Hello!

Is this thing on?

Ha! How bout that!

I'm going to try to start us blogging again.

Til then, cheers to you good sir!

-Katie

Operation Smile!

AleWerks is teaming up with Operation Smile this season! It's a great charity that doesn't ask for much, but does a world of good.

We have a donation box in our store for small toys and office supplies that we plan on shipping out around mid-January. The items that can be donated are little, simple things that can go a long way to a child recovering from an operation, or a doctor who just needs a pen that works. We're all aware that money is tight this season, and whats wonderful about the nature of these donations is that most items can be picked up at a dollar.

Now, there are a few restrictions that are requested from these guys, mostly because the majority of donations get shipped overseas. Miss El has compiled a list of what's being requested for everyone to use. (Because she's helpful like that.)

Smile Bags:

Travel size shampoo                                                   small stuffed animal (beanie baby size)

Small comb                                                                 small square mirror (3”x3”)

New wash cloth                                                          sample size toothpaste

Child-sized tooth brush                                               hotel size bar of soap

8pack crayons

Thin 8 ½ x11 coloring book

Doctor’s Supplies:

Flashlights and D-Cell batteries                                  Blue and black ink pens

Bulk file folders (colored)                                            Sandwich size ziplocks

Staplers (bostitch or swingline)                                   Staples

Staple Removers                                                        Scissors

Large Rubber Bands                                                   Scotch Tape and dispensers

2 hole punch                                                               Glue Sticks

Clipboards                                                                   White out (correction pen/exactliner)

Colored markers (10-12 packs)                                 Black Sharpie Markers

Highlighters (yellow, green, pink)                               55 Gallon trash bags

1 inch masking tape                                                    Pencil Sharpeners

Toys:

Action Figures                                                             Barbies and Dolls

Barrettes                                                                     Blow up beach balls

Board/card Games                                                     Cars and Trucks        

Fisher Price Medical Kits                                            Floor mats or large sheets     

Frisbees                                                                      Giant duplo blocks

Infant Rattles                                                               Jacks, Jump Ropes, and soft balls

Liquid Bubbles                                                 Mr. Potato Head

Nail Polish                                                                   Plastic Slinky

Play-Doh                                                                     Chalk

Children’s Scissors                                                     Coloring Books

Construction Paper                                                     Crayons/markers/colored pencils

Ink Pads/Stamps                                                        Pipe Cleaners

Stickers                                                                       Puppets

Pull toys                                                                      Puzzles

Infant toys                                                                   Mini Basketball hoop w/ball

Wind-up Toys                                                              Stuffed Animals

Quilts/Blankets/Afghans:

-Child-sized at 45”x45”, 54”x54”, 45”x54”

-Cotton fabric or light fleece

-Quilts should have light batting

Ø  The children have the blankets in the hospital, but get to take them home after! It’s a great project for someone who’s a little more craft-minded!

OOnce again, we're going to be running through mid-January, especially since we know how busy the holiday's can be. But if you're stopping in, stop in with a little treat for a great a cause. We have our box in the window, wrapped up with Santa paper. Let's fill this box up before we send it off!

Cheers, and Happy Holidays from Everyone here at AleWerks!

 O

Christmas Orders!

The Season isn't just on it's way: it's down right looming over us. And tucked away here in my little nest of an office at AleWerks, I've already got a pile of orders waiting to be shipped out to customers.

Since this seems so popular, I thought I'd give you guys a heads up on how to do a phone order for merchandise with us! (I'm so helpful.)

1. We can't ship beer. Sorry! But most of the rest of our merchandise is still perfectly mail-able.

2. When you call, please call between noon and 5:30. That's when our register is up and running, so that's when I'll be able to put your order through the fastest and easiest.

3. Be sure to have the credit card you want to use handy!

4. You can always slip Miss El an email note first: let her know what you want, and she can pull it aside for you. (Be sure to leave your phone number and a good time to call you.)

5. For the holiday season, we'll be doing a flat-rate shipping of $7 per order. So order lots!

6. We'll always try to get your stuff out to you within a day or three of placing your order. Remember this is the holiday rush time at the post office, though, so give yourself time to get it. Once it's in the hands of Postman Pat, it's out of our control and we probably don't know it's exact GPS location. (That would be awesome if we did, though. Like a superpower...actually, that would be a pretty lame superpower, come to think of it. So never mind.)

And lastly, don't use our website as a guide. El will be posting updated product photographs throughout this week and next, but it's a lengthy process. But you can call, or write, at any time with any questions about anything.

As always, cheers! And everybody be safe this holiday season!

News, News, and..well...

 I had a lot of pictures to go with this post, so I figured I'd just link them in rather than kill your connection. You're welcome.

Blog posts may be rarer these days, but it only means we’re busier. We’ve gotten a new fermenter in* and beer is very literally flying out the door. Our little brewery is getting constant upgrades and patches just to keep up with the demand. It’s a lot of work, sweat (especially in Virginia heat,) and sometimes tears and a bit of blood…but don’t worry. No bodily fluids ever touch the beer, but more importantly, it means we’re on the right track. 

In what I like to call Very Cool News, a young man and Virginia native named Brian Hampton stopped by. He’s talented writer, and with a lot of hard work, perseverance, and a bit of luck –something we know a thing or two about- he’s getting a movie made out of his already acclaimed New York play, “Checking In”.  (You can find the website for him and his work here, and even request a copy of the script if you’re so inclined.) The best part of all…beer is a big part of the story, and Brian drove all the way down here so he could specifically pick up some AleWerks to use in the film. So everyone: keep your eyes peeled for a case of Chesapeake Pale Ale in this upcoming movie. We know we’re excited. 

And lastly: Someone decided to stick their gum under MY counter while we gave them a tasting. I have already sent out my army of Zombie Squirrels to find you. You are a guest in our house: act appropriately. I wouldn't spit all over your place. So I’m sending out my Balrog as soon as the Zombie Squirrels report back, and whoever did this shall not know peace for a thousand generations.  I will curse your taste buds so that everything tastes like pork. Including beer. And no one wants Pork Ale, okay?

Don’t mess with my store.  

And Lastly: Countdown To Bourbon Barrel Porter =  Really, really soon. Seriously. 

It s good to get AND to give

We've done it again. In the words of someone far more famous and successful than I, 'How hard can it be?'

Apparently, pretty hard. We...okay, El, was super excited to create an awesome new t-shirt design with one of her all-time favorite people: Thor.

To anyone who gets this reference: You win.

The big problem here is that there was a misprint. So we sent them back, asked for it to be fixed...and then there was still a misprint. You can hardly see it (there's a space between two letters where there shouldn't be,) but we know it's there. And lets face it, in a place like this, we take pride in our product. Even if we didn't directly make it.

So we thought to ourselves, "What do we do with this?" It  still has our name on it, but it's not 100% what it should be.

We came up with a great solution: We're going to sell them to you for $15...but you can pay however much more you want. I'm sure you're asking why in Valhalla (get it?) you'd want to do that, but we decided to take all the profits for this shirt and donate it to Big Brothers, Big Sisters. So the more you pay for the Mighty Thor, the more goes to this awesome program.

Win. Just utter, epic win. Except for that weird spacing issue.We're on a limited supply, so get yours now!





PS: Since we're doing this for charity, we are willing to do phone-orders for this shirt. :) Call us during store hours if you want to order!

A Groupon: We has it!

As some of you may have seen, there's a Groupon out there with our name on it! We're hugely excited over all the responses we've already gotten from it. BUT, there have been some frequently asked questions, so I made up this map to clear things up.

(Yeah, I know it looks a bit funky, but it's the only way I could get the picture on here at a readable size.)

Mmm....beer. Anyway, you can call us to reserve a tour, or go to our website and reserve it there. (That's the recommended way to go about it.) If all goes well with reserving a tour online, you won't hear from us. That means you've done it right. We really only email back if you have specific questions, or if you gave us a time or date we can't accommodate.

If you ever have any questions about a tour, just email Miss El! (missel (at) williamsburgalewerks (dot) com...sorry Spambots.) Or you can find her under "staff" on the website.

Once Again

Y'all:

We don't fill kegs*. We never have. Despite what your buddy Frank says. (Or your buddies Bill, Herbert, Lionel, or Clive.) There is no plans to do so. Nor do we use Cornelius kegs. Again, never have. No plans to start. (Yes, you may have seen them, once. But they are not used for anything involving the retail-end of the game.)

I don't know where everyone is hearing that we fill kegs, but I've been getting alot of phone calls over it lately. And I've been accused of lying/not knowing what I'm talking about. Not cool, guys. I know that 99.98% of you are the most awesome people ever, but for that other .01%, behave yourselves.


Now for something fun:

Countdown to Bourbon Barrel Porter?

2 Months

How are you guys going to prepare? Tell us! We want to see how creative you guys are...and we know you're super-uber creative. Lets have some fun!

And coming soon: We're going to tell you about the new sugar we're using to make the Bourbon Barrel Porter. It's exciting, a little exotic, and really good!

Cheers!
-El


*5-litre mini-kegs being the only exception.