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PALO ALTO BREWING Mountain View, CA Founded: 1983 Owners: Founded by Ken Kolence, a computer executive, who believed consumers would support cask-conditioned real ale, a traditional English style. Palo Alto sold beer in liter bottles, half kegs, and "beer in a box" (ouch!). Their flagship brand was London Real Ale, with a regal British lion adorning the large square gold and black label. Their market was the upscale San Mateo and Santa Clara counties south of San Francisco. Production was 1,500 barrels in 1985. Kolence sold the 7-barrel brewery in 1985 to Bob Stoddard, a local sales representative for Miller Brewing, who had never brewed before. Kolence reportedly invested a couple hundred thousand dollars in his start up company, and Stoddard put in an additional $50,000 of his own money when he took over. "But it was too little, too late," Stoddard told The Erickson Report. "We added a 20-barrel brewhouse, bought a used soda bottling line, and tried to get into bottles. But it was a disaster. We had the bottling line ready to go when our glass supplier called and said they couldn't sell bottles to us -- their supply was committed to major brewers. And the soda bottler was a poor choice; it never worked right." Why did the venture fail? "Many reasons," Stoddard said. "Real ale is a tough sell today, much less ten years ago. We were way undercapitlized. We were probably too early in the game. It was an uphill battle to sell beer." | Palo Alto merits an asterisk in the brewing history books, however. It produced the first contract brewed Pete's Wicked Ale for Pete Slosberg, a computer manager and local homebrewer who started his company on a shoe string. YEARS OF OPERATION: 1983-1987 (last beer brewed in 1986) REASONS FOR FAILURE: Under capitalized, lack of focus, little experience, inefficient equipment Alumni: Bob Stoddard, Stoddard's Brewpub, Sunnyvale, CA. Pete Slosberg, Pete's Wicked Ales, Palo Alto, CA. Equipment bought by Tied House Brewery in Mountain View, which is still in operation. (Publishers note: I visited Palo Alto Brewing in 1986 as I was researching "Star Spangled Beer: A Guide to America's New Microbreweries and Brewpubs. " I remember the idealism and determination of the people I met, but was puzzled at their packaging. "Beer in a box" seemed downright goofy and I felt that consumers would be confused by the packaging. The KISS admonition -- Keep it Simple Stupid -- kept running through my mind. JE |
