A nola Microbrew experience
Terren also explained to us some of the challenges associated with operating in an emerging beer market. "Sourcing ingredients can be hard," he said. "We just don't have access to the vast amount of quality ingredients that exist in the United States. We have to use dry yeast in all our batches because quality liquid yeast isn't sold in Argentina yet. Some ingredients like hops and grains we can source right here which is great, but finding great yeast and cheap quality water can prove to be very difficult."
Later in the night, Fransisco was nice enough to tell us about the relationship between microbrewers, sourcers, and bars throughout Buenos Aires. He explained to us that because the microbrew industry is still small in Buenos Aires, that the community is very tight knit. "If a bar needs ten kegs of a certain ale in a few hours, but can't pay that moment, we trust them completely," Fransisco told us. "It is the same situation with us and suppliers. If we need a few bags of grain that day because we got a big order, our relationship with local sources of ingredients allows us to go and pick up the grain right then without having to worry about getting payment together that moment. We are all friends in the industry. Because there is so much growth going on in the industry, we all succeed together. It's great to operate in an environment like that."
The last topic we discussed during our dinner stay was the Argentinian government. During our other studies in Buenos Aires we learned all about how many Argentinians disapproved of the current administration. The country has been suffering from hyperinflation of up to 35% in the past few years, depreciation of their currency has been rampant, and their government has lied to them about the state of the Argentinian economy and levels of corruption within the government the entire time. It is easy to understand why most citizens disliked the government. Fransisco has a unique take on the government as a businessman, though. "The current state of affairs actually works in our favor," he told us. "There is no regulation when it comes to the craft brewing industry. We don't have to bribe people to obtain a bunch of arbitrary licenses, or even pay special business taxes because the government hasn't put regulations on the microbrew industry."
"They have bigger things to worry about," Terren added with a sly smile.