Brew on premises

Anyone ever been to a brew on premises? I have been looking for one in NC. There is not one. I am wondering if it would be a good business venture. Thoughts?

I have never used one but there is the only BOP location in my state just a block from my house. They make a killing. If you have the funds it's a great investment.

Check into your local laws, or better yet hire a lawyer to do so. Alcohol production is highly regulated in most states, for example in the state of Texas I believe a group of lawyers started up a BOP but it is officially a Brewpub and your have to buy back the beer once it is done even though you brewed it.

I have looked into this in great detail several years ago and at that time there was a few around the US doing OK. Since I was looking into it NONE of the BOP's I was looking at are still in business. 427Cobra (my favorite car and if you own one you BETTER post up some picts) if there is one that is KILLING it I would give great PROPS to them because most don't make it very long these days. There is one here in Nor Cal that does it on the Wine side (no beer being made) and they do really well. But at $400 a 5 gallon batch of wine bottled I am always blown away that people spend that kind of cash on making wine.
Do your homework, go to TTB.gov and look at the regulations on a BOP and start the paperwork early. It takes about 6-8 months to get the permit.

Cheers
Jay

I brewed at one in Chicago for a couple of years in the 90s. It was down the street from the Goose Island on Clybourn. It was good for me at the time. I didn't have to invest in gear or use space that I didn't have. I would go with a couple of buddies and split the 13 gallons or so that we'd brew. I remember that they were moderately busy when I'd go in, but this was before craft brewing and home brewing took off like it is now. The one I went to closed after it had been open for three or four years.

I wonder if there's really a demand for it now. It's much easier to find supplies now and you have lot of knowledge about brewing large and small batches available on line. Maybe the window for BoP has closed?

There is a pretty successful one in Pittsburgh called copper kettle brewing. Its also a nano attached to a sportsbar. Seem to always have people doing it while I am there. Its pricey (80-200) for a 5-11 gallon batch. The beers from the nano are underwhelming but seems like a cool set up.

There's one in my home town, Nashua, NH
http://www.incredibrew.com/

that's very good - each batch of beer is 15 gallons, and they have a lot of group brews as well.

I made 5-6 batches there before I started brewing at home. This guy's been around 20 years, so it's clearly working for him.

There is one here that is usually booked all the time.
it runs down to about a buck or so a bottle, so it's worth it mostly for people who don't want to do investments into equipment... also businesses do it for team building as well.

http://www.portlandubrewandpub.com/