Do you know a self-respecting craft brewery that has never done a collab? The CRAFT Megacollab 2024 once again brought together interesting Dutch SME breweries to surprise enthusiasts with their joint creations - and to let brewers learn from one another. Many a beer geek eagerly looks forward to a good collaboration brew (which 'collab' is short for). Where different brewers come together to create a shared beer, success is by no means guaranteed. In this article you'll read how you can significantly increase the chances of success for such an adventure.
My kettles, my rules
This is arguably the most important 'rule' of collab etiquette. The party that owns the brewing kit and bears responsibility for the sales of a collab beer sets the rules of the collaboration. Wild ideas? Absolutely - as long as they fit within the brew schedule of the 'host' brewery. A collab plan must fit into the bigger picture of the brewery that is making its kettles and fermentation tanks available. Does a wild idea place too heavy a demand on a brewery's cleaning capacity? Then the party simply won't happen in that form.
In a collab, the human element that comes with collaboration is also interesting. Different communication styles meet each other. Everyone brings not only adventurous ideas for unique beers but also their own expectations. A collab teaches you as a brewer that you need to be able to articulate clearly what you have in mind and how you want to achieve it.
Be realistic and flexible
If you bring a creative idea for a distinctive collab beer: understand what you're going to brew with. Think carefully about what impact it has when you want to brew with a particular flavouring ingredient. Does it cause hassle with cleaning afterwards? Or is it even possible to get hold of certain ingredients at all? Some exotic materials are hard to come by. Sourcing a one-off batch of flavourings unusual to us - exotic fruits or spices, for example - is often tricky. Either you have to import a container-load, or you pay far too much for a small quantity. A quantity sized precisely for a single brew is often very hard to obtain. How do you arrange, say, 750 kg of mango peels? Flexibility on the part of the participating brewers is a prerequisite for a successful collab.
Something else that helps: be realistic about what hops you want to brew with. Breweries often have long-term agreements with their hop suppliers - annual contracts, for example. Varieties that are perfectly affordable for a homebrewer, because you need relatively little of them, become genuinely expensive when you need them in larger volumes for a collab.
Think strategically
Make the most of your marketing potential: a collab can introduce you to new target audiences. Two brewery names appear on the label, so make sure you come across well. It does you no favours if the beer wearing that label is poor. Moreover, think strategically in your decisions. Are there certain market niches you share with your collab partner? Or do you perhaps share the same potential customers? What makes them happy? Brew your collab in that direction.
Seize your chance and make the most of the PR moment: a collab is a great opportunity for brewers to step outside their usual paths and leave their comfort zone. That way you can get acquainted with new ideas and add different recipes to your repertoire. But above all, a collab is also a great opportunity to generate buzz around the brand. Put a great post on your socials, choose a striking photo moment. Although brewing together may not be particularly photogenic, so that calls for creativity. Fortunately, brewing is a creative profession - so you'll manage. Right?
No-brainer
But above all, successful collabs come down to brewers who know exactly what they're doing. From what you've read above, it's already clear that it's important to make plain precisely what you want. And of course it's a no-brainer: the beer your collab produces must be of unimpeachable quality. To achieve both of those things it's important to make your point clearly - in a businesslike, well-considered way, preferably backed by tangible (measurable) results that make your intentions transparent.
Quality analysis helps here. Concrete numbers give direction to substantive discussion, which in turn helps to give the collaboration process in your collab a nudge in the right direction. It brings a great deal more energy when everyone involved can clearly see how things stand.
A collab means brewing a new recipe on a setup you may not be familiar with. It also means being flexible and making adjustments when necessary. Even when you brew a known recipe at a larger volume, the end result can turn out to be a different beer from what you originally had in mind.
Measuring prevents frustration
Save yourself the miscommunication or the frustration of failures. Accurate measurement throughout the entire brewing process is an indispensable ingredient for making your collab a success. Beer-o-Meter is a handy tool for that. In addition, the Beer-o-Meter team can help you as a brewer to fine-tune the adjustment processes for the recipe of your collab. And very hands-on: the people at Beer-o-Meter can contribute by testing and delivering fast results. That way you keep everything under control in your collab - and you can make the recipe-adjustment process as short as possible.
Curious how Beer-o-Meter can help make the collab your brewery has lined up a success? Get in touch with us. We're happy to discuss the possibilities with you, no strings attached.
P.S. Can you name a well-known Dutch craft brewery that has never done a collab? Let us know via our contact form. Your answer gives you a chance to win a high-quality prize. 😉