here it goes:
1. your favorite beer
Always changing but right now it would have to be Rouge Imperial Stout but it's not a cheap beer by all means, but it is my favorite currently, past favorites include Great Lakes Nosferatu, and Great Lakes Black Out Stout
2. price you would pay for beer
good beer I top out at about $10 for a 4 pack but I will splurge occasionally and get a big beer "like the Imperial Stout above" that run about $12 for a bottle or so.
3. what kind of beer do you like (pale ale...etc)
Imperial Stout, IPA, Stouts, Lagers, Pilsners, red ales, ales, really all of them.
4. do you like other flavors in your beer (cherry wheat, lime that kinda thing)
Not really, occasionally I will have a Linenkugel Sunset wheat (tastes like Fruity pebbles) or a Blue Moon with an Orange, I abhor the abomination that is Bud lime and the other pre-limed beers on the market and on that note I can only drink Corona with a lime when on the beach during the summer. Beer should taste like beer, not like candy. Also do not make a beer that tastes like Green tea with a hint of beer and alcohol in it, if you are going to make alcoholic tea, market it as such, don't market it as a beer.
5. bottles or cans
Bottles, they suggest an image that would be worthy of a decent price point
6. would you rather pay for good beer or buy cheap mediocre beer
I would rather pay for good beer to sip on. That being said my fridge is usually stocked with Schlitz, Icehouse, Black lable, nati ice, and Mickey's
7. anything else you would like to add to help us out.
If you are truly going to start a company, I would assume your only true and viable option would be to go for the microbrewery route and make a few select styles and then sell them as a premium beverage, which would push you up market into the real of those who drink for taste and not those who drink to get drunk. That being said I would focus on bottled specialty beers that would be in teh price ranges I listed (which is why I said them) Also, if I were you and looking at starting a brewing company I might do some home brew before i started a couple times so that I can get a hang of the process. My house homebrews and the process is much different then I originally thought and it's a lot of waiting .
Just some thoughts and good luck with your endevors
And on the thought of a Hard Cidar, I would skip it personally, the only cidar I like to drink with alcohol has copious amounts of Rum involved.
any help is appreciated,
thanks NS