BERLIN– Burley Oak Brewing Company, a business founded on innovation and risk, is attempting to launch the county’s first successful Kickstarter project in more than two years.
Burley Oak will use the popular crowd-sourced funding tool to launch their canning operation on Sept. 9.
Owner Bryan Brushmiller said the company came up with the idea while working with the Small Business Development Center at Salisbury University.
“They told us some other businesses they had worked with had done it with good results,” Brushmiller said. “We worked hard and saved our money for a new brew house, and then we realized we had to get the beer out and people wanted to get cans at their local stores. We thought it was a great opportunity to put Burley Oak in a can and put ‘made in Berlin, Maryland’ on it and kind of showcase Berlin in another way.”
Since Kickstarter launched in 2009 only one other Berlin-based project and three Ocean City projects reached their funding goals, the last coming in August 2012. The website allows people to reach out to the public in order to fund their ideas, with different rewards given to backers based on how much they donate.
“That’s why I got so excited about it,” Brushmiller said. “Here’s an opportunity to do something really, really fun with crowd sourcing and micro-funding. We have 10,000 followers on Facebook and thousands of people who come here yearly. If we could just get $10 from each of them to help us complete a goal and they get something in return as a reward – I thought it was a super-cool idea.”
Backer rewards range from small items like stickers, bottle openers and t-shirts to handcrafted coaster sets and hydro flasks. Backers who pledge a certain amount will have their name put on the wall in the brewery and receive an invite to the VIP can-release party.
“The big one is ‘brewer for a day,’” said Brushmiller. “Basically you pick a beer and you get to brew it here.”
Brushmiller said he chose cans over bottles for their sustainability and portability.
“Aluminum is by far the most-recycled product and cans are more likely to be recycled,” he said. “Cans are also more portable for us. We make beer that we want to drink, and we want to take that beer to places that go along with the lifestyle that we like to live. Going to the beach, out on the boat, pool bars, fishing, hiking – everybody that works here is an outdoor enthusiast so for us cans really fit that lifestyle.”
Rather than simply canning their mainline beers like Rude Boy or Just the Tip, Brushmiller said Burley Oak would opt for “something a little bit more unique.”
“Burley Oak is pretty unique and we do a lot of unique stuff, so we thought Kickstarter would be a real unique thing,” Brushmiller said. “It’s kind of a perfect marriage. I’m so excited to send Berlin, Maryland to the entire East Coast – via can.”
Burley Oak will hold a Kickstarter release party on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
For more information visit www.burleyoak.com.
Burley Oak will use the popular crowd-sourced funding tool to launch their canning operation on Sept. 9.
Owner Bryan Brushmiller said the company came up with the idea while working with the Small Business Development Center at Salisbury University.
“They told us some other businesses they had worked with had done it with good results,” Brushmiller said. “We worked hard and saved our money for a new brew house, and then we realized we had to get the beer out and people wanted to get cans at their local stores. We thought it was a great opportunity to put Burley Oak in a can and put ‘made in Berlin, Maryland’ on it and kind of showcase Berlin in another way.”
Since Kickstarter launched in 2009 only one other Berlin-based project and three Ocean City projects reached their funding goals, the last coming in August 2012. The website allows people to reach out to the public in order to fund their ideas, with different rewards given to backers based on how much they donate.
“That’s why I got so excited about it,” Brushmiller said. “Here’s an opportunity to do something really, really fun with crowd sourcing and micro-funding. We have 10,000 followers on Facebook and thousands of people who come here yearly. If we could just get $10 from each of them to help us complete a goal and they get something in return as a reward – I thought it was a super-cool idea.”
Backer rewards range from small items like stickers, bottle openers and t-shirts to handcrafted coaster sets and hydro flasks. Backers who pledge a certain amount will have their name put on the wall in the brewery and receive an invite to the VIP can-release party.
“The big one is ‘brewer for a day,’” said Brushmiller. “Basically you pick a beer and you get to brew it here.”
Brushmiller said he chose cans over bottles for their sustainability and portability.
“Aluminum is by far the most-recycled product and cans are more likely to be recycled,” he said. “Cans are also more portable for us. We make beer that we want to drink, and we want to take that beer to places that go along with the lifestyle that we like to live. Going to the beach, out on the boat, pool bars, fishing, hiking – everybody that works here is an outdoor enthusiast so for us cans really fit that lifestyle.”
Rather than simply canning their mainline beers like Rude Boy or Just the Tip, Brushmiller said Burley Oak would opt for “something a little bit more unique.”
“Burley Oak is pretty unique and we do a lot of unique stuff, so we thought Kickstarter would be a real unique thing,” Brushmiller said. “It’s kind of a perfect marriage. I’m so excited to send Berlin, Maryland to the entire East Coast – via can.”
Burley Oak will hold a Kickstarter release party on Tuesday, Sept. 9 at 8 p.m.
For more information visit www.burleyoak.com.