He Worked Global Oil & Gas, Then Built a Brewery
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;23;09
Unknown
Welcome to energy 101. We are in studio two for the first time and I'm brought here by Sean Heron. Welcome. Thank you very much for having me. Appreciate it. All right. So I'm joining two interest today. Beer and energy right here in energy. And, we had someone in the community basically tell me like that you would love to come on.
00;00;23;09 - 00;00;42;26
Unknown
And I was like, oh, my God, I love beer. And the guy comes from the industry. He's from Australia, where, if y'all know, I made this documentary in July or last July about everything going on there, including the Beatles in the Northern Territory. And so all my interests are just built into this one man sitting here in front of me.
00;00;42;28 - 00;00;59;03
Unknown
I'm sure to disappoint. We'll see how we go. Yeah. So why don't we get into your background, your story. I mean, there's so much from, like, what you actually did. An energy to the brewery you're running today. I think we'll end up going about like, 20 minutes about beer. And that's totally fine. I don't beer like everyone loves beer.
00;00;59;03 - 00;01;35;10
Unknown
Who doesn't love beers? Good beers. Good. Excellent. Yeah. So, look, my background, spent in my, I have two, two lives, corporate life and, you know, private investment life. And and in my corporate life, you know, 25 plus years, in Australia, in the US, in minerals, in oil and gas. So, that was across a bunch of commodities, you know, copper, iron ore, gold, silver, metallurgical coal and upstream, oil and gas exploration, which was predominantly, well, based here in Houston, actually back in the day.
00;01;35;12 - 00;01;58;01
Unknown
And then I was in my remit was the global exploration portfolio, actually. So all offshore. So none of it onshore, offshore and global. So looking after the portfolio effectively, for, for a wonderful Australian company. Yeah. So all offshore like on on I'm guessing like Perth on the west coast, on the west coast, Gulf of Mexico.
00;01;58;03 - 00;02;20;07
Unknown
Looking at new ventures in South America, Africa, southern, southern Africa and so, yeah, it was it was definitely Perth on the because I have operating assets on the North West Shelf, and obviously a legacy asset. Well, at that time, was in Bass Strait, which for your view is, is that bit between the southern part of Australia and Tasmania on the editor.
00;02;20;07 - 00;02;36;25
Unknown
So I get to pull up all the maps. Oh, that was in a video. So I'll pull that up for everyone to see. So you talked about the channel in between like work Tasmania and what is that, the Queenslander. No, that would be Victoria. Sorry, I down the bottom there. So, yes, largely there and a wee bit to the west.
00;02;36;25 - 00;02;59;06
Unknown
There's a basin there that that is a legacy oil field, from the 60s. That, you know, Australia is self-sufficient in energy in that respect. It's a net exporter has been for years, probably because not too many people that live there. But, prior to North-West shelf, Bass Strait was from the 60s, I believe you might have to fact check me on that one.
00;02;59;08 - 00;03;25;24
Unknown
And a huge field and we, sorry, that the company I was with was with, so part of Exxon and, you know, joint venture there and that's been that was the legacy asset. And then, of course, the Northwest Shelf, as you referred to, came up, later on in terms of the exploration program and a lot of this gas or static gas that was there for for decades, obviously been commercialized more in more recent times through LNG.
00;03;25;29 - 00;03;45;15
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. So, just staying on the offshore real quick. Do you notice like a difference between the, the west coast of Australia and the Gulf of Mexico, like, I mean, at the end of the day, you're you're on a big oil rig in the middle of the water. So is there a difference culturally, geographically, geographically? Definitely.
00;03;45;15 - 00;04;06;13
Unknown
Culturally? No, I mean, it's it's part of the same gig. The biggest issue is going to come into the infrastructure, right, in any, as you mentioned, geography. So you've got Gulf of Mexico, you've you've got incredible amounts of infrastructure too, on onshore, Louisiana and Texas. And, and you can commercialize that product right there, refineries and so forth.
00;04;06;15 - 00;04;31;08
Unknown
In terms of Australia, you know, we're a country which I think we just hit 28 million in, in a, in a geographical landmass that's about 90 or 95% of, of the continental US, basically identical. Yeah. With within a few percent. And clearly, as, as many viewers will know, we live in certain pockets, in predominantly on the, on the, on the East Coast and a little bit on the southwest.
00;04;31;08 - 00;04;52;27
Unknown
Yeah. Where Perth is located. But what that means is the challenges for that, of course, which is why this gas was static for years. There's no market is. So it's very different to a Gulf of Mexico where you've got, what, 300 and plus million people. 300. What what is it? Three 4350 in the U.S, whatever it is, add like 30 million more, you know, you know, you're always like east.
00;04;52;29 - 00;05;14;02
Unknown
You still think the world population is like 7 billion. It's like, oh no, it just hit nine. It's like, oh shit, we need to stop writing you ways. There you go. But, you know, completely different markets, completely different, sort of commercialization, issues that, that Australia has because of its, isolation, from, from world markets.
00;05;14;02 - 00;05;39;25
Unknown
Really. Yeah. Yeah. It's it's crazy. Like, I, I love using a site called True Size of and it's where you can drag the countries on top of other countries and say, okay. And so I'll show right now, just like I'll show you on top of the U.S. and then I've made these beautiful graphs, for my documentary, where, like, I show the populations in the circles and you see, like the way it kind of wraps around the west, to the south, to the east, or everyone lives and that's it.
00;05;40;01 - 00;05;59;06
Unknown
Like, even, Darwin up into the Northern Territory is like a lot during my research, was like the 16th largest city, and it was only about a quarter million. Yeah. And we're in Houston, which has like 10 million people. Wherever you draw the line, I mean, like 4 or 5 million people, or at least if you count the greater area.
00;05;59;06 - 00;06;21;18
Unknown
Yeah. And, it it just really puts in a perspective like of, like how just how do you run something like that with all that land and all that space? What is like the infrastructure like in Australia, like when it comes to midstream and piping and stuff? Because I understand that in Western Australia, that's where a lot of the laws are, were more loose and all the drilling and mining is I'm not even talking about oil and gas.
00;06;21;18 - 00;06;39;27
Unknown
You all are huge on minerals like you said you did. Gold, silver. That's right. You're right about that. You were, tapping into uranium. Like there's all kinds of commodities out there. That is correct. And then, you know, decent amount of people live in Western Australia towards Adelaide and then all the way to the east. That's where everyone really is.
00;06;40;04 - 00;07;01;08
Unknown
Is that all connected? All the way over there? It's fairly, compared to a US. No. It'd be like comparing the US rail system to, the European rail system if you've ever looked at those maps. So the US has basically one rail line from east to west. It looks like it's starved of light. It's like a skeleton of what European countries.
00;07;01;08 - 00;07;23;22
Unknown
And yet you see Europe where it's just covered in it. Right. So very similar sort of analogy to or comparative, I should say, to between our sort of infrastructure and the US. So in terms of, you know, a population of 28 million, I think Perth might have eclipsed a million. You know, it's a very it's a great city.
00;07;23;22 - 00;07;42;17
Unknown
If you've ever get the opportunity to go to Perth. It's a wonderful city, but it's incredibly isolated. I mean, it's a five hour flight from Sydney. So you think about coming from United States to Australia to the eastern seaboard, whether that be Brisbane, Sydney and to an extent, Melbourne. You have another up to five hour flight to get to Perth.
00;07;42;17 - 00;08;02;28
Unknown
Right. So you've spent 14, 15 hours from your east coast to get home and then you've got another five. So it's a long way. Why? What that means, of course, is if that's where all the the gas reserves and the oil reserves are, you're not going to have a comprehensive infrastructure to get that over to the East Coast necessarily.
00;08;03;00 - 00;08;29;25
Unknown
And there lies in the issue with our energy challenges. In Australia, we really we have Asia is so close to the north, you know, the LNG and the exports. That's where it all goes and what we call the Singapore landed price. And that's really a big issue amongst Australian consumers is we we own all this resource, but we're competing amongst ourselves to pay for it in terms of energy.
00;08;29;28 - 00;08;51;18
Unknown
And and then on top of that, of course, Australia is addicted to tax and probably not not too far from a California type situation. So, you know, in terms of the price a consumer pays at, at the pump or in terms of their, household energy is is really quite staggering. Yeah. I like how you brought up California.
00;08;51;18 - 00;09;13;08
Unknown
I would describe just culturally, from what I understand, the entire country of Australia is like one giant California from the way they they're, they're activist rights and the way they view energy and the conservatism of that, like, they have abundance of, of all the, their own resources. But I from what I understand, is you don't utilize it all.
00;09;13;08 - 00;09;41;09
Unknown
You'll have a lot of rules and moratoriums and strict, laws against drilling, mining. I mean, obviously, there's big reasons environmental reasons, like the Great Barrier Reef on the whole entire East Coast. Like, maybe we shouldn't drill there and y'all don't. Right? So, no, that's right. It's a good point. Look, you know, California is very unique. And I think we all understand that Australia takes an approach of sustainability and it takes it seriously.
00;09;41;11 - 00;10;06;07
Unknown
We also have a very high standard of living, in amongst all of the, developed countries of the world, Australia is consistently up there is one of the higher, higher standard of living countries. And we've done that really. It was originally through agriculture and now it's it transitioned into minerals and, and and energy. Right. So but, you know, do we have the balance right in Australia?
00;10;06;07 - 00;10;34;25
Unknown
You know, maybe maybe not. I mean, who does have the balance, right. Yeah. But I do believe and and and I'm comfortable studying this as well, that Australia has a really good balance between extracting the value for its citizens and residents, but at the same time, preserving, to, to the environmental conservation, it that's a quite a generalization, but we're talking about a pretty general topic, right.
00;10;34;25 - 00;10;59;14
Unknown
Barrier reef is a great example. You know, we have we have ports over on the, on the, East Coast that, export coal, metallurgical and. Well, we can talk about energy. Coal was a little bit different these days. I've put the big clamps down on energy coal. But, you know, there there is incredible rigor, put through that because of the Great Barrier Reef.
00;10;59;14 - 00;11;20;23
Unknown
Right. So we do take it seriously. And have we got it right? Is it perfect? Clearly not. It's not perfect. But, I'm I'm personally as a citizen of started pretty comfortable with with the, the nuns or sort of the bipartisan approach to getting the conservation right. The next step, of course, and you mentioned early is uranium.
00;11;20;23 - 00;11;45;27
Unknown
Right. And it's something that Australia grapples with is uranium. We we have a great resource of uranium down there. And given our isolation, there are so many reasons why it would work, for our energy needs. But the reason it's not there is to twofold. We still want to extract the more the fossil fuel in terms of, energy, coal and, and oil and gas, but also there's the waste.
00;11;45;27 - 00;12;07;01
Unknown
What do you do with the, with the waste of uranium? And it's a serious issue and a serious topic, and it gets debated, ad nauseum in, in Australia. So I think we've got a balanced approach. I can't really comment on California to make sure. All I know is, what I see, in the, in the business news and wealth taxes and all this other thing and I'm like, oh gosh, no, I thank you.
00;12;07;08 - 00;12;29;01
Unknown
But, you know, I think we're in a, in a, in a sustainable space. Yeah, yeah. The California white balance comparison is just, I like to dumb things down. It's it's not that. Don't take it too literal. No, I understand, but the. Oh yeah. Anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have nice beaches in California. But at the end of the day, all this far from.
00;12;29;01 - 00;12;52;12
Unknown
And go to my beaches in Australia. Yeah I would say I honestly I would say I'll show you is a lot more like Texas. The culturally at least the kind of people there, the grit, the, the southern hospitality. I especially going up to the Northern Territory, I mean, that the northern Territory is Texas. And then saying all I'll show you is Texas is a little bit more loaded.
00;12;52;12 - 00;13;11;07
Unknown
But what are some interesting comparisons? Yeah. Great point. Look, when I first moved here in the late 90s and, you know, I came from, you know, an iron ore mine, actually, it was in north west Australia, as remote as you'll get. And my first impressions of Texas were, wow, it's similar to what you were just saying.
00;13;11;07 - 00;13;35;27
Unknown
He's got this is like Australia in the United States. People are great, easygoing, hard workers, but they don't overthink and overstress things. And yeah, it's probably different to the middle of Manhattan. But, you know, that's quite, you know, quite a different approach. But I tell, you know, my friends and family a lot are said, you know, Texas does remind me of Australia a lot.
00;13;35;27 - 00;13;56;23
Unknown
The cultures are similar. Cultures of us in Australia are different. And that's great. So it should be, you know, and it's what makes the world go round. Right. But Texas and Australia very similar in terms of their approach to life. So I understand that, you know, growing up and Australia and where you've worked and with the university and stuff like that, you're in the Brisbane City of Brisbane.
00;13;56;26 - 00;14;17;25
Unknown
And you know, when people think of I'll show you, they think of Sydney and that's about it. You know, you go to any American point to Sydney on a map, they probably would just point in the middle. True. Yeah. We're really bad at maps. But Brisbane is one of the many East coast cities. And if you don't know where Bluey is inspired off of that is right.
00;14;17;25 - 00;14;35;05
Unknown
That's correct. You know, there's there's there's these cool pictures online where like they compare like the animation to like the real life spots. And you know, it's such a great wholesome show who doesn't love it? And when I was in Australia, I was tag team with the guy Alex Cody. Amazing, super smart person. When it comes to energy.
00;14;35;12 - 00;14;50;07
Unknown
And, he lives in Brisbane and he really hyped it up. So, you know, what would you say to all the Americans? You know, they're like, oh, you know, don't go to Sydney, go to Brisbane. Like, what do you have to say about it? And bring, you know, tie in your career university. Like what does it have to do with energy centralized I don't know.
00;14;50;07 - 00;15;21;20
Unknown
Yeah. Look good point. In fact I had this conversation with them at the pub in the restaurant the other day, actually with it with a, with a regular and we actually talking Rugby World Cup because he's planning a trip which, for you wonderful viewers there, our listeners, you're the World Cup is is next year 2027. And he's planning a trip and an American who hadn't been to Aussie before and so actually had to talk through for someone who's never been there before, where would you go and why and how long do you trip?
00;15;21;20 - 00;15;44;07
Unknown
So for a for a shorter trip, I said, look, you do have to say Sydney. You do. It's it's it's an incredible from a tourist perspective, visitor perspective. It is so nice, to see, you know, the harbor and some of the beaches right there. But I love Melbourne too. So Melbourne is this eclectic? Sort of, you know, savvy between sports and restaurants.
00;15;44;07 - 00;16;03;14
Unknown
And you'll go down, you know, cobblestone lane, literally, and open up a nondescript door. And here's this beautiful restaurant down there that's the Melbourne sort of look and say, it is. It is in a great in sport. Right. So I think, you know, as we're as we're talking right now, the Australian opens on it right in, in sort of in late January, February.
00;16;03;16 - 00;16;27;12
Unknown
So Brisbane it's more of the it's the city tropical. So you go up there for beaches of course. But you go up there for nice weather. For a relaxed life. Better get it done. Life and and I'm from Brisbane, actually, I'm a place called Toowoomba, which is about, an hour and a half west. And my family is originally, crop farming and cattle.
00;16;27;14 - 00;16;45;27
Unknown
And that's, the Darling Downs is what it's called. And where now they do actually have a lot of, what do you call it? I guess the, the the onshore drilling. Yeah. To get a lot of the gas out of there. So, but in, in fertile sort of crop crop areas. So you've got to be careful disrupting the food supply.
00;16;45;27 - 00;17;05;23
Unknown
Right? Yeah. But in terms of Brisbane, you know, what would I tell someone who's coming to Australia? Perth. Great. But you need a map and a compass to find it. A bit of tongue in cheek. It's a great city. Brisbane, I love because it's home and it's right near the beaches. Has great weather. Sydney's great, but it's full of people from New South Wales, so you got to be careful of that.
00;17;05;25 - 00;17;29;05
Unknown
We do have that sporting rivalry. Yeah. And love Victoria. It's a Brisbane. Queensland Victorians are probably very similar in terms of our approach to life and similar to Texans. So there you go. Yeah. Does that answer that. Yeah. Yeah. Wrapping up just talking about Australia, culture in general. You know, a little bit of rugby. One of my the coolest things I learned is that, yeah, I'll do some kind of tournament.
00;17;29;11 - 00;17;46;08
Unknown
I mean, first off, there's like different rugby, there's union rugby and then there's. What is it, rugby league. Rugby league. Yeah. So one of those, they have a, you'll basically do this thing where the players best players play with their original clubs, where they grew up in, whether it was like Queensland or New South Wales or something like that.
00;17;46;08 - 00;18;04;06
Unknown
And you'll go again. They go against each other. How does that work and which one is that. Yeah. So will in both codes. But but you're probably referring to the state of origin. Yeah. Which is rugby league. And that's where if you're a professional sportsman or sportswoman I should say these days too, which is great because they actually have this, for the women's sport as well.
00;18;04;09 - 00;18;34;02
Unknown
But if you're a professional athlete, playing rugby league and you know, you're the elite level, you, play with your club as you mentioned. And then they have a tournament every year where, wherever I believe it's where you played your first professional game, not necessarily where you're born, but where you play your first professional game. It's Queensland or New South Wales and from there, you basically it's licensed to to beat the living drop out of each other for 80 minutes for three games a year.
00;18;34;04 - 00;18;53;21
Unknown
Yeah. And it's, it's it's great. Yeah I love it. That's so beautiful. And like, you know, the Americans have been embracing soccer in a really good way. And like, we need to just we need to keep taking from people as we're good at. And just like that, deep rooted, like where you started. Thing is beautiful. We don't do anything like that in any sport here in the US.
00;18;53;21 - 00;19;12;17
Unknown
Yeah, it's a it is different and it takes an adjustment because if you look at, you know, I'm a rugby union guy, but I do play rugby league. In fact, our largest sport in Australia is for registered players is probably soccer. But right after that it's actually Aussie rules, Australian rules football. Yep. But in terms of the which is a great game into itself.
00;19;12;17 - 00;19;38;12
Unknown
But in terms of the rugby's, what we like about it, and literally at the pub right now, there's a Six Nations international rugby tournament going on that we're showing different to the U.S. So in terms of, you know, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe and even Argentina, we, we do a lot more of international sport competition rugby.
00;19;38;15 - 00;19;58;18
Unknown
Yeah. You got the soccer but we do cricket as well and you're constantly playing other countries. And it's a big difference to the US because you know you think about that. You don't really send us teams to go and play internationally as a regular thing. Baseball American football, no one else really plays it. Baseball, they play it and Japan's great at it.
00;19;58;18 - 00;20;16;18
Unknown
But I don't really have too many competitions in the big plays. He don't ever play in it. Right. It's a whole different approach to sport. Yeah, it's a better approach. Well, it's just a lot more money in it. Right. So here, because of the sheer population, we love blowing money on sports. There's no excuses. Good. That's a good thing.
00;20;16;18 - 00;20;36;07
Unknown
Yeah. Anyway all right so let's naturally transition into how the hell you got here. So so you could start off wherever you want and let's see. So you went from Brisbane, and now I'm here and you're in Houston. You know, we got the brewery. We have your wife. We have what you're in. You're in the Australian American Chamber of Commerce of Houston.
00;20;36;07 - 00;20;54;00
Unknown
Yeah. All of those things. How do we get there? Oh, gosh. How do I do this? 100 words or less. Where it all started? You know, a university, Brisbane. And one of my first jobs popped me out of college or university was with a company over in that is a global company that has minerals and oil and gas.
00;20;54;02 - 00;21;13;09
Unknown
And so they ship me, as you do first, first time out at home, shipped me right up to northwest Australia. So we're we're talking about the the gas in the oil well onshore in iron ore. So very remote. I mean, you think Houston, Houston weather's bad. You know, there's a reason that one lives up here. Almost, almost at the equator.
00;21;13;09 - 00;21;40;07
Unknown
Oh, it's tough and it's just brutal. It's red dirt, desert type tropical weather. So got those weird termite hill. They do get the mounds. I love those, but those are great. We have, you know, horrible vegetation called spinifex, which is terrible. You've you have red dirt and incredible, incredible amounts of iron ore up there. So that's where a lot of these, all of the Australian iron ore mines are so and ports and so forth.
00;21;40;12 - 00;21;59;15
Unknown
So from there I spent a period of time and then they sent me from there, to Houston. So I'm a young fella single. I'm on show you over Houston, you know, bright eyed, bushy tailed, ready to go a few years ago, a bit like that. A bit more than that. And, work for the same company.
00;21;59;15 - 00;22;22;28
Unknown
But now, when they were oil and gas and we spoke earlier about, you know, me being part of that exploration portfolio, and I met my lovely wife here, reaching out. So she is, basically not born and bred here, but definitely bred in, in Houston and wonderful Sugarland girl. And, you know, we were married and and then transferred back to Australia.
00;22;22;28 - 00;22;46;14
Unknown
Can you believe it? On our honeymoon, back to, we bought a mine in Australia and that that company and now is in the copper, uranium, gold and silver business and, work that for a period of time before then went to metallurgical coal and so forth. And then we we made a life change. We said, look, well, my wife said, and I said, yes, yes, dear, we need to move back to Houston.
00;22;46;14 - 00;23;04;09
Unknown
And I so to be honest, I said, no, we don't because we are living in Brisbane at this time. And she goes, yes, we do. I said, all right, okay, fine. Yes, we'll go. And you know, her family's here. And so we have a really strong family base here. So we moved back in 2015. I just finished actually a divestment of oil and gas in Papua New Guinea.
00;23;04;09 - 00;23;24;00
Unknown
So I sold an oil field for, a colleague I used to work with, who was a in a public, public company in Melbourne. And there was a whole journey there, so I did, you know, I did the full M&A divestment of, of an oil field in Papua New Guinea and then straight on the bird and back here in 2015.
00;23;24;02 - 00;23;45;08
Unknown
Well, that if you're going to have a transition in life. Yeah. Let's move to the other side of the world as, as a, as a wonderful little prompt for you to do something different. So I say to you, now look, if we move, I might just pull back from corporate for a period of time and just have a bit of a breather and, you know, soul searching, you know, the midlife crisis, right?
00;23;45;10 - 00;24;08;11
Unknown
So there were no Ferrari involved, thankfully. But, but midlife crisis ends from there. We I had this passion for the for the brewery. I wanted to do something on my own or sorry, we wanted to do something on our own. And, at that time in the mid mid 20 tens, it was the right time and already had a feasibility in Australia because we were meant to do it in Australia.
00;24;08;14 - 00;24;33;12
Unknown
Fast forward 2015. I land here, dust off the feasibility, and in 2016 we opened, Platypus Brewing and Rochester is still in in Corbett. She's a, you know, sort of a director of consulting and does does a wonderful job. She's very good at it. Keeps her busy, busy, busy. And basically I run on behalf of of a business partner of mine and, a good friend of ours.
00;24;33;12 - 00;24;54;06
Unknown
And, Rach, I run the business and do the brewing. And so forth. And so this was part of a taking a quote from, Richard Branson, who I do read a bit, you know, screw it. Let's do it. Life's giving you telling you something. Don't ignore it. I could have slipped back into corporate. And I'm a corporate thing.
00;24;54;06 - 00;25;11;12
Unknown
Not a problem. It just wasn't. That was not my journey. And so I listened to that and I said, screw it, let's do it. And that was 2015. We opened 2016 and we're about ten years old. Yeah. How have you hit the ten year anniversary? In September. Wow. Yeah. So big party, Yeah, it should be. It should be.
00;25;11;13 - 00;25;26;16
Unknown
We need an invite for that. We're just coming off a party from Australia Day, which is, January 26th. But we had our function at the end of January, so we're still sort of, wiping the sleep out of our eyes from that one, but, Yeah. What is that? A typical Australian Day celebration look like in Houston?
00;25;26;18 - 00;25;46;11
Unknown
And again, you mentioned earlier the Chamber of Commerce. Yeah. I'm on the board of the Chamber of Commerce and a wonderful organization. So it's Australian American Chamber of Commerce, and that's exactly what we focus on. What I do every year is, is big barbecue and we play a big game of cricket. Yeah. Good lamb and good the Aussie stuff on the Barbie.
00;25;46;11 - 00;26;08;00
Unknown
And you get up to 400 people come out to this thing. So it's it's a wonderful thing. Unfortunately this year it was on the Sunday that the, the winter apocalypse hit. Yeah. So they just couldn't do it, you know. And it was sad. And so that's what you would normally do is go out, play a bit of cricket, do a bunch of Aussie things and then come to our place.
00;26;08;00 - 00;26;28;28
Unknown
And we do like, thong throwing competitions and meat pie eating competitions and things like that. Yeah. It's just it's just a laugh. A minute is what Australia does all day. That's great. Yeah, yeah. Before we keep going with that, you know I'm picking up on a pattern that you're, you're really probably just to put it simply, a good person and a great collaborator.
00;26;28;28 - 00;26;45;21
Unknown
I mean, you were talking about doing this project in Papua New Guinea. You're talking about you're living in Brisbane while running this mining gig, in Western Australia. Right? Not not quite, but yeah, we moved to Adelaide of all places. That's where we're in South Australia. But now we were living there full time and you know, now you have the brewery and it isn't just you and your wife.
00;26;45;21 - 00;27;10;21
Unknown
You have like you work with, someone maybe who finances it and, brewmaster. Right. Things like that. Yeah. Well, what it is. No, I'm the brewmaster. I do it all because I love it hands on. But our business partner, Morgan. Nice. Nice bloke. He's, Aussie guy, dual citizen these days, but he actually still working in, in, oil and gas now with the company I was with in a subsequent life because there was a divestment there and an acquisition.
00;27;10;21 - 00;27;31;03
Unknown
But he's still working in that, in that, that field. So, you know, we get to sit there and have a laugh and, and, and have a beer and talk about gas analytics. And, you know, everything that he's doing. And the new development stuff, all the new venture things that these companies are doing. And it's so exciting. I've been out of the game for a period of time, but it's wonderful to sit there and have a chat about.
00;27;31;05 - 00;27;54;23
Unknown
Yeah, they're looking at hydrogen. They're looking at this, they're looking at that. And it's like, wow, this is very different approach to the conventional oil and gas game. Yeah, yeah. I mean, who are some of these UN song heroes in your arsenal that who do these people that you've kept in your life for what can be decades, you know, like these people you put your trust in and helped you succeed whether you're on in the US or on the other side of the globe.
00;27;54;23 - 00;28;20;29
Unknown
Like what are what are some of the maybe like the break down, just some generic like life lessons tips, like, what are about these people that have helped you succeed along the way, including what you've done on your own? Oh gee, that's a good question. I don't know. It's it's just lucky. Yeah, well, yeah, maybe it's. Look, I probably come across as very carefree, easygoing, and anyone that I know is laughing right now.
00;28;20;29 - 00;28;38;11
Unknown
Guy. And it's so not Sean. He's an overthinker. He does his. I'm big at planning, 1 a.m. I things that, you know, if you if you look in the mirror and go, okay, what am I really good at? It's strategic planning and planning. I'm very good at that. I did that for, you know, a mine site.
00;28;38;14 - 00;29;04;00
Unknown
I've and, you know, I've done strategies and, implemented $5 billion strategies in mining companies to do this and that. It's, it's it's what I'm very good at. And I'll put my hand up and say, yes, I've surround myself with people and I've done the same thing just through our previous lives. It's it's through making sure that every product you produce is the best you can do.
00;29;04;03 - 00;29;27;26
Unknown
Every conversation you have is the best conversation you can have, and it can be about anything in life, and people will remember you for it. So it's one thing to be on your game and and be the professional and always talking about whether it's oil and gas, aminos or whatever it is, but always have a personal connection, be genuinely interested in other people and their story.
00;29;27;28 - 00;29;46;07
Unknown
And you do that, you'll be remembered and you'll remember them. And that's how it comes, comes apart. I mean, everywhere I go, I always join a rugby organization and I play rugby. I'm a bit too old these days. I'm a bit broken, but I'm fishing. I do want to move to Houston, played rugby and now I'm back here where the rugby part of Houston.
00;29;46;14 - 00;30;05;28
Unknown
First thing I did when I moved back to Australia, into, Adelaide, a place I'd never lived before in my life. I joined the rugby club. I joined the surf club. And so I through sport and through activity and then through profession and just through put into interpersonal relationships, that's how I've done it. Yeah. That's what works for me.
00;30;05;28 - 00;30;22;15
Unknown
It doesn't work. Very glamorous work for me. I'll show you guys are like Americans without one of the big flaws. Americans have, which is Americans could be cold. They could be fast moving. You know, kind of like what you picture when you picture, like, a New Yorker. You know, a lot of Americans could be like that. And I'll share.
00;30;22;15 - 00;30;41;00
Unknown
I kind of have, like, the best of both worlds, and it's great. Like, it just it's it's just sounds so nice. He wrote us such wonderful people. Just. I know there's millions of you all, but from the few I met, I see a pattern. It's really cool. Oh, thank you very much. And that means a lot. I've been reading, books.
00;30;41;02 - 00;31;04;00
Unknown
I like to read parenting books. I'm a parent, and, the Australians know how to write parenting books. And I wish I could name, I read three now or, like, two and a half, and I think they're all from different, people. But the I, I've gotten two of these books in Australia and I was reading about them and it's they just they kind of talk the way you're just talking now, like the way you just explained it.
00;31;04;02 - 00;31;19;10
Unknown
And, you know, a funny thing they always bring up in these books is sport. And I love how you say sport, like singular, like we say sports. But yeah, like the, you know, you need sport in your life. Yeah. And I like it. I mean, it makes sense. Like you, you go to Houston, the first thing you do is join, sports League.
00;31;19;10 - 00;31;37;00
Unknown
You immediately surround yourself with new friends, community. You're not isolating yourself. An American will go somewhere and not talk to someone for five days. Yeah, and then leave. And I'm like, that's it. He sucked. Like. And it's like it's just culturally in our brain. That's how we are. And, Yeah. You're just. Yeah. You can't do that to yourself.
00;31;37;01 - 00;31;53;18
Unknown
Yeah. It's a good part of Aussie culture is very much the sports and outdoors, not just necessarily sports, but it's also being active and just being out whether you're surfing, swimming, yeah, hiking, whatever, whatever it is that works for you. And, you know, growing up, you know, I have a ten year old right now, we have a ten year old.
00;31;53;20 - 00;32;15;21
Unknown
And, you know, I'm making sure he's in baseball. I love baseball. Yeah. But, you know, he's in baseball. He loves baseball. I try to get him in rugby. He's not conventional. Said, well, buddy, you've got to do what you love or you won't be good at it. And he's loving baseball. So that's what we do here. But me growing up, you know, my parents were, you know, that were strong on academics, get it right.
00;32;15;24 - 00;32;33;26
Unknown
But if you didn't have the right balance, if you weren't doing enough sport or socializing or running around, if you had your head in the books. Yeah, I know my mother for a fact, would have been a bit concerned and she'd say, hey, you know, maybe you should be doing something else because academics are great, very, very important.
00;32;33;29 - 00;32;55;13
Unknown
But it has to be balanced with the social. And I think Aussies tend to get a better balance. And, than a lot. And it helps that we have a, have a great sort of outdoorsy culture and good weather in most places that that always helps. It always helps. Yeah. Okay. A couple of things. One, I just, I, I made the joke about how you all say sport not sports.
00;32;55;13 - 00;33;14;15
Unknown
Yeah. And I, it reminded me that you don't say math. You say maths. That's right. It's plural. I love that maths. And then. Wow, you, you said you have a ten year old in baseball. Yes, so do I. Oh, fantastic. So we just started select league. So we're paying hundreds of dollars a month. And that's super fun.
00;33;14;15 - 00;33;36;01
Unknown
And not having any weekends anymore. Yeah. Yeah. It's about I know all about that. So do you all do like a select league or is it still like Little Leaguers up there. Yeah. No it's select. So we you know semi that's it. That's our our young fella. He yeah he's ten. He's showing some promise. You know you're in that you're in the heartland of, of baseball United States man.
00;33;36;02 - 00;34;04;01
Unknown
It's crazy really. And my apologies to the Japan because the Japanese do an incredible job with baseball, but. And Cubans and a few of the others. But, It back to me. When I was a young fella, I was ten, I was playing rugby, and I was in a town in rural Australia that has produced international players, and it is very much the heartland, one of the heartlands of rugby and rugby league in Australia.
00;34;04;04 - 00;34;23;10
Unknown
Well, I see that is semi here being in Houston and on the inner select leagues. I mean you see these kids man they 19 years old. They know what they're doing. You know they've been coached well and they continue to get coached. And I love being part of that. But select league is another level. You know, it took him a while to adjust to that.
00;34;23;13 - 00;34;48;01
Unknown
He's, you know, you weekends have gone as a parent because it's Saturday and Sunday and, you know, actually, you know, Friday nights now, I've just volunteered to be, an assistant coach at his schools. Baseball. So, you know, again, the reason I'm not a coach is because I'm a cricket, GAA, rugby guy. There's so many people around here that know the baseball technique to, to a degree, more than me.
00;34;48;03 - 00;35;05;09
Unknown
But I can sit there on the planning side and the conditioning side and help them out from that standpoint. So. Yeah. Good luck. Your Fridays, your Saturdays and Sundays are gone. All right. But, yeah, you'll enjoy it as long as they're enjoying it. Yeah. He loves baseball. So, it all works out. He's naturally, you know, so good at it.
00;35;05;16 - 00;35;20;12
Unknown
We're not like the pushy parents. And I don't blame me if you are, but this kid loves it. No, they have to have fun. If they don't have fun, they'll burn out by the time we're about 12 or 13. Exactly. Yeah. All right, so that leads us to just talking about beer. Think beer. Yeah, I love it. Right.
00;35;20;14 - 00;35;44;20
Unknown
Absolutely. So you own it. You co-own it. Run it with your wife. Yes. So, there's three partners, my wife and I. So rich and I and Morgan. But I'm the one who they entrust with the day to day operations. The strategy. And all of that. So that is my day job. Pardon me. My wife is full time consulting, management consulting.
00;35;44;22 - 00;36;04;20
Unknown
She's so good at it. I think she'd love to be good at retiring, but she's, she's very good at, at at consulting. She does a great job. And I'm Morgan, of course. Is in, upstream. Oil and gas. Yeah, yeah. Still here. So they do. And trust me, they they're hands on to the extent they can be given that they full time professionals.
00;36;04;23 - 00;36;25;14
Unknown
But yeah, I do all the brewing, I do the operations. And the strategy of that. Yeah, yeah. So 2016, you started 2016. I mean, September 30th, I believe was our opening day. Yeah. Nice. I mean, this is like almost I feel like just right, like peak, like craft beer. You're like, you know, it's kind of on a decline, right?
00;36;25;16 - 00;36;50;12
Unknown
It is on a decline. We're on the up. Very much so. But since then it's saying, like, hold Covid and, you know, like culturally, culturally in the US, like IPA is the acronym you couldn't get away from these days, it's GPT, but, a little dad joke there. Yeah. But like I would say like 2014, 2015 was like peak craft beer, like hipsters, twisty mustaches, like all that.
00;36;50;12 - 00;37;05;08
Unknown
Right. And so you're joining kind of like, in that hype and, as it dies down, I mean, it's not dying now. And you go to the grocery, any grocery store orders, it's full of craft beer and stuff. It isn't like, yeah, I mean, there's a place for it. Yeah. The demographics will tell you that, that younger kids aren't drinking as much.
00;37;05;08 - 00;37;28;23
Unknown
And that's a good thing for general for health liquor or anything. That's right. So it's it's a whole new proposition now. Yes, there's the beer aspect of it, but it is with the younger kids when I was in my 20s, and I can call them kids, sad that I can, but when I was in my 20s, man, I go to the pub with a mate to watch, watch a game of whatever and have a number of points.
00;37;28;25 - 00;37;52;27
Unknown
The that was it for me. Or I could get out of that pub of my own and have a pint and whatever, and I'd be okay with it. The kids these days need they're like goldfish in a bowl and every five minutes, sometimes literally a goal, a goldfish bowl. Yeah, yeah. For sure. It's such a different world. And so, you know, we need to ensure that we, we stay relevant, to the younger generations.
00;37;53;00 - 00;38;10;04
Unknown
You know, we can put our feet the maggot. Oh, you know, back when I was a young fella. But that's not going to work. So you need to have a quality product. Beer is part of that. And we have non we have alcohol non B products as well. But you have to stay relevant. You have to provide a safe space.
00;38;10;04 - 00;38;30;24
Unknown
And also that sort of space where kids or young adults I should say all professionals have something to do. And why are they choosing you? And beer's part of it, but it's not as relevant as it used to be. Yeah, you. So you're absolutely right in that, in that point, I mean, but there's still breweries or, you know, there's dozens in Houston.
00;38;30;24 - 00;38;46;08
Unknown
You go to the major cities in the US and there's countless amounts, and that's great. There always will have their place. Yeah, I have, I've been seeing some fizzle out. I've seen some very like what I would say, like legacy craft brewers go out of business. I would say the one that comes to mind is Ballast Point in San Diego.
00;38;46;09 - 00;39;12;15
Unknown
Oh yeah. Yeah. Those guys used to be in every grocery store ever. And they're gone. Yeah. But what like, is that like, is that because like, these micro brewers like they try to scale too large and it just isn't meant to be ballast point, who made an incredible product, by the way? Look it with the bubble of craft brewers in Houston or wherever it might be, Colorado, wherever it went super local.
00;39;12;22 - 00;39;43;09
Unknown
And so as consumers, we said, well, why am I? Why am I getting a product from California when I have a local product down the road? I'll choose that. And Colorado, California still all did the same thing. So instead of the big, the big sort of, let's have this big brewery and be able to distribute across, you know, the states it now became went down to state and then went down to city, and then within the city as well.
00;39;43;09 - 00;40;01;04
Unknown
So that's what's happened there, I believe. Yes, there might have been some scaling issues in terms of got a hit on the sales, but I think the demographics changed quickly. Covid was a huge part of that too. But this was happening before Covid and it was people preferred local that were trying to support their local businesses, which is excellent.
00;40;01;04 - 00;40;20;06
Unknown
Exactly what you want as a small business owner. We do it such that, you know that the boys and girls in the area choose you versus in this example, Ballast Point. Yeah, I, I think about this stuff a lot. I'm glad I have a brew a brewmaster to sit down with. And, you know, I've been I've been going to breweries since I was even allowed to.
00;40;20;06 - 00;40;41;24
Unknown
And, I'm 32 now and, I, I, you know, I've kind of I've lived through all of it. I mean, one thing is like the hype of the types of beer, right? Like, IPAs were huge. And now there seems to be a love for, like, good old, like, light beer, but like, quality beer. Obviously there's trends like an a beer, which shouldn't be a trend.
00;40;41;24 - 00;41;01;15
Unknown
It should just be a, it should have been a thing this whole time, normalizing nonalcoholic beer. But more maybe more trends like cider, seltzer or stuff like that. Like how is it playing that game of of hopscotch with all the trends that are coming? Yeah, it's a great point. Look, we've personally I've never chased trends, because they're they're a hot minute.
00;41;01;17 - 00;41;24;07
Unknown
Cider was a trend for a moment. And, you know, again, cider has its place, but it really ramped up and then fell away as quickly as it ramped up. What you've got to look at is you need to the extent you can understand the demographics, young adults or young professionals, I should say, choosing healthier products, that's that's actually great for civilization is great for a country.
00;41;24;09 - 00;41;42;28
Unknown
If you think about the next 20, 30 years. But, so adapt to that. So, for example, when we came out in 2016, the, the word was dank, you know, dank this, dank that, how many how many hops can I get in this darn thing? So tastes like, you know, you just might as well just pick up grass and throw it in your mouth.
00;41;43;00 - 00;42;05;15
Unknown
And, you know, if you had those. Yeah, right. We've all had them, right? We probably still taste it. And, you know, to be a cool kid was all about that. We came out with one of our actually the products we still have now, we came out with, we've added 1 or 2 along the way, but it was all the easy approach, easy approach to be a easy approach to to drinking.
00;42;05;17 - 00;42;25;02
Unknown
We have low alcohol now, which is great. I don't have any because, there are some really good products on the market for any. And we'll, we'll choose to do that for, for our guests. But, but a lot of the beers that we have now, a very approachable BS and our biggest sellers are the approachable beers, and they're the ones we've had for ten years.
00;42;25;04 - 00;42;48;24
Unknown
So we resisted the the dank. There was even champagne yeast that the the Brut IPA. Right. Which, which was an IPA that an IPA you had Brut II and it was a hot minute trend as well. We, we refused to do it, because it's just not our thing. We stayed true to our brand a lot, a lot who who told us, you know, the next best thing and no longer with us.
00;42;48;24 - 00;43;06;05
Unknown
You know, they're no longer there. Who wants champagne yeast in a bloody beer anyway? But anyway, that's that's my personal less sort of. I've, I love it. Let's talk about some of the, the hurdles from start to where you get. Right. So like a few things come to mind. You. I mean, what you start off with one beer, right?
00;43;06;06 - 00;43;23;00
Unknown
You start to make a good lager, maybe a darker beer. Then there's hurdles of, you know, you have to can it, you know, do you own your own can or whatever you call it. That's a whole expense that's worth investing in. You're trying to get into grocery stores, gas stations. How do how how I mean and platypus is everywhere.
00;43;23;00 - 00;43;42;19
Unknown
I see it in bars. I see it in other breweries. I see it in grocery stores, gas stations, like and do you all can your own beer? Yeah, we do. And you raise really good points that go through my head every single day. Yeah. Let me get the rundown of all the logistics. Yeah, but I'm breaking your brand.
00;43;42;21 - 00;44;02;28
Unknown
No problem at all. Not a problem at all. Look, we we did make a strategic decision to bring everything back to the brewery and restaurant because we have a full restaurant as well. We were in a lot of the major retailers, when you when you sit there and run the numbers and my background is finance as well, it doesn't take long before you go hang on the the numbers don't add up.
00;44;03;03 - 00;44;24;23
Unknown
And a lot of these guys and gals went out of business because I didn't run the roller. I've the numbers. Distribution's challenging in the United States, in Texas as well. In terms of the rules and regulations around that, but the reality is for you to be in all the things you mentioned, gas stations and, and major retailers and so forth.
00;44;24;26 - 00;44;44;27
Unknown
It's an incredible labor model. You need to put in behind that because it's the United States. They expect everything at the drop, drop of a hat, and you need to be there Johnny on the spot. And they had to do that. You need people to do that in a dollars. So, we made a decision just after Covid, actually to say, it's not worth it.
00;44;44;29 - 00;45;04;06
Unknown
And it's it's starting to get away from what we wanted to do, as a, as an ownership group. And so we did that. Now, having said that, I was a major sponsor of this one, that sitting in front of us right now. Rugby. Right. So what did we do? You know, we produced a B for a rugby club a professional rugby club in the 4000 seat stadium.
00;45;04;08 - 00;45;23;19
Unknown
They're not playing this year unfortunately. But they were runner up last year. It was great. Wonderful. Produced a beer for them. Loved it. Why did we do that? Well we did that because it's core to who we are. Rugby right. So rugby's a big deal for us. It's our niche in Houston. And so we produced you know the Get Rocked lager for these guys.
00;45;23;19 - 00;46;00;15
Unknown
And they loved it. And we just couldn't produce enough of it as part of that decision. Yes. We invested in a in a smaller canning line to do that. And so we've not outsourced the distro. I do have a distributor, but it's it's done in good terms. We, we keep everything close to the brewery. And, you know, my strategic review that I'm doing right now in terms of the brand and where we go with this Padmé is all about, the young professionals and kids and families, a destination more than a retail type setup.
00;46;00;20 - 00;46;22;18
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. All right, let's kind of wrap it up with just rapid fire questions. So same same kind of deal, but quicker answer and stuff like that. Yeah. So just to clarify on that, do, is it an advantage to get your beer in the stores as a new brand. Yes. As an existing brand, not as much.
00;46;22;18 - 00;46;42;00
Unknown
So I'm not seeing platypus in like an H-e-b these days. Correct. Okay, so we did that when we first came out, I think at 2018 was probably when we're in there with ten years old now, people know who we are. Yeah. I couldn't justify the, economics around that. Right. Okay. I love that, kind of a controversial one.
00;46;42;02 - 00;47;05;07
Unknown
Breweries love to get families in. Right? And they like to attract kids. And I have kids, and I love going to breweries because they're kid friendly. But there's kind of an irony there, right? What are your what's your thoughts on that? Oh, look, it's in my my neck of the woods. As parents, you have a responsibility. And you are the best judge, of your child's, development.
00;47;05;09 - 00;47;27;06
Unknown
To have children exposed to alcohol is is an is individual decision, for me, for an Aussie, it's not a big deal because we know how to manage it. And as long as there's safe parameters around that for children. Same with me in my job, my young fella's in the brewery all the time. It really it comes down to responsible parenting and the decisions that I make.
00;47;27;06 - 00;47;47;26
Unknown
There's no one rule suit. All good answer. What's your favorite or at least favorite thing about working with your wife? Yeah, favorite thing with working with my wife is that, she's one of the most intelligent people I know. And to be out and from my corporate career as well, being surrounded by smart people is, is really important.
00;47;47;26 - 00;48;07;21
Unknown
So the level of insight that she can provide to to different challenge to different problems is wonderful. The last thing I, I love about or don't like, what I don't like about working with my wife is it's a real balance to make sure you're not constantly talking about work, you know, husband and wife. You need to her husband wife stuff.
00;48;07;21 - 00;48;27;27
Unknown
You need to be a family. And it's to make sure that you have the discipline to do that. And we don't always get it right. Oh, yeah. Another good answer. What's the competition like? How do how do you as platypus view people like Carboxy and Arnold and vice versa? Yeah. Great question. You know Kobach, which is owned by Anheuser-Busch.
00;48;27;27 - 00;48;47;14
Unknown
So it's probably a different sort of base. Sellouts. Yeah. Wow. You know, good on them. And, and I, you know, there's everyone has their views on that, but, you know, well done. So probably the original sort of craft brewer who's, who's remained true to what they set out to do. Oh, probably connected to they probably set out to sell it.
00;48;47;16 - 00;49;07;29
Unknown
Do I see them as direct competitors? No, I do not. Because ultimately it depends on what is your what is your strategy? What did you go. Right. And and so we are we competitors. Yes. Because you know they're buying my beer. Are you going to play a pool. So you're going to go to San Arnold or one of the other wonderful breweries that you have in Houston?
00;49;08;01 - 00;49;28;09
Unknown
So we are competing for their demographic. But ultimately, competition's goods keeps you sharp. Need to have a good product. You need to offer value to guests and how we all choose to do that. Slightly different. Yeah. A couple more. I feel like like I say, we're like, we're kind of like, on a decline or whatever.
00;49;28;11 - 00;49;45;14
Unknown
I would say like, Houston, Houston has dozens of breweries right now, but I would say there's like a solid 10 to 15 that, you know, I can name right now. And I don't think that number is going to go up or down. Like, I feel like the people who have come and gone have gone. And anyone who wants to start it might be a little hard.
00;49;45;14 - 00;50;08;15
Unknown
And I feel like we're kind of at like legacy brewery era. And at least in American culture, possibly, large distribution breweries such as like a Seattle, for example, regional, regional or whatever. Yeah, you've probably hit where we're at smaller breweries such as us as well. Look, the further at you go from the city, the cheaper the, the dirt.
00;50;08;18 - 00;50;27;25
Unknown
The cheaper it is. The easier it is for a brewery to survive. You need to be awfully careful about real estate. So depending on your own individual circumstances. But I always see the hyper local craft brewery. And there's some that I can name, though, who do a such a good job at it. And they're there in your local neighborhoods.
00;50;27;25 - 00;50;52;14
Unknown
Support them, and they do a great job. And I think there's always a place for them. Will we get back to where we were, 70, 8000? Probably not. But I still think that the craft, the humble craft brewer in your neighborhood, provided that give you the right value proposition for the demographic. They're here to stay. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're talking about the kind of the community that the customers of craft brewers are, right?
00;50;52;14 - 00;51;07;16
Unknown
They're just good people. They like to try new things. They like to support. You know, for, like, at least for my opinion. Like, I want to go to Eureka, then I want to go to Black Pew, then I want to go to Saint Arnaud. Like, I like to hop around. And then every time I go, I want to try something new.
00;51;07;22 - 00;51;27;04
Unknown
You know, they got like the, the apps like untapped where you check in on your beers. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I, I don't like the never been one for that, but yeah. So I, I understand why people like that. Yeah I'm like that and I, I do assume a lot of customers are like that. Like you said, you have regulars and stuff, but like, it isn't like those people are like, you know, I don't want to go to Eureka Heights because you know, they want to go there.
00;51;27;10 - 00;51;46;11
Unknown
They have some new interesting. I feel like the just the customer by default is experimental and supportive. And they like that it's local. They want they like that you don't see it in stores or you're not going to find it 50 miles outside of the city. And it all kind of just works. Yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, it's a good way of putting it.
00;51;46;13 - 00;52;12;07
Unknown
And remember, the demographics are split a little bit. You've, you've got the families and I and it's what is the value proposition you're looking for as a dad or aunt when you want to go out with your mates and have a beer or you're going with family, it's a whole different kettle. Right? But yeah, I think there's this different spots that offer different experiences, whether it be the beer or even the esthetics or the activities or whatever they're doing.
00;52;12;10 - 00;52;31;00
Unknown
Where we're seeing personally that, you know, the young professionals bit like the old fishbowl analogy. You need a bunch of different activities for them, and some of it's sport. And, so you need to be careful to be too landlocked where you can't provide too much because they're looking for the different experiences. So it's a challenge.
00;52;31;04 - 00;52;52;00
Unknown
It's a challenge because it's not cheap. But that to, to me is where probably the next phase of this is going. Yeah. And lastly, yeah, tying it back to energy or whatever you want to call it. You know, we were talking about earlier before we started about AI, can we integrate AI in a brewing or we're integrating it into everything?
00;52;52;01 - 00;53;14;08
Unknown
Probably AI in this doctor Pepper right here. Yeah. No doubt. Absolutely. I mean, brewing and brewing properly, it's very much a chemical and scientific process. And I think we all know with, with AI how it can it can nail that. I mean, I brewed the other day and I was taking balances and adding a little bit of acid to get the right the carbonation in these things.
00;53;14;11 - 00;53;38;22
Unknown
The oxygen levels in these things. Absolutely. I should no doubt it is abundant in the, in the big guys now won't be cheap, but it even if it's not replacing the physical brewmaster sitting there quality and doing sensory testing in terms of the science around beer. And it is all about science getting the balance right. I always going to be huge in that space.
00;53;38;25 - 00;53;55;28
Unknown
Well, I guess, you know, we don't really shout out what people are doing because they kind of just work at jobs or whatever, but you have a place worth visiting. You're you are a consumer product. Platypus Brewing in a first Ward, right? My sister lives right down the street. Said, all the time I've been, I've been once just on Washington Avenue.
00;53;55;28 - 00;54;12;22
Unknown
They need that near Houston Avenue that. Yeah. You got to stop by, check out some brews. Yeah. Full kitchen, full restaurant. Yeah. No, no food trucks. None of that. No food trucks. Just a last thing. I need to manage it all. Pub. That's it. Yeah, yeah. Great food. And we all have a full bar as well, so I hope you all right.
00;54;12;22 - 00;54;19;22
Unknown
Yeah. Thanks for coming on. Hi. Thanks for having us. Really appreciate it.
