When Fred Colby decided to ditch his gig in the IT department of Coldwater Creek in 2005 to brew craft beer, he had a 3,000-foot warehouse, four beers on the roster, and a small bottling line that could do up to 40 cases an hour. He had two employees: himself and his wife.
Colby sold his Laughing Dog beers in northern Idaho, Spokane and the Boise areas and felt pretty good about leaving the safety of a corporate job — and steady paycheck — for the promise of a future doing what he loved to do. It was a gamble he was ready to take.
Five years later, it turns out Colby had the right vision. Since 2005, Colby has moved his Laughing Dog Brewing Co. in Ponderay to a facility twice the size of the original building, sells his beer in 35 states, and is about to more than double his brewing capacity next month, when two 60-barrel fermenting tanks are set to be delivered to the brewery.
His current bottling line can do 120 cases of 22-ounce bottles an hour, or 90 cases of 12-ounce bottles. Colby now has nine full-time employees (plus him and his wife) and three part-time bartenders for the Laughing Dog tap room.
Right now, Colby has more orders for his beers — including the Alpha Dog Imperial IPA, Dogzilla Black IPA, and Rocket Dog Rye IPA — than he can fill. He is brewing a beer for exclusive distribution on the East Coast.
Colby said he is not really concerned about the ability of the market to sustain the rapid expansion of the craft beer industry in the United States for now, saying there remains plenty of room to grow as more and more drinkers turn away from homogenous big brewer lagers and toward craft beer.
“Expand or die. Grow or die. That’s what I tell people,” Colby said with a laugh. “There are so many breweries coming on market that if you don’t stay aggressive, if you don’t grow, somebody will take that shelf space that was yours.”
“I’ve got the best job in the world, and I’m reminded of that every morning when I walk on the brewery floor.”
Right now, Laughing Dog can produce about 800 barrels of beer a month (that equals about 1,600 kegs). When he gets the new tanks in January, Colby will be able to add 480 barrels to that total.
Most of his business is in the 22-ounce-bottle market (Alpha Dog, Dogzilla and Rocket Dog beers are all sold in double deuces), but there is also good business in kegs. Laughing Dog sells its cream ale, pale ale, Cold Nose winter warmer and regular IPA in six-packs, but those haven’t proved as popular nationwide as the 22-ounce bottles, Colby said.
Colby said he expects to sell the equivalent of about 4,000 barrels in 2011 and says he may double that total next year based on orders he has from distributors.
“(Distributors in) New York City are ordering 300 kegs a month,” he said.
Laughing Dog is even making an exclusive beer for an East Coast distributor: the Sneaky Pete IPA, made with honey.
With all this growth comes the demand for new products. The latest recipe Colby and his brewers are working on is a coffee porter, which he hopes to bring to market some time next year.
He’s also a partner in a new brewery, Selkirk Abbey Brewing in Post Falls, which should open next year. That company, also a production brewery, will make Belgian-style beers.
While the growth of Laughing Dog has been hard work, it’s been incredibly rewarding work, Colby said with the zeal of someone who understands that he gets to do what he loves best for a living.
“I’m not stuck in the corporate world. I get to play with new things. It’s been fantastic,” Colby said.
Patrick Orr: 377-6219
Patrick Orr’s beer column runs the first Friday of the month.
