humann_brewing

Recipes 

So my wife has noticed that my beer obsession has gone past a hobby and thinks I do a pretty good job. She has mentioned that if I have the passion I should take it to the next level.

Now first off, I am not talking about opening a brew pub tomorrow or anything close to that at this point. I am wondering if anyone has sold beer to local bars or retail stores of any kind and what does it take?

I am looking into bulk bottles and a labeling system but am not finding much with my searches.

At this point, I want to get a few recipes down and make sure I have great beer to have people sample and well... get hooked so they will buy some.

What kind of licenses does it take? Is there a way to start on a super small scale? I don't anticipate making any money on a small scale but just want to get a product out and see what people think. If demand picks up, I will pick up production.

I plan on talking with a couple of local brew pub owners to see what they think but thought I would see if anyone on here has tried something like this.

__________________
On tap: Batch 1 Flanders Red, experimental sour 1.072 > 1.000, #70 Simple, gone complex pale 1.063 4/5/13, #71 French IPA, American IPA with spanish cedar and fermented with 3711 1.059>1.008
Fermenting: #72 Flower power saison 1.053>1.004 with lavender and jasmine
Aging: #67 Bareleywine 1.116 11/07/2012, Flanders 2 batches 1.056 and 1.060 12/12/11 and 3/26/12, Smoked Porter 1.063 10/11, pepper RIS 1.088 7/11, Kriek, 1.052 12/11, RYE IPA sour experiment 8/12, Berliner Weisse 1.030 9/20/12

BigEd

Recipes 

Dude, you can't sell alcoholic beverages like chocolate chip cookies at a church bake sale. It's obviously not impossible but you will require federal licensing, inspection and approval of brewery site, filing of brewer's bond, approval of labels & names, not to mention whatever state and local rules, regulations and fees apply. You can look here: http://http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=15122 for a basic discussion of the topic.

ShortSnoutBrewing

Recipes 

Check out this too:
TTBGov

and look below the posts here for similar threads.
|
|
|
|
\/

__________________
www.facebook.com/shortsnoutbrewing
www.twitter.com/ShortSnoutBrew
www.shortsnoutbrewing.com

carnevoodoo

Recipes 

It takes a dedicated space that can be inspected by the health department, a load of permits, the equipment to brew it, the kegs to put it in, and the time to sell it. You're in CA, so you can sell straight to bars and the like without a distributor, but in order to offset all the costs necessary to start up, you're looking at a 7bbl system minimal if you plan to not lose money. Even that would be cutting it. More like a 15 bbl system.

Oh, you also need grain and a hops contract and a place to store that, you need to figure out how you will maintain and handle yeast, a name, a label, tap handles, and all that comes along with all of that.

It ain't cheap.

__________________
http://chugsd.com

carnevoodoo

Recipes 

Oh, and if you plan on bottling, you will need a bottle filler. and a capper. and a labeler. A single head filler, no crowner is about 1500 used.

__________________
http://chugsd.com

humann_brewing

Recipes 

I did take a look before posting. I was just hoping there was someone that got past the asking stage. I never saw anyone come back excited that they were selling their beer from one of those links

It does look like a lot of work especially when I already have a full time job and also a lot of money. I was I could start out on a really small scale and not 7 barrels at a time.

__________________
On tap: Batch 1 Flanders Red, experimental sour 1.072 > 1.000, #70 Simple, gone complex pale 1.063 4/5/13, #71 French IPA, American IPA with spanish cedar and fermented with 3711 1.059>1.008
Fermenting: #72 Flower power saison 1.053>1.004 with lavender and jasmine
Aging: #67 Bareleywine 1.116 11/07/2012, Flanders 2 batches 1.056 and 1.060 12/12/11 and 3/26/12, Smoked Porter 1.063 10/11, pepper RIS 1.088 7/11, Kriek, 1.052 12/11, RYE IPA sour experiment 8/12, Berliner Weisse 1.030 9/20/12

carnevoodoo

Recipes 

yeah. From a selling standpoint, you're out of luck. I give a LOT of beer away. I want to enter the professional arena eventually, and I know it is good to get my name out there. However, at the point we're at, it is a hobby and we just can't for the sake of health and ATF laws.

__________________
http://chugsd.com

COLObrewer

Recipes 

It takes: No fear of jailtime/fines, etc.

rico567

Recipes 

A lot of good info in this thread. I'm thinking there ought to be a sticky somewhere on this forum with the appropriate links. The only observation I would add- if I were thinking about getting into the beer business, the first thing I would do (apart from all the research indicated above) is get a part-time job in a working craft brewery, maybe even volunteer in exchange for an education in all aspects of the business.

The difference between homebrewing and commercial brewing is like the difference between cooking in your kitchen and going to the CIA (Culinary Institute of America). You don't go to the CIA to learn to cook, you go to learn to make money running a business.

__________________
“Malt does more than Milton can / To justify God’s ways to man”

-A. E. Housman (1859–1936). A Shropshire Lad , 1896.

KYB

Recipes 

Here are some Federal Regulations:

Electronic Code of Federal Regulations:

I am currently researching everything about starting a microbrewery or brewpub in the future to see if it will be feasible. I am meeting with the owner of a local microbrewery to talk about it, and my uncle/lawyer can help me with the massive amount of legal stuff. My relatives own a few pubs/restaurants, so I am also going to talk to them about it. I will also need a good business plan. It's not easy. It's a big undertaking and the future will hold the feasibility of it.