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From Publishers Weekly
This winning tale of the rise of the Brooklyn Brewery follows the basic pattern of every entrepreneur's memoir: a restless visionary sets out to accomplish a dream, barely survives a series of setbacks, emerges victorious—and ready to tell readers how they can do the same. But this account serves up more than the usual suds and foam—its counsel is sound and its prose lively, and it should appeal to both wannabe industrialists and beer drinkers, not that those categories are mutually exclusive. In fact, the authors, foreign correspondent Hindy and banker Potter, decided to found their New York brewery, now 17 years in business and among the top 40 in the U.S. in sales, after consuming many bottles of Hindy's homebrew. The longtime partners tell their story in engaging, candid voices, delivering cautionary anecdotes, reflections on longstanding disagreements and lingering resentments, and brutally frank self-assessments. It helps the story immeasurably that beer is a more colorful subject than, say, spreadsheet software, a fact that gets the reader past the inevitable chapter on financing. Though Hindy and Potter may not help the aspiring entrepreneur strike gold, they offer a compelling model and a heartening story. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Inside Flap
"We faced many scary moments over the years, both spiritual—staring at the brink of bankruptcy—and physical—staring down the barrel of a 9mm pistol. When you start a business, it is not only your money and your investors' money that is on the line, it is your dream, your idea, and sometimes your life."
—Steve Hindy and Tom Potter

I s this a book for beer aficionados or business enthusiasts? Both, and it's as refreshing as a cold brew. In Beer School, authors and entrepreneurs Steve Hindy and Tom Potter share the improbable saga of Brooklyn Brewery, the company they grew from a home-brew hobby into a multimillion-dollar business—all in the most competitive beer market in the United States. If you have a thirst for entrepreneurial success, drink up. If you are a business manager or owner and want fresh ideas and insight, tap in. You'll learn entrepreneurial basics, plus some things textbooks don't teach you, as you follow the company's successes (and a few failures) and find out about:

From the beginning, the odds were against Steve and Tom. It's estimated that eight out of ten businesses fail in their first year. Yet these entrepreneurs succeeded in a competitive arena dominated by mega-corporations and mega-money. The brew they began making in a Brooklyn brownstone over twenty years ago is now sold around the world. Their story, recounting the fears and obstacles they faced and the decisions and successes they shared, will inspire you. Like discovering the perfect brew or starting a business, reading this book is a heady experience. Cheers!

From the Back Cover
A journalist and a banker share the life and business lessons they learned while building a successful brewery in New York City

"A great city should have great beer. New York finally has, thanks to Brooklyn. Steve Hindy and Tom Potter provided it. Beer School explains how they did it: their mistakes as well as their triumphs."
—Michael Jackson, The Beer Hunter®

"This account serves up more than the usual suds and foam—its counsel is sound and its prose lively, and it should appeal to both wannabe industrialists and beer drinkers, not that those categories are mutually exclusive."
—Publishers Weekly

"Great lessons on what every first-time entrepreneur will experience. Being down the block from the Brooklyn Brewery, I had firsthand witness to their positive impact on our community. I give Steve and Tom's book an A++!"
—Norm Brodsky, Senior Contributing Editor, Inc. magazine

"Steve Hindy and Tom Potter's Beer School may be the first business book ever that could set the cold heart of a Hollywood producer racing. This one has it all, Mr. DeMille, and if I owned the rights, I'd already have my people on the line with your people."
—Jack Curtin, Celebrator Beer News

"Beer School is a useful and entertaining book. In essence, this is the story of starting a beer business from scratch in New York City. The product is one readers can relate to, and the market is as tough as they get. What a fun challenge! The book can help not only those entrepreneurs who are starting a business but also those trying to grow one once it is established."
—Michael Preston, Adjunct Professor, Lang Center for Entrepreneurship, Columbia Business School, and coauthor of The Road to Success: How to Manage Growth

"The revealing story Steve and Tom tell about two partners entering a business out of passion, in an industry they knew little about, being seriously undercapitalized, with an overly naive business plan, and their ultimate success, is an inspiring tale."
—Ken Grossman, founder, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

Customer Reviews

From A Different Point of View
As the wife of a homebrewer, I often pretended to listen to my husband's dreams of one day starting his own brewery. After five years of pretending, I realized he was serious when he handed me Beer School and said, "If you're ever going to get on board, you've got to read this book." As a medical professional, the idea of reading a "business" book made me yawn. To my surprise, I couldn't put it down. I felt as if Tom and Steve were sitting across the table, telling me their story over dinner. Their honesty was both eye-opening and inspiring. I learned so much from Beer School and enjoyed every second of it. Reading this book gives you a good idea of how difficult it is to be successful in starting and running your own business, all the while making you feel like you can do it.
BTW-after reading Beer School, I finally got on board with my husband....founder of Tallgrass Brewing Company!

A well-written book that goes down as smoothly as Brooklyn Lager
I've no great interest in the brewery business, but I do enjoy well-written, instructive tales of entrepreneurship. 'Beer School' definitely falls into that category. One-time journalist and co-founder Steve Hindry can really write. No surprise there. The pleasant surprise is that ex-banker and fellow co-founder Tom Potter's chapters are just as enjoyable. Like their beer, the chapters go down smooth. The arrangement of the book makes it clear who's written what parts - the chapters are given names that start with either "Steve Tells..." or "Tom Tells...". Where Steve has written a chapter, we get Tom's viewpoint with "Tom Weighs In," and vice-versa. Sounds sort of clunky, but it's well executed by the co-authors. They clearly worked very closely in shaping a final, cohesive product. As a result, the format works well.

What drew me to the book originally was the forward by Mike Bloomberg. His endorsement is good enough for me.

A very good read
By nature, I am not a "reader"... I have a large stack of books that I've picked up over the years to pacify me while traveling. Most still have their respective airline ticket stubs safely marking the spot where I left off reading. So yes, it's a tad ironic that I'm now leaving a book review here... However, I read this cover-to-cover in two (long) evenings (that alone will tell anyone that knows me that this was a really good book!) so I'm at least qualified to comment on THIS one.

I've homebrewed for a couple of years and am in the early stages of investigating the feasibility of trying to make a living out of brewing. The story in the book really struck close to home for me... My potential partner and I work in fields that really couldn't be further from the brewing industry, much like the authors. While I know that the odds are against us, it was refreshing to read a story of someone that took a swing at it and hit a home run.

The book is by no means a step-by-step business plan for starting a brewery. It is much more a story of the trials and tribulations that faced them as they progressed from a crazy dream to a crazy success. It's a story about partnership. It's a story about taking a leap of faith. So don't purchase it expecting a step-by-step recipe for you to go out and quit your day job, but do purchase it and expect a general high-level look at starting a brewery, some good general business ideas that you may not have thought of, and a good story to tie it all together.

I found it to be a very honest, open story... The authors take turns writing chapters, and there were at least a couple of times that they were so honest that I caught myself thinking "Jeez, I'm pretty sure that the other guy's going to read this... Are you sure you wanted to say that?!" As you progress through the book though, you learn that this is just the relationship that they've built over the years... Very honest and open with one another whether it is good news or bad. I think that reading about the partnership was really one of the biggest take-aways that I got out of the book, but it certainly has more to offer than that.

In summary, I really enjoyed this book and would have no issues whatsoever giving it a very high recommendation for anyone that is considering starting ANY new business, brewery or not.