Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn
By Steve Hindy and Tom Potter, John Wiley & Sons, 2005

In his foreword to Beer School, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg claims that “as you read this book ... periodically, you will become thirsty.” That is to say, this nonfiction account of the rise of the Brooklyn Brewery will so tempt the palates of beer enthusiasts that they will be struck with an irresistible urge to drink beer. That may be true, but I have a feeling that beer enthusiasts pretty much feel a perpetually irresistible urge to drink beer, regardless of what they’re reading or not reading. Bloomberg’s implication, though, is that Beer School is such an ode to beer that it could make anyone seek out the nearest lager. That, I think, is not necessarily true. Unlike Steve Almond’s Candyfreak, which set just about all its readers on an immediate, unstoppable quest for chocolate, Beer School is not enough about beer to induce anything like an acute craving for the stuff. The book, really, is not sure what it wants to be, but it is unquestionably more about the business of beer than the drinking of it.

The problem, perhaps, is that the founders of the Brooklyn Brewery (who are also the authors of the book) aren’t strictly in love with beer. Steve Hindy, the guy who had the original idea for the business, is the most passionate of the pair; he became attracted to craft-brewed beers while working as a journalist in Saudi Arabia (where secret brewing of beer was one of the only ways that Westerners could get their hands on illegal alcohol), and his affection for the beverage followed him home when he returned to the United States. Still, his decision to start a beer company in Brooklyn seems to have been driven more by his desire get himself free from his journalism career than by a dream of being a brewer. The company’s other founder, Tom Potter, is even less interested in beer; he just happened to be Hindy’s neighbor and friend, and his involvement with the company was almost entirely business. He was a young banker, and he knew how to raise money.

A nonfiction book about a business venture is most engaging when it sets up a novel-like narrative that keeps the reader guessing, involved and turning pages. Good, traditional stories are becoming more and more rare in fiction these days, and a solid nonfiction narrative can be every bit as exciting as a well-written novel. Beer School, however, isn’t quite that. Hindy and Potter trade off the writing duties, each of them writing the chapters that focus on their respective specialties. Hindy is “Mr. Outside - the salesman, the marketer, the public relations man,” while Potter is “Mr. Inside - the numbers guy, the strategic thinker, the brains of the outfit.” Neither of them is Mr. Beer, the guy whose dream and all-consuming mission in life is to be a brewer, and the absence of that guy makes the story a pretty dry one.

So, what we’re left with is a mostly unappetizing business school textbook about what you need to do to start and grow a successful brewery in Brooklyn. Hindy and Potter jump around from topic to topic - mission statements, employee motivation, publicity - and the disjointed chronology robs the story of suspense and narrative tension. It is, in the end, just sound business advice.

As business advice, though, the book is not bad. Hindy and Potter offer valuable suggestions about how to get a business running successfully.

The real key to the Brooklyn Brewery’s success, according to the book’s subtext, appears to be twofold. First, Hindy and Potter were able to cash in on the yuppification of Brooklyn; their company capitalized on a geographical association (despite the fact that their beer wasn’t actually brewed in Brooklyn until nine years after the company was founded) that eventually gave the Brooklyn Brewery considerable trendy appeal. Second, a financially successful detour from the company’s main business objective, from brewing their own beer to distributing other brewers’ beer, kept the company from going under. Without these two factors, Beer School might not have such a happy ending.

Hindy and Potter try to spice up the story, including a slightly anticlimactic run-in with the Mafia and their ridiculous (and nearly financially fatal) ride on the Internet bubble (Would anyone like to invest in “TotalBeer.com”? Anyone?). Ultimately, though, Beer School is more school than beer. It’s about marketing and strategic planning and the mechanics of product distribution. Consequently, the only thing that Beer School made me thirsty for was a better book about beer.

Copyright 2005 Ad Media Inc.