Who Are We? And What Are We Up To?
We’re Shawn and
Aaron Grose, two “alternatively thinking” brothers who’ve been passionately
brewing for over 10 years. We love
beer, bikes, and sustainable technology. We’ve been involved in the Michigan
craft beer movement since 1995 and would love to pour
our passion into making a difference by bringing our unique brewery to the city
of Detroit.
Windmill Pointe Brewing is our
collective vision that intertwines bikes, people, energy and beer into a
“one-of-a-kind” sustainable brewery. The Brewery retrieves its main source of
energy from our patent-pending system that utilizes bicycles supported by wind
and solar technologies. With our
“Pedal-Powered Beer™” energy monitoring program and sustainable philosophy, we
will create a positive impact in our community by producing a more environmentally
friendly beer.
We see Pedal-Powered Beer™ as a community-driven
effort to create unique beer styles while building a relationship between our
patrons and the brewery. When fulfilled, this dream will make us the country’s
very first pedal-powered brewery.
What Makes Us Different?
We generate
our own electricity via “Pedal-Power” – the cornerstone of our electric brew
house. Our stationary bikes produce pedal-power which is collected, stored, and
recorded. The number of kilowatts we produce from in-house “Pedal-Power” is
subtracted from the total number of kilowatts used in each brew session. The
goal is to produce more energy through pedal-power and sustainable technologies
than consumed by the production of our beer.
Our
community members are invited to power our beer in the form of a challenging
stationary bike race - The Tour de Beer!:
-
Patrons pedal our bikes
-
Our pedal-powered beer program tracks
the time, distance, and how many beers they’ve actually powered
-
Patrons advance through the
multi-stage race and are rewarded with credits
-
Patrons can redeem credits in our tasting
room and store
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Completing the final stage wins the Tour de Beer
and the gold jersey
-
Winners get a party and name graced
on the Kilowatt Cup
Making A Difference Differently
Beside the
health benefits of riding bikes in our brewery, we’ll collaborate with
organizations that also make a difference in Metro Detroit. We’ve entered into
a relationship with the world-renowned Pewabic Pottery to brew a beer that
supports their educational foundation. And we’re continually thinking about, seeking and nurturing other ways
we can give support.
Why Are We Asking For Funding?
Here’s the reality for us ~ we need
funding to bring Windmill Pointe Brewing Company to the next level. And we know
exactly what we need to do. It’s
that simple. Here’s how your
monetary support will be used:
If we don’t reach our goal, whatever funds
were raised will complete the development of the Pedal-Powered Beer™ program.
Our “Triple Bottom Line” Goal
We’ll be
measuring our success on a “Triple Bottom Line” approach. Three principles will guide us in
making Windmill Pointe Brewing Company a truly sustainable business:
-
People: Diversity, Well-being, Fairness
-
Profits: Customers, Competitors, Economy
-
Planet: Climate, Air, Water, Soil
Through
these principles we will build our business to make us feel a little better and
smile a little longer. And drink
better beer!
No Money? You Can Still Help!
If you
can't contribute, that’s ok by us. We still want you to be part of our success.
Spread the word of our sustainable brewing adventure and use the Indiegogo
share tools and your social media channels (Twitter, FaceBook, GooglePlus) to
direct people of interest to our Indiegogo webpage. We’d appreciate any non-funding ways you can help.
Thank You
and Cheers to a sustainable future!
Shawn
& Aaron Grose