting our business is this... 

                    "if you're not sure, say yes and work it out!"

    The Food Festival would be the first time we had ventured from our little shed and the relative anonymity of the online shop. This was exciting and daunting in equal measure. Starting the Brewery in full lockdown in July 2020 meant that we hadn’t had a chance to sell any of our beer face to face. We would definitely need extra beer so while Nick worked on stock levels I worked through a huge To Do list from Licensing requirements to card readers and price lists. I also developed a rather unhealthy addiction to watching youtube videos on merchandising and display ideas!

Despite the fact that I had been working in shops since we arrived in Harris we were real newbies. We had no idea how much stock we would need so we took as much as we could fit in the car (we actually took so much I had to get a lift with a neighbour who had a stall selling tablet!) We had no idea how long it would take to set up so we arrived early…very early! We were the first to arrive just as the doors were unlocked, the whole family helped set up and we were ready in plenty of time to grab a bacon butty and a coffee from Island bites before the first shoppers arrived. 

But First Coffee!

Although we had known that the Festival would be popular we were amazed at the number of people who came out on a cold and wet December Saturday to support local businesses. We saw many familiar faces, some existing customers and also lots of new customers. Harris is a small place and people tend to know each other but we were surprised that many local people hadn’t heard about the Brewery. We had a fantastic day meeting friends old and new and talking about beer and food and Harris. The event was a real testament to the quality and variety of food businesses on the island. There were stalls selling home baked cakes, homemade tablet, locally smoked salmon, fresh locally caught fish and shellfish, chocolate, coffee, honey, ice cream, mustard, ceramics and tableware. We were also treated to cookery demonstrations from local chefs including a rare chance to try the Lewis delicacy of Guga or salted gannet. By half past two we were getting low on stock and by three we were talking about doing more pop up stalls and getting a bigger van! We really enjoyed the whole day and for once Nick’s over optimism paid off, we sold out and I fitted in the car for the return journey.

With the Food Festival behind us we were able to launch into full “Operation Christmas” with the online sales. We received so many gift set orders this year that we had to book appointments on three separate days at the post office in Tarbert. We also sent many, many boxes of beer with our local courier and this year Isle of Harris beer has been sent as far afield as Switzerland. We have written messages on hundreds of beer mats and its been a real pleasure to be a small part of the thought and love that has been sent along with our beers.