HOPS Isle of Man: The Beginnings Opening and running a bar is easy, right? It’s one of those things we’ve all thought we could do at one point. You’ll likely not be surprised to hear, it’s not as easy as people think. Of course, they all have their opinions. I’ve had them in many places myself. That doesn’t mean you’re right! Our craft beer articles in our magazine are written from Isle of Man, with the writer having lived there for the last 12 years. It’s also where our story begins, on this subject. Running a business has long been something I’d thought of. Initially, I thought that only a very talented individual could do that. I learned that wasn’t necessarily the case, shall we say. However to run a business well, yes, that does take a talented individual or team. I’d held the notion that I’d like to have my own place doing craft beer for the longest time. There are still not enough places to drink it in the UK, despite numerous breweries having opened, there are still few actual bars dedicated to it. Even on a recent trip to Scotland, there were a few bars but they all either seemed to be serving the same thing or, despite having a high number of taps, not a lot of choice. In the early stages of planning this venture, craft beer was solely what was on my mind. As ever, when I started to do the sums, I quickly realized that alone probably wasn’t going to pay the bills. It was around that time I met my wonderful wife Hazel, who just so happened to specialize in whisky. I hear you ask, as a Scotsman, why weren’t you thinking about whisky already? The truth? Well, I had only really…