COOP Ale Works

[metro]

Eric, just FYI, you can get their chocolate cake at Market C. Makes it a little easier for the take home items. Also I know one of the owners of COOP so I can introduce you sometime.

[workman45]

Tried them out at Speakeasy's the other day. Best beer I've had since I last enjoyed a pint in England.

[trousers]

I tried all 4 the other night. Top notch stuff!

[OKCMallen]

The porter should be available in May.

[Greyhound808]

Hello all -

JD Merryweather here from COOP Ale Works. We want to thank OKC & Tulsa for the support we have received our first 45 days of being opened. We have 47 taps in 27 locations in OKC, Tulsa & Norman. We are expanding coverage on a steady pace so we can keep up with production. Sales have been great.

Check out coopaleworks.com for a location serving near you. We have four styles on tap at the moment and will be bringing out our Gran Sport Porter in May, as well as, a limited release of our Martzen Style aka Oktoberfest. The Oktoberfest is being released early in prep for Choctaw's festival.

Our focus has been to bring a local product to the market for the community. OKC has needed a citywide brewery! Hopefully COOP will meet that need.

Best to all and we welcome your input. Support your local bars & restaurants - they are a key element to a thriving city.

JD Merryweather jd (at) coopaleworks.com

[workman45]

Talked to an employee at Henry Hudsons tonight that didn't know about Coop's. Told him about the last 2 times I stopped at Tapwerks they were sold out of Coop's. Heard him talking to another customer who bragged on the product as well. In a later discussion he mentioned that they were getting 2 to 3 new taps per location. He also mentioned checking out Coop's so we'll see if anything comes of it. Hope so.

[Vines_&_Cattle]

It's at Tapwerks now? My evening is looking up!

[jarrington00]

COOP's Horny Toad cerveza is my current fav....I crave it sometimes. An absolute perfect patio drinking beer.

[fromdust]

tried their zeppelin and dnr at prohibition room. not a fan of the zeppelin but the dnr is a nice strong 10 point beer.

[alan]

JD Merryweather jd (at) coopaleworks.com

hey JD, i haven't had your products yet, but i am anxious to try them. i've a number of hopheaded friends who rave about them.

quick question, just a tad off topic; how are you dealing with some of the ABLE and other antiquated laws that don't seem very oklahoma brewer friendly?

is there any sort of lobbying group that we can throw our support behind to help make okc more brewer friendly?

[RSA]

The DNR belgian style is totally legit, BTW.

Yes it is!

We are serving COOP DNR and Zeppilin at Prohibition Room and have had very good sales on both. We are adding 2 more COOP taps very soon.

We also have a beer dinner with all 5 COOP products on May 26th at 6:30 Call 405-601-0363 if you are interested in attending.

[bluedogok]

Any plans on bottling? I would like to bring some back to Austin.

[Urbanized]

They definitely do plan on bottling. They already have the labels and packaging designed, and have purchased and installed bottling equipment. However, they have pushed back their planned rollout for bottling a couple of times due to demand on the keg product.

The reception has been incredible due to the aforementioned first-rate product. They have exceed all of their own early expectations for sales and are not wanting to scale up too fast, instead doing everything the right way and preserving the quality of the delivered product. Gotta say that I totally agree with their approach.

[bluedogok]

That's good, I just want to know when I can pick some up when back in OKC to bring back down here to enjoy.

[Urbanized]

Last I heard, they were planning on July, although that too may have been pushed back by now. I know they have slowed down on trying to place new taps here and in the Tulsa market, because they are having to burn the candle at both ends to satisfy the demand from the taps they already have. They have been really, really happy with the demand and like I said don't want to scale so quickly that they lose quality or leave existing customers without. Some other notable micros made that mistake, and they want to avoid that at all costs.

[Urbanized]

Weird question, but is the name pronounced coup or co-op?

Coop. Like a barrel cooper. They did, however, like the (clean) double entendre that the name brings to mind, meaning the cooperative nature of their business.

[Martin]

any update on when they start bottling? -M

[fromdust]

i asked the owner at a big liquor store in town if i could get my hands on some dnr. that was last week, and he told me all you can get are kegs. he said it would be that way for a long time to come.

[Martin]

perhaps their success has pushed the bottling plans way back... shucks.

-M

[Steve]

Don't rule it out ... I was visiting with someone last week (Urbanized, not sure it was you) and they were saying Coop folks might be working on a deal with another brewer needing bottling as well and going in on it together. At least that's what I recall - I wasn't taking notes and the conversation is kind of fuzzy now.

[blangtang]

i heard they have kegs of a belgian style brew, 11% alcohol content, at the coach's in norman. 6 bucks a pint, if its true. good stuff

[RSA]

Coop has an app for the iPhone. it will tell you about the beer and where to get it based on your location.

Blangtang, the coop DNR is a belian style but it is only 10%. Damn Good too!

[OKCMallen]

i heard they have kegs of a belgian style brew, 11% alcohol content, at the coach's in norman. 6 bucks a pint, if its true. good stuff

The DNR is great, as is their Gran Sport Porter. I think the Horny Toad and the Zeppelin wheat are both above-average/good offerings...the onyl oen that didn't impress me at all was the Native amber...but I don't drink much amber, so I'm probably not a good person to ask.

[Urbanized]

The dealio is this: they have 90-ish tap handles in 42 (I think) places. The tap demand has exceeded their expectations much more quickly than anticipated. They don't want to scale too fast, compromise quality, or have establishments running out of beer while they ramp up another product. They believe the best way to develop a core audience is by putting the beer on tap in quality restaurants and pubs throughout the state. As long as requests for tap handles keep coming in at the current pace, they probably won't be rushing into bottling.

Now, they DO own all of the equipment required, and have all of the labels and cartons designed, etc. In fact most of that was done before they even started keg production. They're just not in a hurry, and want to do things right.

Something that might change things is hitting certain revenue/cash milestones that they have set for themselves. Hitting those milestones would allow them to expand staff and add more equipment, etc., which would then increase capacity enough to satisfy tap AND bottle demand. Based on conversations I've had with them, they are closer to hitting those milestones than they expected to be at this point, so who knows? He said it could happen in a month or not until next spring, and while it's great to have as much interest as they do, they aren't going to rush things.

Remember, these guys studied the market, travelled to other craft breweries and did test batches for something like three years before they opened their doors. They are deliberate, and far more committed to doing things the right way, beer-wise, than they are in being the next Boulevard.

[OKCMallen]

Tried their seasonal imperial stout. It was really, really good but I doubt I'll ever buy it again.

Why?

One pint at the Prohibition Room cost over $10 with tax. That's just absurd. Locally brewed beers that traveled about 3 miles to where it came out of the tap should never cost that much.

I prefer Shiner Bock's model: they got in taps locally by being CHEAPER. Now look at this: they charge import price by the bottle.