What - I gotta give you references? Are you collecting names of breweries that no longer exist? I'm not applying for a job, you know.

If you don't want to believe me, then don't. Fact remains, brewing beer is a tough way to make a living and the business failure rate is very high.

I never had anything to do with BJ's. That's where John Oliver, our former general manager, works.

Everything I did with brewing was between 1984 and November, 1999 when we sold our homebrew supply business. So OK, maybe it's got easier to make a buck making beer since then. Friends who are still in the business tell me it's even tougher now, though.

OK, the country has 1700 breweries now, just like a hundred years ago. At the start of the 20th century, though, all those little breweries had a big market share in their own local regions and they were all selling a fair amount of beer. Now, 4 or 5 giant corporations have 90% of the national beer market, and the other 1695 brewers are competing for the other 10%. Quite a difference.

I've never owned any part of a commercial brewing operation, though people have certainly tried to sell me some. My involvement was in helping friends who bit on the hooks I wouldn't bite - finding equipment and ingredients, and helping out by putting on rubber boots and shoveling piles of malted barley, running filtration equipment, stuff like that. In the course of that I got pretty familiar with the financial end of brewing - watching those businesses go broke and trying to keep it from happening.

Hey, maybe it's my "help" that made 'em all go t!ts up. It sounds like you've got plans in the wonderful world of commercial brewing. If you do it, better stay away from me - I'm a curse.