Episode 43
Retap: Bobby's 2024 Favorite
We're retapping Bobby's favorite episode from last year where Bobby explains the origins of 547 for the first time. New episodes drop in February!
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TIMELINE
00:00 Producer Note
00:20 Gary Introduces Bobby and Joel
00:38 The Story Behind 547
02:05 What Makes a West Coast IPA?
03:13 547 Inspiration and Techniques
05:29 The Evolution of 547
09:19 Blind Tastings and Popularity
11:15 THE 547 Experience
14:22 547 Day Celebration
19:48 Marketing and Branding
27:13 Conclusion and Invitation
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CREDITS
Hosts:
Music by Sarah Lynn Huss
Recorded & Produced by David Kalsow
Brought to you by McFleshman's Brewing Co
Transcript
Hi, everyone.
David Kalsow:It's Dave, the producer, back with another episode in our little break here.
David Kalsow:We've got a re tap.
David Kalsow:We're pulling from Bobby's favorite episode of 2024, explaining the origin of 547.
David Kalsow:Remember, we'll be back with new episodes starting in February.
David Kalsow:See you then!
Gary Arndt:Hello everyone.
Gary Arndt:And welcome to another episode of respecting the beer.
Gary Arndt:My name is Gary Arndt and with me as usual is brewer extraordinaire, Bobby Fleshman, and with us again is historian and beer aficionado Joel Hermansen.
Gary Arndt:How are you doing?
Joel Hermansen:I'm really good.
Joel Hermansen:I didn't get an extraordinaire though.
Gary Arndt:No, you did not.
Joel Hermansen:Noted.
Gary Arndt:This episode, we're going to do something a little different.
Gary Arndt:We just want to focus on one product that you guys make.
Gary Arndt:It's a beer called 547.
Gary Arndt:It is a West coast, double IPA, and I'm going to leave it at that.
Gary Arndt:And I want Bobby to explain where the origin of this beer came from.
Gary Arndt:I don't, I don't think having a West coast, double IPA is in and of itself, a big thing.
Gary Arndt:I'm sure a lot of breweries have something similar to that, but what was the Genesis of this particular beer?
Bobby Fleshman:I used to spend a lot of time in San Francisco when I was an astrophysicist.
Bobby Fleshman:There were a lot of meetings out there and I found my way to this bar called the Tornado, whose address was 547 Haight Street.
Bobby Fleshman:And I was also homebrewing, I think this is something like 20 years ago.
Bobby Fleshman:And I went in there and I was like, And I naively asked for the best West Coast IPA and they, if you've been there, you know, the service is very unique to the tornado and they didn't even give me the time of day or have any dialogue exchanges through a bar or a beer across the bar at me.
Bobby Fleshman:I drank it and I said, what was that?
Bobby Fleshman:And it was.
Bobby Fleshman:It was a beer called Pliny the Elder by Russian River Brewing Company.
Bobby Fleshman:And that was one of those moments that just changed my life.
Bobby Fleshman:I'm like, this, this is not anything like anything I've ever had.
Bobby Fleshman:And I went on to, you know, brew that at home and, and investigate more who Russian River was.
Bobby Fleshman:They weren't actually nationally known at this point.
Gary Arndt:Explain what a West Coast IPA is.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah, West Coast, Americans tend to take it to 11 and this was taking it to 12.
Bobby Fleshman:Cause this was, this was, an IPA that was well hopped, extremely late hopped.
Bobby Fleshman:And what I mean by late hopped is putting the boil at the end or post fermentation or whatever.
Bobby Fleshman:So you're keeping all the green terpene grassy, all those flavors in there.
Bobby Fleshman:It was a, it was a style.
Bobby Fleshman:It was really.
Bobby Fleshman:It really came about when Vinny Chalorzo of Russian River opened the Blind Pig in San Diego, he started making these styles and it just changed the face of beer.
Bobby Fleshman:It made America have its own style and, Fast forward, and he opens Russian River, Northern California.
Bobby Fleshman:His number one bar, his number one client was a Tornado.
Bobby Fleshman:So if every had one keg of something, they would get it.
Bobby Fleshman:They had dibs on everything, and they'd never, ever run out of Pliny Dale at the Tornado.
Bobby Fleshman:That will never happen.
Bobby Fleshman:It's their number one seller out there, and it's like five bucks a pint.
Bobby Fleshman:In San Francisco numbers, that's like a dollar.
Bobby Fleshman:And yeah, I don't want to flood them.
Bobby Fleshman:They're already busy enough, but make your way out there if you haven't been.
Bobby Fleshman:So, you know, I got into home brewing.
Bobby Fleshman:I was into it, but I was more into it for this reason and others, all these different experiences I had and digging into how to make hoppy beers led me to grow hops in my backyard.
Bobby Fleshman:And we started making some fantastic, you know, seasonal harvest ales.
Bobby Fleshman:And I was taking the cues from what they were doing.
Bobby Fleshman:And we were making sort of, clones of this beer at some point that recipe gives it out because he knows not everyone can make this beer because just because there's a recipe there's all the stuff in between the lines that he's that he can't know to say but he gave the recipe out so we're brewing it and man was like getting a lot of recognition for someone else's beer this was really good stuff and my version was a little different but it was just so good And then I decided when we open this fast forward several years Allison and I actually were in the Toronado and we were, I think maybe we were brainstorming the brewery.
Bobby Fleshman:Even then it was like 2010 or something.
Bobby Fleshman:I looked over her shoulder and I saw the half door of the tornado open.
Bobby Fleshman:They always have the half door open because there's only 1 weather in San Francisco.
Bobby Fleshman:So the door is always open.
Bobby Fleshman:And it said 547.
Bobby Fleshman:I took a picture of her and that picture is on the wall downstairs.
Bobby Fleshman:And I said, if we ever open a brewery and we were, I was leaning that way at that time anyway.
Bobby Fleshman:we're calling if we make, if we open a brewery, we're going to make a double IPA and we're going to call it 547 for all the reasons.
Bobby Fleshman:And so when it came time to open the brewery and I was developing recipes for it, I knew I couldn't just make Pliny the Elder.
Bobby Fleshman:That was, you know, this is an homage.
Bobby Fleshman:This isn't a copy.
Bobby Fleshman:So I sat down and I knew what was in it, but I try not to think about it.
Bobby Fleshman:And I think this is how musicians may, may or may not approach a song, but.
Bobby Fleshman:I decided to be in that headspace, but, but not listen to it.
Bobby Fleshman:So just to make that metaphor and what came out was this beer.
Bobby Fleshman:And I threw in a couple of hops that he didn't use, but most of the hops are the same ones, but they're put in different orders.
Bobby Fleshman:And that's in a way, it's like being the same key.
Bobby Fleshman:And that's been a theme for a lot of beers we've been doing lately, but using the same notes different ways and it, this beer wasn't on brand, but it was on brand for me.
Bobby Fleshman:So we built McFleshman's to be an English Ale and a German lager brewery, but I am a West Coast beer fan and I knew we were going to make a California common and I knew we were going to make at that time.
Bobby Fleshman:I didn't know about a brute, but we did make a brute and we did really well with that.
Bobby Fleshman:And I knew we were going to make this double IPA and eventually we would make pale ales and other lower strength IPAs.
Bobby Fleshman:So we knew this is going to be a third leg of our chair.
Bobby Fleshman:We would have three legs that hold up the brand of McFleshman's.
Bobby Fleshman:It would be West Coast styles and then those other European styles.
Bobby Fleshman:we kind of like, we put it out there as our number, maybe the seventh or eighth year we released and we first opened.
Bobby Fleshman:And it got a warm reception, but I think they were a little confused by it because they were coming for hand pumps.
Bobby Fleshman:They were coming for German lagers and then the crowd was Wisconsin, right?
Bobby Fleshman:They're not California and a beer that big and hops 10 years ago.
Bobby Fleshman:And at the time we opened, that was seven years ago.
Bobby Fleshman:They still weren't.
Bobby Fleshman:They still weren't ready for it.
Bobby Fleshman:I don't think.
Bobby Fleshman:And it's been kind of a slow build.
Bobby Fleshman:And I think now it's about time I give the mic over because we had to get an ambassador in here.
Bobby Fleshman:All right.
Gary Arndt:So
Bobby Fleshman:yeah,
Gary Arndt:so that's how the beer came about.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:How did you discover it?
Gary Arndt:And what's your background with respect?
Gary Arndt:Cause you are, how shall I say a West coast IPA aficionado?
Joel Hermansen:I am.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:That's my, that's my favorite style of beer.
Gary Arndt:And when did you first, so did you have.
Gary Arndt:Piney the Elder before a 547 or which came first?
Joel Hermansen:So my, my origin story with the, it's, if
Joel Hermansen:I was out in San Francisco in 2015.
Joel Hermansen:I was taking a class at Stanford, that summer.
Joel Hermansen:And I spent, when I was out there, three, three different days.
Joel Hermansen:I was at Russian River for significant amounts of the day.
Joel Hermansen:And I, I, I, like you, it was just like, what, what is happening right now?
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:You know, this, this is unlike anything that I've ever had.
Joel Hermansen:And, and at that point we, we had IPAs.
Joel Hermansen:that, you know, had some acclaim behind them.
Joel Hermansen:You know, Bell's Two Hearted Ale was, was around at that point.
Joel Hermansen:But this was, you know, something totally different.
Joel Hermansen:While in San Francisco in 2015 as, you know, The resident deadhead here as well.
Joel Hermansen:I was in front of Jerry Garcia's old house on Hayden Ashbury, which is just a very short walk from Toronadoz and we went to Toronado
Joel Hermansen:I was there at Toronado for a couple of days.
Joel Hermansen:as well, and it's the most diverse, incredible place again, not to flood them with business, but if you get a chance, head over there and I had it there again, there was no disruption in the quality
Bobby Fleshman:Perfect glassware, perfect beer.
Joel Hermansen:And so I had a long experience with with that before I got here, I first had 547.
Joel Hermansen:I think it was just before.
Joel Hermansen:Just pre COVID, in 2019, and I had that, that kind of that same epiphany moment where it's like, wow, you know, what I'm, what I'm drinking right now is, is extraordinary.
Joel Hermansen:And I, you mentioned that it's an homage, but it's, it's very, very different actually.
Joel Hermansen:It is.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah, we're done.
Bobby Fleshman:The blind tastings now and it's not even close to blind.
Bobby Fleshman:I mean, you, it's not even close.
Bobby Fleshman:They're very different.
Gary Arndt:I was actually going to ask you about this.
Gary Arndt:You've done blind tastings, between 547 and Piney the Elder.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:Well, how did this come about and what were the results?
Joel Hermansen:That was my fault or idea.
Joel Hermansen:I had managed to get a bottle of elder and we decided, well, we're gonna, we're gonna put it up against 547.
Joel Hermansen:We had done it once before with another bottle that I had secured, but the second time we did it, I think we were a little bit more scientific with it because we wanted to make sure that the.
Joel Hermansen:Pliny, the elder that we had was bottled at a point that was similar to the 547.
Joel Hermansen:So we didn't just pull from the tap line.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:That was going to be
Gary Arndt:my question.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:It would be kind of unfair if you had a fresh beer versus, you know, an older.
Gary Arndt:Correct.
Joel Hermansen:We, we, we tried to take those variables into account and we got, you know, some of our our, our hop heads from the brewery.
Joel Hermansen:We had, you know, reached out and said, hey, we're planning to do this.
Joel Hermansen:And, and we did a blind tasting, literally blindfolded people with black the old COVID masks.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah, we had those.
Joel Hermansen:And I mean, yeah, the results were, were very, very clear.
Joel Hermansen:The 547, and if you've ever come into the brewery, I have a tendency to talk it up quite a bit.
Joel Hermansen:Because I, I just think it's exceptional.
Joel Hermansen:And I think the, the test data that we had that day kind of supported that.
Bobby Fleshman:The, the best data is it sells top in our volume and in our, our revenue in the tap room.
Bobby Fleshman:And this is not a cheap beer to make or to buy.
Bobby Fleshman:And that says a lot.
Bobby Fleshman:People are voting with their dollar.
Bobby Fleshman:It can't always be Joel behind the bar.
Bobby Fleshman:There's...
Gary Arndt:So sorry.
Gary Arndt:So let's talk about that.
Gary Arndt:You're a fan of the beer.
Joel Hermansen:I am.
Gary Arndt:You also work here.
Joel Hermansen:I do
Gary Arndt:Selling beer.
Gary Arndt:And you've developed over time.
Gary Arndt:How should I put it?
Bobby Fleshman:A Cult?
Gary Arndt:You're a big g promoter of the 547 so much so that when people come in, you will almost always recommend it.
Gary Arndt:Whether or not...
Bobby Fleshman:I always say don't pause because you'll end up with a 547 in front of Joel.
Gary Arndt:But this has kind of evolved into a thing, which is why we're kind of doing an episode just on this beer.
Gary Arndt:The story behind it's interesting, but it's also kind of how this sort of local inside the building cult or mythology developed around it and explain that.
Gary Arndt:Cause I think a lot of that has to do with you.
Joel Hermansen:Thank you.
Joel Hermansen:well, number one, I'm a local guy.
Joel Hermansen:I mean, I'm from Appleton and I know.
Joel Hermansen:a huge number of people in town.
Joel Hermansen:So when people come in I usually have a level of comfort with whoever here and I, and I can, you know, I'm going to say this, I can be myself and just, you know, put my opinions out there and say that, Hey, if you're here, you know, you're probably interested in what I think is the best beer in the state.
Joel Hermansen:So I usually, you know, lead with that.
Joel Hermansen:If they indicate that they don't like double IPAs, Then I usually lead with it again, which, sometimes, you know, works.
Joel Hermansen:I've had people, and this is a, you've been here with me when this has happened, where there's, you know, someone that says, well, I don't like IPAs.
Joel Hermansen:And then you give them a sample and it's almost like that movie Ratatouille where the rat, you know, eats the cheese and like all the lights go off, you know, for people.
Joel Hermansen:You know, they're like, Oh my gosh, I have to have one of these.
Joel Hermansen:And I'm like, yeah, you'd like double IPA snow.
Bobby Fleshman:It's amazing.
Bobby Fleshman:The, the spectrum of people that drink it, there's not a type for this beer.
Bobby Fleshman:Which is kind of surprising, age or gender or anything.
Bobby Fleshman:There's no way to know who's going to be one, a drinker of.
Joel Hermansen:Right.
Joel Hermansen:And I have a pretty big personality.
Joel Hermansen:So when people come in, you know, I try to incorporate that into their experience.
Joel Hermansen:Because when you come in here, it should be an experience.
Joel Hermansen:And if you've not, you know, You know, Ben, here, we're up in the Prohibition Room right now, which is just a stunning room.
Joel Hermansen:The entire McFleshman's brewery visit should be an experience.
Joel Hermansen:And, I mean, the way that the building is structured, the way that the beer garden is structured, it's an experience.
Joel Hermansen:And I think 547 is a part of that.
Joel Hermansen:Are you going to talk about the bell or I,
Bobby Fleshman:First of all, I was going to ask you, what's the best soundtrack?
Bobby Fleshman:What's the best soundtrack?
Joel Hermansen:Oh, I a hundred percent.
Joel Hermansen:We actually on my, we have a San Francisco playlist that we like to tap into.
Joel Hermansen:And we played this.
Joel Hermansen:During 547 day last year and I sprinkle it in periodically.
Bobby Fleshman:You're in charge of the playlist this year if you want to do it again.
Joel Hermansen:Yes, it'll be done.
Gary Arndt:Okay, so let's...
Bobby Fleshman:Got two subjects now.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:So 547 day, what is 547 day and how did that come about?
Joel Hermansen:So the math behind it, I'm going to attribute to the math guy, but I've landed on a good date.
Joel Hermansen:Right.
Joel Hermansen:It did.
Joel Hermansen:I'm always of the opinion that we need to have.
Joel Hermansen:You know, we have stout week.
Joel Hermansen:We have October Fest which Lager Fest?
Joel Hermansen:Lager Fest.
Joel Hermansen:I mean, we, we have all of these, you know, fest and celebratory days that highlight a beer, but we needed a 5 47 day.
Joel Hermansen:So you chose a unique day.
Bobby Fleshman:It works out to be May 47th if you June 16th.
Bobby Fleshman:If, if May had that many days.
Bobby Fleshman:And people they think it's a typo and they scratch their head.
Bobby Fleshman:They, they, they get it.
Bobby Fleshman:They like it.
Bobby Fleshman:It landed on a Saturday last year.
Bobby Fleshman:There was a first year to do it.
Bobby Fleshman:And this year it's not going.
Bobby Fleshman:So we'll move it around a little bit.
Bobby Fleshman:It's going to actually be June 21st this year, but we'll still call it 5 47 day.
Bobby Fleshman:It also is the same weekend that we have our anniversary.
Bobby Fleshman:So we always book in those together.
Bobby Fleshman:It always be 5 47 on Friday.
Bobby Fleshman:And then it'll be about our, our birthday the next day.
Bobby Fleshman:But yeah, it was a success.
Bobby Fleshman:We thought, is this going to be a big deal on a Friday?
Bobby Fleshman:And it was an enormous, it was an enormous day on a Friday.
Bobby Fleshman:I think people all called it in.
Bobby Fleshman:It was great.
Joel Hermansen:We, we did tie dyed shirts, you know, we had the theme, the music and you know, obviously when
Bobby Fleshman:We're getting a band this year, it's going to be a whole thing.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:When you look at, at the label of the beer, cause you had mentioned that earlier, the, the, the label of the beer.
Joel Hermansen:It really kind of harkens to that Haight Ashbury experience of the, of the late 60s, which is kind of a unique snapshot in history.
Joel Hermansen:And that, that beer kind of, when I, when I drink that beer and, and I'm listening, and I very seldom will drink a 547 when I'm not either listening to the Grateful Dead or the Jerry Garcia band.
Joel Hermansen:It, it's just kind of adds to that whole ratatouille lights, colors, the holy cow, kind of a moment that people have with it.
Bobby Fleshman:We have other ambassadors.
Bobby Fleshman:Joel's created other ambassadors now for our brewery and that beer, Denny wonky of black gold.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:He owns a company called black gold that moves, they're, they're an environmental company.
Bobby Fleshman:They're working with food industry and stuff, but his.
Bobby Fleshman:His company name, I think, is the name of, Central Waters, one of their big releases, Black Coal.
Bobby Fleshman:At long point, long story short, he, he goes around the state saying now that 547 is an important product.
Bobby Fleshman:And he's, he's driving all the time to get here.
Bobby Fleshman:He might show up today.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah, hopefully he does.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:I, we have a lot of people who are putting that out there and.
Joel Hermansen:and, and celebrating it, elevating it.
Joel Hermansen:I don't think a week goes by where I don't see somebody at the grocery store at the Y and they'll say, Hey, 547 guy.
Joel Hermansen:And yeah, so I, I guess now I'm 547 guy is
Gary Arndt:those are worse things to be known.
Joel Hermansen:I've been called a lot worse than 547 guy.
Gary Arndt:So a couple of months ago, however, you came up with another idea.
Gary Arndt:for what to do when someone orders the 547.
Gary Arndt:Explain how that came about.
Gary Arndt:Might
Bobby Fleshman:be a year now we've been doing this.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah, I think it's Is it a year?
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah, it's been a long time.
Bobby Fleshman:It's
Joel Hermansen:been up there for quite a while.
Bobby Fleshman:I think it was up before 547 day, wasn't it?
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:Last year.
Bobby Fleshman:Cause
Joel Hermansen:the, the logo on the shirt, it'll ring your bell.
Joel Hermansen:It'll ring your bell.
Joel Hermansen:So it's over
Bobby Fleshman:a year now, I think.
Joel Hermansen:Yep.
Joel Hermansen:We needed a bell.
Joel Hermansen:And when I broached the subject the answer was pretty simple.
Joel Hermansen:I said, we, we need a bell because we need a spectacle that comes along with it.
Joel Hermansen:Pavlov's
Bobby Fleshman:dog.
Joel Hermansen:Right.
Joel Hermansen:And it actually does.
Joel Hermansen:It, it acts almost like operant conditioning because somebody will be in the bar.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:This happens.
Joel Hermansen:Every time I work here, I will pour someone a 547, I will give our bell an enthusiastic, ring, and invariably somebody within the next 30 to 90 seconds will wander up and say, why, what was the story, why did that bell ring?
Joel Hermansen:And I said, well, that's, that's our 547 bell.
Joel Hermansen:And they said, why do you have a 547 bell?
Joel Hermansen:And I said, why not?
Joel Hermansen:It's just an opportunity to have a spectacle.
Joel Hermansen:And then they
Bobby Fleshman:do know it elicits, clapping and cheering.
Bobby Fleshman:Yes.
Bobby Fleshman:And then someone that wasn't thinking about another beer might now be or whatever, the 547, yeah.
Joel Hermansen:Yep.
Joel Hermansen:And you know, you can hear it resonate all throughout the brewery.
Joel Hermansen:You can hear it up in the prohibition room.
Joel Hermansen:You can hear it outside.
Bobby Fleshman:It would be perfect if someone ordered one right now.
Bobby Fleshman:It would.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah, it really would.
Bobby Fleshman:The timing.
Joel Hermansen:So, it's, I, I guess in a, in a way I know that the, the last episode you guys were talking about marketing, in a sense it's a, it's a marketing, activity that's, that's kind of unintentional.
Joel Hermansen:I, I wanted to do it because it's fun and I enjoy a spectacle.
Joel Hermansen:And people we've had, you know, people that we're so, you know, impressed and they're like, would I be able to ring the bell?
Joel Hermansen:And I'm like, absolutely.
Joel Hermansen:It's like the wheel and price.
Joel Hermansen:So we've had countless people that, you know, came back, rang the bell.
Joel Hermansen:They got, took a picture, you know, of them.
Joel Hermansen:But...
Bobby Fleshman:Are you kidding me?
Joel Hermansen:There it is.
Joel Hermansen:There it is.
Gary Arndt:well, the reason why we're doing a full episode on this is because A lot of this happened organically.
Gary Arndt:Like this wasn't a business plan where it's like, okay, we're going to brew this beer and we're going to do all these things.
Gary Arndt:It was just.
Gary Arndt:You know, you had an ambassador and Joel and these things kind of happened and it ended up becoming, you know, your bestselling beer, as a result.
Bobby Fleshman:In a lot of ways.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:I tried to not put focus on it so I could put it on the other ones that were in wholesale and may have a wider footprint.
Bobby Fleshman:So yeah, you're right.
Bobby Fleshman:It's organic.
Joel Hermansen:It actually resulted in a new job title for me as well.
Joel Hermansen:Which is, yeah, I'm the 547 demand coordinator, keeps
Bobby Fleshman:us running our asses off in the back.
Bobby Fleshman:He's the supply coordinator.
Bobby Fleshman:We brewed it again yesterday.
Bobby Fleshman:We brewed it like two weeks before that.
Bobby Fleshman:So we're, we're chasing our tail back there as, as the quote supply coordinator.
Joel Hermansen:And you've seen this in distribution too.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah, we're seeing that.
Bobby Fleshman:And, and we've, we've had, we had to increase prices a little bit and concern that the sales would drop and they went up.
Bobby Fleshman:So we're going to roll with it.
Bobby Fleshman:We're going to see where this goes.
Gary Arndt:This is something you can't do for every beer.
Gary Arndt:You can only do this for, I think, for a set number of things and probably a very small number, maybe one.
Bobby Fleshman:As in a day for the beer?
Bobby Fleshman:No, I mean,
Gary Arndt:like, not in a day for the beer.
Gary Arndt:You could do more of those, but like for having a bell, like I think you guys try to do a different bell and that just, well, we joke about it a little, but yeah, you're right.
Gary Arndt:That you can, so here's my, here's my question.
Gary Arndt:Let's say some point in the future, several years from now, you open up another public house.
Gary Arndt:Would that public house have a 547 bell?
Bobby Fleshman:I think so, yeah.
Gary Arndt:Is this something that is, I.
Gary Arndt:A McFleshman's thing now, or is it just something that would be in this facility?
Bobby Fleshman:I think it's a 547 thing.
Bobby Fleshman:I think it's some, in some ways it's separate from McFleshman's.
Bobby Fleshman:It's a parallel, it's a parallel brand in some ways.
Bobby Fleshman:In fact, we've been making beers under its label for a while.
Bobby Fleshman:There's, we have a red IPA, which has a whole story we can talk about another day, but it, we call it stepchild.
Bobby Fleshman:It's a sister of 547.
Bobby Fleshman:It's the same likeness on the label.
Bobby Fleshman:and then we have a new one we just made for people.
Bobby Fleshman:They want to drive home after three and, it's Toronado actually.
Bobby Fleshman:So in reference to the, the bar again, it's a true West coast.
Bobby Fleshman:So where, where this one's a double, this is a true West coast.
Bobby Fleshman:It's a little drier, a little crisp, but it smells.
Bobby Fleshman:Anyway, it's fantastic.
Bobby Fleshman:I'm about to have one in a minute, I think, but that's going to have a label.
Bobby Fleshman:So it's all, it's, it's going to look like that it's inspired by 547.
Bobby Fleshman:We're having a whole line of these beers come out.
Bobby Fleshman:And I think that
Gary Arndt:was a good idea because.
Gary Arndt:Every time I come in here, Joel tries to, you know, he's a pusher and he tries to get me to order a 547 every single time.
Gary Arndt:Right.
Gary Arndt:And it's not that I don't like 547.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:But it's a really high alcohol content.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:And, you know, you can maybe, I can maybe have one of those.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:You know, two, forget it.
Gary Arndt:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:Especially if I have to go home and do work or something.
Gary Arndt:So having an alternative like that I thought was great.
Bobby Fleshman:Yep.
Gary Arndt:Is it possible?
Gary Arndt:Yep.
Gary Arndt:And if possible, would you consider a non alcoholic version of it?
Bobby Fleshman:100%.
Bobby Fleshman:The, the non alcoholic game is heating up and we've been working on it for probably four or five years behind the scenes.
Bobby Fleshman:I think we're, we're doing a good job with developing our own IP, our own NAs.
Bobby Fleshman:But the answer is yes.
Bobby Fleshman:And we got some names in mind.
Bobby Fleshman:Oh, there you go.
Bobby Fleshman:There you go.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:We got ideas for a family pack, an IPA pack.
Bobby Fleshman:It's going to involve stepchild and we have other names that will riff on that.
Bobby Fleshman:So yes, in a, yeah, in a IPA that's, that's inspired by West Coast style would be a logical progression.
Joel Hermansen:Can I, can I go to naming for a second?
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:Cause I don't, and I don't know if you talked about this earlier, but the amount of thought and creative energy that goes into the naming of beers here in particular, and I I've never worked in the, in the beer industry other than here.
Joel Hermansen:but is astonishing.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah.
Joel Hermansen:You and I probably exchanged.
Joel Hermansen:300 different names for the new Tornado.
Joel Hermansen:And we had some fabulous conversations.
Joel Hermansen:Gary, you were a part of those, you know, having a couple of the conversations about what a good name for the, for the beer would be.
Joel Hermansen:It's both fun and creative.
Joel Hermansen:Yeah, it is.
Bobby Fleshman:It's stressful because now that's the name.
Bobby Fleshman:I mean, we have changed names before, but.
Bobby Fleshman:This one, this one I had a lot of pressure.
Bobby Fleshman:I don't mean to talk about another beer, but Tornado is a sibling.
Bobby Fleshman:Whatever a kid's sister of another name of 547.
Bobby Fleshman:And we knew we had to nail it because we've been asked to make this beer for years.
Bobby Fleshman:People have been asking for 6 percent West coast for years.
Bobby Fleshman:And this one's got to land and we got to have the name.
Bobby Fleshman:We got to go out the gate with this one and we're working on the label now too.
Bobby Fleshman:So yeah, that's a good side note.
Bobby Fleshman:We didn't talk about that in the last episode, but it's part of the marketing and branding.
Bobby Fleshman:Naming is.
Bobby Fleshman:Exhausting.
Bobby Fleshman:And it takes a lot of effort if I pull my phone out and show you where I keep all my ideas for names is it will floor you.
Bobby Fleshman:There might be what I like.
Bobby Fleshman:And a lot of people don't
Gary Arndt:even know it when they come in here, but there's a story
Bobby Fleshman:behind every behind
Gary Arndt:every name.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah,
Gary Arndt:like I had no idea because I didn't live in this community for like 30 years.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:The name of pirates code, right?
Gary Arndt:Which is our other flagship.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:You know, a bar that was where your beer garden is now that burned down.
Bobby Fleshman:Oh yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:And everyone that lives here did at that time absolutely knows that name and that's, that was chosen for good for that reason.
Joel Hermansen:Well, that's one of the things that makes this place very special.
Joel Hermansen:Everything is intentional.
Joel Hermansen:The naming, the branding, the artistic license that goes into the labeling, the craftsmanship that goes into the, to the, you know, the brewing of the beer.
Joel Hermansen:You, you are.
Joel Hermansen:Never satisfied with anything.
Joel Hermansen:Never.
Joel Hermansen:And you're always, you know, pushing all of those elements, which is one of the reasons why, you know, you're as great as you are.
Bobby Fleshman:Let's give Alex Schultz, some credit for the labels.
Bobby Fleshman:He does all of that.
Bobby Fleshman:So he's, he's not the, the artist, but he's the guy that brings the artist to the table.
Bobby Fleshman:He makes it match.
Bobby Fleshman:He works with an artist that matches.
Bobby Fleshman:Where we want to go with that, with the feel, look and feel of a label.
Bobby Fleshman:And then he does all the layout stuff.
Bobby Fleshman:And that is non trivial that that's an art in all of it in and of itself.
Bobby Fleshman:He's also a perfectionist, you know, he's got that artist brain and he does so much for us on our, on that side of the equation.
Bobby Fleshman:For sure.
Bobby Fleshman:I get people telling me, bring me some more posters at these bars that I deliver beer to because people keep stealing your posters.
Bobby Fleshman:Like that is such a compliment that tells you how awesome the graphics are, that people want them.
Gary Arndt:Would you feel the same way about people stealing your beer?
Bobby Fleshman:Oh, I mean, if they're just rebuying it from, you mean from me or from them?
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah,
Gary Arndt:no, I, no, a lot of your in line, a lot of your, the, the posters I've seen, and they're not actually everywhere here.
Gary Arndt:They're kind of just in your bathrooms.
Bobby Fleshman:They're not anywhere.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Bobby Fleshman:Except if I get maybe a couple in there.
Gary Arndt:They're kind of snarky.
Bobby Fleshman:We probably should do a little more with getting them on the wall.
Bobby Fleshman:Yeah.
Gary Arndt:All right.
Gary Arndt:Any, any last words on 547?
Gary Arndt:We've devoted an entire episode to just one beer
Joel Hermansen:Well, I'm glad we did.
Joel Hermansen:This was a great conversation.
Joel Hermansen:And I, and for those of you that are listening, come on in on a Wednesday night.
Joel Hermansen:Wednesday night is kind of the unofficial 547.
Bobby Fleshman:Yep.
Joel Hermansen:Night and we have a wonderful time and
Bobby Fleshman:When I when I sell beer out in the wild, I'm delivering beer all over the place.
Bobby Fleshman:I will tell people come on the weekend.
Bobby Fleshman:Of course, that's going to be fun or Mile of Music.
Bobby Fleshman:But if you really want to experience this tap room, come on a Wednesday night, it absolutely will make the best impression.
Gary Arndt:All right.
Gary Arndt:Well, that wraps up another episode of Respecting the Beer.
Gary Arndt:Thank you for listening and make sure to subscribe to the show and check out our Facebook group and Patreon page to receive updates about future episodes.
