Brewing Up a Business, by Sam Calagione

As someone with a strong entrepreneurial bent, anything I try I want to make into a business. I learned how to brew so suddenly I wanted my own brewery or brewpub or meadery. Prudence dictated that I look into what that might entail before I went berzerkers, which is pretty much what I do when I get some idea or other. This book was a good reality check for me - while it is the telling of the inspirational tale of the birth of the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Delaware it is also a cautionary tale of how a business will not work unless you put your heart, soul, and money into it. As someone living in a locale with the highest standard of living in the nation, on a salary that barely covered rent, I could not really afford ingredients much less the property and government certifications. Someday I will have a brewery, but it is not going to be in Santa Monica, so it will have to wait, for now.

This book is an inspiring tale for anyone interested in starting a business, as well as providing sage advice about setting goals, creating a team that acts like a family, celebrating your little triumphs, and overcoming your setbacks. For the brewer, this is a particularly inspiring tale of one man's zen-like approach to brewing beer, where there are no rules, and he has the extreme, style-bending beers to prove it!