Our business has grown substantially in the past three years. During our first year, we brewed 400 barrels of beer, then 900 in our second year, and last year, we brewed 2,000 barrels. At the same time, our taproom has increased in popularity and hours open. We have gone from being open 3 days per week in 2014, to 7 days per week today. The variety of beers we produce and offer has increased as well. We currently offer 12 beers in our taproom and are constantly developing new recipes on our pilot system.

The biggest hurdles for us have been learning the ropes of the business world, including fundraising and regulatory issues. Early on, we received valuable help from the Harvard Transactional Law Clinic, as well as MIT Venture Mentoring Services. We have since transitioned to working with legal and accounting firms that continue to guide us.

Owning a business can be overwhelming. Try to take it one day at a time. If the big picture seems too daunting, look at the small picture – the day-to-day things, broken into chunks, it becomes more manageable. In the same vein, hire carefully and look for employees that will help you grow your business; people who will take ownership of their roles and grow with the company. These people will become your core team and will make the company as good as it can be. Don't forget how important these folks are, and try to reward them and let them know they are appreciated when the opportunity arises.

We have recently expanded our pilot brewing program and are developing tons of new recipes. We have introduced "feedback flights" on select Saturdays, where customers can try variants of pilot recipes and give us feedback on them. This way, customers can be a part of the design process. 

This summer, we will return to Allston for our pop-up Aeronaut Allston series of events. Stay tuned for details in the coming months.

We hope to continue growing our production, particularly in the realm of wholesale. In the next few years, we hope to be able to sell our beer in most of New England and cultivate a loyal following by wowing people with our creative new recipes.

We chose CSB because the folks we met there seemed to understand our needs and were willing to work with us to create financial solutions that worked in our unique situation. Having a good relationship with our bank is important to us. We felt that we could be communicative with CSB and would get the advice we needed to continue on our path of growth.