Taxes, Cashflow, Inventory, Accounting Software....where's the Farming?

Lots of not quite visible productivity going on here on Windy Hill.  We decided that we needed to bite the bullet and start using a decent accounting package, especially now that we have started buying and selling serious quantities of inventory.  We first started with Quickbooks On-line.  The base version is ~$12/month and does almost everything we need.  We sent out a series of invoices and recorded payments.  However, it has a serious limitation for us...no inventory capabilities.  Since we already have a few dozen items we anticipate an easy and functional inventory systems as being key to keeping this endeavor fun.

Our priorities here are Family, Fun, Quality Beer, Community, Sustainability and Profitability.  We can't let the "business" parts interfere with with our reasons for doing this.  So not having a good inventory program conflicts with the fun criteria.  Strangely, to get to an online version of the program with inventory it requires going up two levels with a price of ~$40/month.  That challenges the sustainability and profitability criteria.  Fortunately, a reasonable solution was found with the program version of quickbook pro, which is currently on sale for ~$180 (20% discount).  This allows inventory and is much less expensive than the online version. This blog entry is being written while waiting for it to download; our internet access sucks.  That is a topic for another entry, but suffice it to say that we eagerly await the broadband equivalent of the rural electrification project.  We only live 1-2 miles from friends that have internet speeds of 2-6Mb/s for less than what we pay for 500Kb/s.

On the more exciting and positive front, we finally got our first big malt order together.  In the sense of community and cooperation, we are working with John Huber of Homebrew Supply of Southeast Missouri to combine our orders in order to save on freight shipping and garner additional savings by purchasing in even greater quantities.  John has been tremendously helpful in getting our business going and we are extremely thankful for his help.  It is really encouraging to see that we are working together to provide services for homebrewers in southern Illinois and southeast Missouri, rather than viewing each other as competitors.  In addition, a local friendly business is allowing the use of their loading dock to receive freight shipping since we don't yet have that capability.  It is really cool how this is all coming together through a sense of community, all for the purpose of encouraging the growth of great beer in southern Illinois.

For some real beer related news, we now have so many hops we had to buy a new freezer to put them in.  We won't break the vacuum on these right away because we need to obtain mylar bags to properly repackage and store them.  The newest trend in hop storage is actually loose packing with inert gas (usually nitrogen) and we are setting up to package using this method.  We want to guarantee freshness in our hops.  You will note on our labels, in addition to the normal information, the harvest year and the date we repackaged.  They will be in cold storage for the entire time we have them.  Additionally, the hops we sell that are not grown on-site are purchased from a grower/wholesaler in Washington that controls the harvest, processing and packaging to ensure freshness.  No more wondering about how many years your hops have sat in a dusty room.

Complete list of Fermentables

Here is a partial price list of malts we can get.  If you pre-order a whole sack when we make a bulk order you will receive a 20% discount from the normal sack price.  If you want in on this order let us know ASAP!

RAHR		1-10#	10-25#	50# sack
Premium	Pilsner	$1.48	$1.14	$0.95
Standard	2-Row	$1.48	$1.14	$0.95
Standard	6-Row	$1.45	$1.12	$0.93
Pale	Ale	$1.39	$1.07	$0.89
Red	Wheat	$1.48	$1.14	$0.95
White	Wheat	$1.54	$1.18	$0.99
Unmalted	Wheat	$1.68	$1.29	$1.08
Distillers	Malt	$1.39	$1.07	$0.89
BRIESS		1-10#	10-25#	50# sack
2-Row		$1.70	$1.31	$1.09
Pale	Ale	$1.99	$1.53	$1.27
Pilsen		$1.99	$1.53	$1.27
White	Wheat	$1.89	$1.45	$1.21
Wheat	(Red)	$1.78	$1.37	$1.14
Rye		$2.73	$2.10	$1.75
Ashburne	Mild	$2.10	$1.62	$1.35
Bonlander	Munich	$2.10	$1.62	$1.35
Aromatic		$2.07	$1.60	$1.33
Munich	10	$2.07	$1.60	$1.33
Munich	20	$2.10	$1.62	$1.35
Vienna		$2.10	$1.62	$1.35
2-Row	CaraPils	$2.39	$1.84	$1.53
CaraPils		$2.29	$1.76	$1.47
2-Row	C-10,	$2.50	$1.92	$1.60
2-Row	C-60,	$2.50	$1.92	$1.60
Caramel	10	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	20	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	30	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	40	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	60	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	80	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	90	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	120	$2.12	$1.63	$1.36
Caramel	Vienne	$2.15	$1.65	$1.38
Caramel	Munich	$2.15	$1.65	$1.38
Extra	Special	$2.21	$1.70	$1.42
Victory		$2.21	$1.70	$1.42
Special	Roast	$2.24	$1.72	$1.43
2-Row	Chocolate	$2.26	$1.74	$1.45
Chocolate		$2.19	$1.68	$1.40
Dark	Chocolate	$2.29	$1.76	$1.47
2-Row	Black	$2.26	$1.74	$1.45
Black	Malt	$2.19	$1.68	$1.40
Roasted	Barley	$2.09	$1.60	$1.34
Black	Barley	$2.14	$1.64	$1.37
Smoked	Malt	$3.15	$2.43	$2.02
Organic	2-Row	$2.52	$1.94	$1.61
Organic	Munich	$2.57	$1.98	$1.65
Organic	Carapils	$2.72	$2.09	$1.74
Organic	C-20	$2.80	$2.15	$1.79
Organic	C-60	$2.75	$2.11	$1.76
Organic	C-120	$2.75	$2.11	$1.76
Organic	Chocolate	$2.95	$2.27	$1.89
CRISP		1-10#	10-25#	55# sack
Pale	Ale	$1.97	$1.52	$1.26
Maris	Otter	$2.23	$1.72	$1.43
Dextrin	Malt	$2.09	$1.61	$1.34
Cara		$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Amber		$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Light	Munich (4)	$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Dark	Munich (20)	$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Crystal	Light (45)	$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Crystal	Dark (77)	$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Crystal	Extra dark (120)	$2.21	$1.70	$1.41
Brown	Malt	$2.23	$1.72	$1.43
Pale	Chocolate	$2.23	$1.72	$1.43
Chocolate		$2.23	$1.72	$1.43
Black		$2.23	$1.72	$1.43
Roasted	Barley	$2.23	$1.72	$1.43
Organic	Pale	$2.52	$1.94	$1.62

Listed here is the complete list of fermentables we can obtain from our main malt supplier.  We can provide a price on any item on request.

Hops soon to be in Stock

Hops are on the way.  Here is a list of the varieties we will have available.  If there is something missing you would like to see, let us know and we will try to get it.  We will have them available in 1, 2, and 6 ounce packages.

In T-90 pellet form: 

cascade golding centennial hallertau chinook magnum crystal northern brewer czech saaz nugget fuggle perle galena tettnanger willamette
And in Leaf form:
centennial hallertau chinook magnum crystal northern brewer czech saaz nugget galena perle golding tettnanger willamette

Current Inventory (3/7/2011)

Here is a list of what we currently have in stock.  We have ordered hops and should have them in stock soon.  Quantities of more than 5# of specialty grains will be discounted.  You can make a purchase by contacting us via email (windyhillhops@gmail.com).  We will send an invoice and arrange for local pickup/delivery.  We can also mail order to those not local (shipping charges apply).  Contact us with any questions.  Thanks.
Full Catalog and new website will be available soon!

Base Malts

2-row rahr ($47 per 50#sack)

2-row briess ($54 per 50# sack)

Specialty Malts

Warminster Floor Malterd Marris Otter ($1.75/#)

Rahr Pale ale malt (1.10/#)

Victory (2.25/#)

Rahr Pilsner (1.00/#)

crystal 25L (2.50/#)

briess crystal 40L (2.25/#)

briess crystal 60L (2.25/#)

crystal 85L (2.25/#)

chocolate malt (2.25/#)

black malt (2.25/#)

Roasted Barley (2.00/#)

Dakota Winter Rye (unmalted) (2.25/#)

Better than a Groundhog

This is surely a sign of spring to come.  They look like little match sticks to me.  We have refrained from looking in the past few weeks.  I have to admit to the irrationally fearful thought of, "what if they don't come up this year".  Now we can move on to worries about bugs, mold and how to get the next batch of rhizomes in the ground.

A Homebrewing First

I am excited to here about the fact that homebrewing is alive and well on Pennsylvania Ave.  No matter your political persuasion, homebrewers and those with interests in the local foods movement have to be excited about these symbolic developments.  I find it particularly cool that honey from their beehives was used in the brew.  Looks like we will be able to do that next year.
http://obamafoodorama.blogspot.com/2011/03/obamas-make-history-with-homebrewed.html

Too bad we are out of stock for the season, or we'd send them some Windy Hill Hops.