Photos
Horse visiting The Porter on Derby Day
Thank you to Sarina for sending us this awesome photo of a horse who decided to skip the races and drink beer instead! Smart horse, huh?
Check out how our Beer Cellar Table was made!
Missisipi Wood Trader’s blog post about our table is pretty cool!
Click here to read it!
The Festival
Last weekend Nick and I attended “The Festival” put on by Shelton Brothers and Twelve Percent Imports, two major players in importing Scandanavian, Belgian and New Zealand Beers. Shelton Brothers also represents some domestic brands like Jolly Pumpkin, West County Ciders and Dieu de Ciel (Canada is almost domestic right?)
We definitely tried to cram too much into one day, but it was an amazing experience, we met so many cool brewers and tried beers we might never get to drink again.
So let’s start with the best of the best, shall we?
Cantillon. It’s mythical and magical beer for all sour beer drinkers. Cantillon’s brewery is in the middle of Brussels; they still open the roof to get the yeast to float in during fermentation. Due to rising demand Cantillon has become very hard to get in Georgia, so we were thrilled to reacquaint ourselves with this old friend. In the bottle they had Fou Foune, Zwanzi 2010, Gueze, Kriek, and Vigneronne. On draft they had the same unblended lambic aged in 4 different barrels, a real treat because you could see how different beers turn out based on the barrels alone.
Mikkel was late due to a cancelled flight, but showed up before the end of the 1st session. He spent most of the time trying other people’s beers, but seemed nice (he agreed to sign our limited edition posters we bought)
Evil Twin, the Bikini Sour was to die for, they also had Yin and Yang, and we got to meet Jeppe (Evil Twin himself) He was super nice and laid back.
By the way, they are identical twins in case you didn’t know, we got them mixed up quite a few times!
Other highlights: Yeastie Boys Rex Attitude (an all smoked malt beer, that tasted like latex and scotch) Yeastie Boys Tea Leaf IPA, delicate hope allow the tea flavor to come through in this beautiful IPA. West County Cider makes all kinds of ciders from the very dry Baldwin to the Macintosh sweet, I enjoyed them all, but preferred the slighty pink and quite dry Baldwin. Premium from Stillwater, deliciously crazy, apparently the PBR recipe with brett added, nicely sour. Bourbon Barrel Aged Rigor Mortis from Dieu de Ciel was perfect, coconutty, rich, toffee. Likewise a dark saison from Dieu de Ciel that was aged in pinot noir barrels was vinous, sour and highly drinkable. Nogne’s Collaboration with Terrapin (a rye porter of course!) was amazing, quite hoppy, chewy rye, simply delightful!
Cantillon at Armsby's Abbey
Mechanic's Hall
During the break we ate at Armsby Abbey, which was packed and pouring tons of amazing beers in honor of the fest. We drank Cantillon on draft and Pretty Thing’s American Darling.
As someone who doesn’t go to a lot of beer festivals because of the crowds and the lack of beer I’ve never tried, I highly recommend The Festival, though pricey and far away from Atlanta, it is totally worth it for true beer aficionados.
Hiring Slow and Fire Fast
We have been incredibly lucky at The Porter to have had a very low staff turn over since opening. So when we do lose someone, we try to be thoughtful and careful about whom we hire to fill the empty spot. Sometimes when you’re short staffed and feeling the pressure on the schedule, it can lead you to jump to conclusions and hire someone too fast who turns out to not be right, which is the worst! Disciplining and terminating employees is everyone’s least favorite management job. Currently for the front of the house, an applicant has to have two interviews with two different managers and then does a stage for a few hours. (Stage is when you work for free like a try-out, to see the applicant in action) Usually this narrows the crowd from the slackers to the truly dedicated, but some times hard work and a love of beer is not enough. I’ve hired staff who simply were never going to be fast enough or multi-tasking enough to keep up with service at The Porter. There are certain things that are innate (like timing) which I can’t teach you. In that case, it’s time to fire fast. If it’s within the first 90 days, it’s as easy as saying “This isn’t a good fit.” any longer and I have to document the staff member’s failing and counsel them on improving and then document if they actually do improve! Whew, just thinking about the paperwork is making me tired. But that’s why you hire slow and fire fast!
Cheers,
Molly
Try, Try again
As in most businesses, resting on your laurels is not an option in the restaurant industry. One of the challenges of constantly trying to improve is that it can be exhausting! Which is why it is incredibly important to take vacations as a business owner. Even if the vacation had nothing to do with beer, Nick and I always come back refreshed and full of new ideas and resolutions. Nick and I got back from a family vacation to Hawaii 2 weeks ago and since then we have been working on a bunch of projects to improve The Porter. I have been cross training in the kitchen a few hours a week (something I’ve been saying I was going to do for years now, but never found the time) and Nick has been working on finding something to give our awesome customers on our four year anniversary. We both have been working on a new organization system for glassware and the walk-in kitchen cooler. Sometimes you think you’ve gotten to the bottom of a problem and 6 months later you have to start again. When you are tackling a problem for a 2nd or 3rd time, it reminds you that employees need constant, gentle reminders of your expectations. It’s not enough to waltz in, point out what’s wrong and waltz out, you have to let you’re employees know they are improving, or they did a great job. The second you stop paying attention is when the problem will start creeping back! Which is why, once again I am reminded why I don’t need kids, my restaurant is a 24 hour a day job enough of the time!
Firkin February!
Every Friday in February we are tapping an awesome firkin!
February 3rd: Mojo from Boulder Brewing Company
February 10th: Old Chub from Oskar Blues
February 17th: Moo-hoo from Terrapin
February 24th: Siren Noire from Heavy Seas
So come out and drink some delish cask beer this February!
Cheers!
