If you had the opportunity...

to open a brewpub/restaurant in your area.... would you? Would you make brewing your business? Lets face it, we are all hooked, myself included, to brewing and the art thereof. I have a friend here that is a gourmet chef who has all of his licenses for retail, distributing, his own corporation and CPA, along with a few close friends that he knows from another microbrewery in Indiana that would be available as general managers and partners. We had a discussion last night during the Colts game (GO COLTS) and he said that he really liked my ideas and what I was thinking in terms of a brewpub. What would you do??

Brewpilot

I think I would, but I'd go into it knowing the the food and atmosphere is what is going to make you sink or sail. I don't think there are enough beer fans in most areas to keep you afloat.

I enjoy brewing as a hobby and would only consider it if it was pretty well garaunteed to be successful. That being said, If I were in your shoes I would much rather earn my living as a pilot than a brewer and wish I would have pursued the professional aspect of flying more.

I work at a pub that used to be a brewpub. The brewmeister had brewed at another brewery in a nearby town that had gone out of business before starting up another place with some other investors, so he had something of a customer base already in place. That being said, we shut down the brewing part of the business about two years after opening, and have continued, with huge success, as a pizzeria/pub.

Despite this, I would absolutely go for it, as I myself have aspirations of starting a brewery someday (who among us doesn't?) or even reopening the brewery part of this pub. One excellent thing for me though is that I have many many beer loving friends/acquaintences from working at a pub for almost a decade, so I myself will have a built-in customer base.

It really just depends on what kind of area you're talking about. A more affluent neighborhood/town will have more people who have an interest in and the money for more exotic beers, including microbrews and local breweries.

what rdwj said. True appreciators of fine beer are few and far between---much moreso than wine.

I agree 100%, that was the center of the discussion last night... the microbrew portion would be a novelty, it would be for a small percentage of the customers that are snobs, like us. Alot of the discussion centered around the food, the matching of the meals to the brews made available and the atomosphere and the premise for which the pub was built upon. The brews and the food could not stand alone.

Brewpilot

Professional flying is not what what it used to be... the men who drive the "mobile lounges" out in DC are higher paid and have more benefits than most of us do. Greyhound, with wings, is what I would liken it to. Granted, I love my job, but it is not something that I would recommend to anyone at the same time.

Brewpilot

I might consider it after I retire. Too risky for me personally based on the local population where I live to try it. There are a lot of biker type bars around here and a local brewery just wouldn't fare well I believe.
However, it could work where your at. I had toyed with that idea when I used to travel a lot on business and make a effort to try and visit as many breweries as I could. One thing I don't think works well in brewery type of setups is buffet's. Beer and buffet's just don't mingle well with the family type of atmosphere and you won't get a lot of family business and face it, who does buffet? Families with kids.
The ones I have seen successful were the ones that had a speciality and they stick with that. Pizza for example. Blackhorse saloon in Clarksville Tennessee has some out of the world pizza period. The Blue Dog Cafe in Santa Fe New Mexico has some killer mexican type foods. But in general, it seems like pizza is the winner. I had always dreamed that if I had a brewery, I wouldn't concentrate on meals, but rather really cool finger foods because at a brewery, you don't want your customers getting filled up on food, you want them to enjoy the BREW. So I have like some killer nachos, great salsa dips, chicken strips, grilled steak or fish kind of finger food, etc. etc. of course the ol' standard....burgers, brats.
I'd also have a standing policy that the designated driver get's free soda and 10% off. Believe me, I've seen this work well.
You also need LOTS OF T.V.'s. Face it, there is so much media going around these days that you can't afford to be out of communication. I'd also try and open up like a T-mobile Hot spot or what ever they are called where as the cell phone user has unlimited access to emails and other cell phone stuff that you usually can't get roaming around.
OF course, hire cute college chicks.

Well imho, I would. If your food is good, the beer is good and you have the customer base to handle it then it is worth it if you want to do it for a living. Having worked in the restaurant business in the past for quite a few years, there are some dynamics you encounter when going from cooking for family and friends to doing it as a business. I would imagine this is a corollary for brewing. The real question is, will you still love it when it is paying the bills and you have to meet production schedules...etc? (Sorry, somebody had to ask it). I ask myself this all the time. I know I could do it, and hopefully will do it in the near future.

I have a friend who was a really good homebrewer, so he opened a brewpub. He found out the hard way that once you do it for a living it's not fun anymore. Personally, I'd never ruin a hobby I love by turning it into a job.

I would. In fact the subject comes up often with a few of my AF buddies who are planning what to do when we retire. I wouldn't mind the work involved--it would keep me busy. The only worries I'd have are the food. You've got to have good food to make it work because the pub won't survive on the beer alone, no matter how good it is.

For now I'll enjoy "Bratwursts & Shillelaghs" and pretend.

Flying is the same way... as a hobby it was just plain FUN... when it pays the bills and you realize that you only get paid when you are away from your family and children, it takes a little of the FUN out of it. All good points!

Brewpilot

The food I am not very concerned about... I am, but I am not. Only because I know my friend Jan, and have been his guinea pig for many of his new recipes and creations and there is a reason that he has headed up many kitchens in many great restaurants, the man is a genuius with a passion for food. As for making a hobby an occupation... to me, that is the best occupation to have, one that is not a JOB, but a hobby with a paycheck. Again, I leanred first hand that there are changes that take place, as did with my flying career, using it to earn a living has cost my family dearly since I am away 4 days and three consecutive nights each week. How would your wife like that?

Brewpilot

The company I work for owns a couple of Citation Bravos and has two full time pilots on staff. I've often thought they have great jobs - almost all of their flights are round trips, back home the same night. But, even then I suppose after a while it just turns into another job.

The wife and I have often talked about moving to the Caribbean, living on a sailboat and doing something we love for a living.

This is my dream job:http://www.seaborneairlines.com/

Every flight is VFR and the view is spectacular, not to mention all flights are low level and short distance--almost as fun as when I towed banners.

I used to want to retire on an island, live in a hut and fly some old seaplane with unsuspecting tourists on board... lol. BUT, SWMBO may not be all that excited about that lol. Flying is great, I just miss watching the props turn... been a LONG time since I have seen that.

Brewpilot

Flyin' Lion said:

The wife and I have often talked about moving to the Caribbean, living on a sailboat and doing something we love for a living.

This is my dream job:http://www.seaborneairlines.com/

Every flight is VFR and the view is spectacular, not to mention all flights are low level and short distance--almost as fun as when I towed banners.

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My wife read "A Trip To The Beach", all about a couple who did something similar. Just moved to the islands and opened a restaurant...poof, just like that.

zoebisch01 said:

My wife read "A Trip To The Beach", all about a couple who did something similar. Just moved to the islands and opened a restaurant...poof, just like that.

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Our inspiration was "An Embarrassment of Mangoes" about a couple who saved up and took two years off and just cruised the Caribbean. I'll look for your book too as I've already read Embarrassment twice.

BrewPilot, I have a friend I used to instruct with that went on to an airline career. He is now a Captain with Chitaqua (sp) making pretty good money and yet he shares your sentiments. That has kept me in my factory job for now, but I still hold out hope for a "fun" flying job someday when the bills are paid.

Realistically, I wouldn't want to deal with bankers and investors, etc.

But with that said...if I ever hit the lottery BIGTIME all that worry/hassle will be out of the way...yeah, I'd go for it!

homebrewer_99 said:

Realistically, I wouldn't want to deal with bankers and investors, etc.

But with that said...if I ever hit the lottery BIGTIME all that worry/hassle will be out of the way...yeah, I'd go for it!

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Exactly what I was talking about--I'd open a brewpub in a heartbeat. Having said that, I think it'd be worth a shot. If you have someone with all the licenses and all that restaurant experience and they think it'll work, I'd go for it. To me it seems like the hardest part would be gaining the experience necessary to get the business off the ground. So go for it! Live the dream!

You've got to have good food to make it work because the pub won't survive on the beer alone, no matter how good it is.

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This must depend a lot on the area of the country you're in and what kind of clientelle is present in that area. Here in Seattle, we have a few pubs and breweries that serve NO food at all. They are great beer bars that attract enough of the local beer geeks that they are successful. Two that come to mind right off the bat are The Beveridge Place Pub in West Seattle and The Stumbling Monk downtown. Beveridge Place Pub has been voted by Northwest Brewing News as best pub in Washington state the last two years and Stumbling Monk is consistently packed every night I go in there. Both establishments have a notebook of menus from local restaurants that will deliver directly to the pub.
The Breweries without food are mostly production breweries with small tasting rooms but their bread and butter are offsite draft accounts.
All that being said, should I open a new brewpub, I would want to serve food. Especially starting out, you want to provide all the services you can to attract the broadest range of clientelle. I would also be family friendly so as not to alienate anyone.

I am going to pray about it heavily and SWMBO has given her support to me looking into this opportunity. BY the way, I fly for Republic Airways, so I am a part of the Chautauqua, Republic, Shuttle America family... currently flying on the Shuttle America cert.

Brewpilot

A business plan for a brewhouse / bbq pit business is in the most preliminary and exploratory plans with myself, my brother and a business-owning friend. Though very preliminary, we feel as if we need another few years of research and testing (with both beer and smokology) before we are able to decide if we can create good enough products to make the idea work. The nuts-and-bolt parts of going into business (banks/loans/locations/long hours/personal commitment) do not bother me in the least, so I view what we are doing now as the "hard" part. My brother is an electrical engineer who is currently working on his own time and is able to dedicate the much-valued brainpower to our expansion of brewing knowledge. The other partner owns his own business and has worked on the fringes of his family restaurant for years. We are all BBQ/smoking nuts so the combination of our passions and knowledge has given us a hopefull start to a long, and possibly unachievable, process.

Hopefully, in a year or more, I'll be starting a new thread announcing a more permanent home for the West Revere Brewery. If not, I sure will have a lot of good beer hanging around.

Brewtopia said:

This must depend a lot on the area of the country you're in and what kind of clientelle is present in that area. Here in Seattle, we have a few pubs and breweries that serve NO food at all. They are great beer bars that attract enough of the local beer geeks that they are successful...
...All that being said, should I open a new brewpub, I would want to serve food. Especially starting out, you want to provide all the services you can to attract the broadest range of clientelle. I would also be family friendly so as not to alienate anyone.

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Exactly...with my lottery $$$ I could buy the connecting building and have a restaurant right there.

Weird. I have a friend flying for Chautauqua too. Made Captain on the RJ's maybe 5 years ago... I think he was in the second class of pilots trained... so I guess he's pretty high up on the seniority ladder these days.

I read Illusions by Richard Bach and wanted to become a flight instructor/prophet.

As for brewpub, it's something the Mrs. and I talk about doing when we retire and our kids are successful enough for us to squander their inherritance. I even know where I want to open one. It's just not going to be highly profitable.

Are you going to open the first strip club that brews its own beers on premises?

I wouldn't do it. Any hobby, no matter how fun, ceases to be fun once it's a job and you're worried about the bottom line.