{"id":23755,"date":"2020-05-05T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/?p=23755"},"modified":"2020-05-04T18:30:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T01:30:42","slug":"five-suits-brewing-reshuffles-in-light-of-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archives.csusm.edu\/westcoastersd\/2020\/05\/05\/five-suits-brewing-reshuffles-in-light-of-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Suits Brewing reshuffles in light of COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nick Corona – Five Suits Brewing<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here at Five Suits<\/a> in Vista, after we worked through the purchase of Barrel Harbor, we had to switch up our business model on the fly to adjust for the new norm and the uncertain future. After planning for years, it\u2019s been quite interesting to swing our focus to meet up with this dramatic change in the market. Things that were important suddenly are not, and vice versa. There are so many unknowns, so all we can do is try to speculate where we\u2019ll be in a few months. But as we have seen on a daily basis, mandates and closure dates seem to be a roll of the dice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We had originally projected a June 1 grand opening for the tasting room. While that no longer looks like a possibility, we\u2019ve been working feverishly to be prepared to sell packaged beer for pickup\/delivery by that date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s difficult to know how much beer to brew at this point since we\u2019re not only starting up, but also dealing with COVID-19 and closures of bars and restaurants. It looks like we\u2019ll also have a lot of time on our hands, so we\u2019re doing as much as we can in the tasting room as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nick and Kandy Corona<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first commercial batch was a session IPA brewed to raise funds for the Pink Boots Society. That was followed by a simple SMASH (Single Malt And Single Hop) beer, as I wanted to get a feel for the system and verify numbers. We used 100% Golden Promise malt and Mandarina Bavaria hops, a couple of my favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had already planned on doing a coconut\/vanilla stout back in February, but had to put it on hold due to all this craziness, so I made that our next batch. With longevity and shelf life in mind due to the uncertainty of demand, we just brewed a Vienna lager that can hold for a while. The next few batches will be a hazy, a West Coast-style IPA, and finally, my Hefeweizen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While we were looking to hold off on packaging for a bit, we really didn\u2019t have a choice. A canning line would be great, but we aren\u2019t sure how long this will last, so we just opted for a seamer and some crowlers. Those were ordered a month ago, so hopefully they get in soon. Everything packaging related seems backed up, which is easy to understand, as not only breweries are trying to sell packaged beer, but restaurants as well. We even grabbed some glass growlers when some were available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for other adjustments, we\u2019re working to ensure our curbside pickup, fills, and limited delivery options will be set to go when we start sales. But our main focus right now is the safety of our product through packaging all the way up to delivery. A lot of people are concerned for their safety and we want to take every step necessary to rest those concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking even further out to opening our tasting room, we\u2019re redesigning our layout to accommodate more spacing between guests, ensuring we have the necessary safety equipment and procedures in place to deliver a sanitary and clean room, while also preparing for the potential of more stringent guidelines, should the state require them. We\u2019ve ordered a couple temporal thermometers, so we can take readings if it becomes necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s been such an unbelievable experience in dealing with this, but we\u2019re just getting started. I have reached out to a few friends in the industry and just tried to offer my encouragement to them as they already have a couple months of this under their belt. Thankfully some of them seem to be getting help by way of deferments or loans. With a new business, none of the stimulus packages are available to us, so we\u2019re just keeping our fingers crossed that we aren\u2019t going to see many more months of this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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@fivesuitsbrewing on Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the things that\u2019s continued to surprise me throughout this ordeal is the resolve and compassion that I still see from so many industry folk who have the deck stacked against them right now. In a time where it would be reasonable to assume that spirits are down and focus is on surviving, I\u2019ve personally benefited from their seemingly endless generosity. It\u2019s incredibly humbling and a huge part of why I decided that I wanted to be a part of this industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All in all, it\u2019s still been exciting and my passion for delivering some outstanding beer has carried me through. Every once in a while, you stop, think about all that\u2019s going on and you get a very surreal feeling. Any time that happens, I think about two things: family and beer. Both of those things bring a big smile to my face and I get back on the grind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing\u2019s certain in all of this: we\u2019re all going to have one hell of a story to tell our grandchildren. As a business starting up in the midst of this, I just keep thinking about the potential for an incredible startup tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nick Corona is a highly decorated Homebrewer with hundreds of awards won at the local, state, & national levels. Nick\u2019s titles include National Homebrewer of the year, National MCAB Grandmaster, CA State Homebrewer of the Year, & San Diego Homebrewer of the Year. Keep up with the progress of Five Suits Brewing on the website<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, and\/or Facebook<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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