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43Chapter ThreeSpreading the Love, 1985-1997Although bottled beers were successful, they had lower profit margins than draft beer because of labor and material costs. In 1986, Bill Owens found a way to profitably bottle beer through contract brewing. Contract brewing can vary by agreement but typically one brewery does the brewing and bottling for another brewery.121 Owens worked with a variety of contract brewers through the years, including August Shell Brewing, Dubuque Brewing, Portland Brewing, and Pyramid Brewery.122 While Owens was brewing five-barrel batches of beer each week, the contract brewer could fill a 32-foot truck with 50 barrels of packaged beer. They delivered it to wholesalers, who distributed it to retailers, who sold it to customers. Owens would pay out of pocket about $11,000 for the truckload, and would receive a check six months later for his money back plus profit.123 Bottles of Alimony Ale, Pumpkin Beer, and Billy Bock (a spring seasonal) were sold across the country and continued to draw national attention to Buffalo Bill%u2019s Brewery. Running a successful brewpub and a successful contract brewing company are two fulltime jobs. When Geoff Harries, the twenty-year-old homebrewer who relied on Owens%u2019 How to Build a Small Brewery, met Bill Owens in 1987 he was denied a job but offered an opportunity to work for free. Harries became a permanent assistant brewer at Buffalo Bill%u2019s, allowing Bill to focus on other ventures. Inspired by David Bruce%u2019s presentation in 1982, and as indicated on the prospectus to investors, Owens intended to franchise the brewpub idea. In the Fall 1986 issue of American Brewer: The Micro-Brewer/Brew Pub Magazine, Owens declared that he applied and received trademark protection of %u201cbrewpub%u201d in California in summer 1985 and applied for federal protection on August 8, 1985. His goal was to protect Buffalo Bill%u2019s and future