Opening a Nano Brewery

So, like many others my plan is to start small and gradually move up. I am young and can wait quite a few years before I actually start making "decent" money. When I first had plans I thought to start a brewpub, however most brewpubs do not account for the actual money they need and go under in a year. I want to start small without having a ton of debt right away. I am also a commercial pilot that I occasionaly pilot at a smaller airport near my hometime.

My biggest questions are the startup costs? I understand that nano breweries do not make a great deal of money. However, building a salary and understanding the business for a few years is what I want to get out of it. Then move up to a bigger system. I want to start with about a 1-2 BBL pilot system. My goal is to try and contact as many breweries as I can for help or donations of even small items they may not be using anymore. Yes I know this is not plausible, but you never know right? I have also often wondered to have a store that sells homebrew items to the public. The closest "decent" place that sells homebrew to the public is over 100 miles away.

I have been brewing for a few years now and have a few investors already in mind. I have a AS in business management, and my brother is a very successful in marketing and accounting. My brother has built me an excel sheet and I can punch in numbers accordingly. However in order for my investors to actually invest they want to see my excel sheet as their is truth to it and they can see possible expansion. I started a blog at http://brewwithlittlecash.blogspot.com. I would really appreciate any help anyone could give. If anyone would like to see my excel sheet and possibly be able to help insert the correct numbers that would be great.

Please any success stories or help is greatly appreciated. Please help and visit my site as well.

Cheers!

Brew Master Alderin
brewwithlittlecash.blogspot.com
[email protected]

Honestly I think you will find better info on pro brewer than you would get here. You'll get a lot of opinions here, but since so few people on here actually make the leap, you won't get a substantive an answer as you would where folks in the industry are actually hanging out.

http://probrewer.com/

yeah I have been a member there too, and I have seen a lot of opinionated people here. But those opinionated people sometimes are good too. Just to make sure you see every corner. I also have a post there but I was wondering what the general public also thought about it. Once I start digging I keep finding more and more things I need to consider.

the first questions that always comes up are "What state? How much is the license? How many gallons are you required to produce?"

However, building a salary and understanding the business for a few years is what I want to get out of it.

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Get hired at an existing brewery and learn everything about their process and the business of brewing. In 2 - 3 years, start your brewery with the knowledge you gained from working at an established brewery. You'll learn what to do right and what to do differently.

Vagrant said:

Get hired at an existing brewery and learn everything about their process and the business of brewing. In 2 - 3 years, start your brewery with the knowledge you gained from working at an established brewery. You'll learn what to do right and what to do differently.

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I have no pro brewing experience. ^^ This is what I would do if I wanted to start. If you are planning on not making much money anyhow, there is no reason to make the expensive mistakes yourself when you could be learning from other peoples expensive ones.

I am in Iowa. I have searched to find if there is a limit on the amount we have to produce and I have not found anything. I have contacted Iowa ABD and the required license from them is around 600 dollars a year.

I am not opposed to working with a established brewery, I actually have brewed with a very well established one in Ames, Iowa. However there are very few actual breweries around me. I own a house and cannot commute three hours a day to work in a brewery.

Ames! My girlfriend's grandma lives down the road from there. I still haven't found where to find that brewery's beer. Of course I think I forgot their name when I was looking around the store.

PanzerBanana said:

Ames! My girlfriend's grandma lives down the road from there. I still haven't found where to find that brewery's beer. Of course I think I forgot their name when I was looking around the store.

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The brew is called Olde Main Brewery Co. It is a great place you should really visit. They also have a website and their list of beer is here.

I've looked into this and there is no way you want to start small. I know several breweries that did this and every one say it was WAY WAY wrong.

So when I was looking you probably want a couple hundred thousand to begin with? Yea - it's expensive.

listen to every brewpub show and podcast and interview you can find. Also remember you are a restaurant not a brewery. Run a good restaurant that has great beers and they will sell themselves.

Grinder12000 said:

I've looked into this and there is no way you want to start small. I know several breweries that did this and every one say it was WAY WAY wrong.

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Theres some good points in here. In Bellingham, a town of 100,000, there is 2 pretty big brewerys that have cult followings and if i were to open a small operation with the exact same environment as them, i would lose flat out. You have to bring a new and different experience than the other guys to compete. I would also get a job as a brewer (or even just an apprentice) and learn the process inside and out. I would take business classes to learn about taxes and writeoffs to save every penny possible and research, research, research. Such as, take the other guys beer and do blind studies with your friends. If theyre choosing your beer over theirs, then you know you got something going! Its an investment and a risk with YOUR money, have all your bases covered before you dive in! good luck

I agree with some of the posts above regarding experience.
Last summer I was in Silverton, CO and had a great evening chatting (and drinking) with an apprentice brewer at the Silverton Brewpub. He was getting paid $0 so he could have the experience of learning the trade and moving up. I think he was crashing in one of the storage rooms. But, if you can swing it, learn from others so the mistakes won't be costly.

Check out the link in my signature for my Nanobrewery story. I've been doing okay so far with 10 gallon batches and am getting ready to move up to 1.5 bbl batches soon. It can be done starting very small, but it doesn't net a lot of money. What is does though is get your brew out in the public and then when you grow you already have a following.
Once you are licensed, it's no longer "Homebrew" so selling it out of local markets and shops is not an issue.
Good luck.

some great literature:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381896/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Best of luck to you!

Maltose said:

some great literature:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0937381896/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Best of luck to you!

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This is a great book! I have almost read through it completely now. Thanks for the inputs! I am trying to find a internship somewhere that I have friends where maybe I can crash with them.

HBHoss said:

Check out the link in my signature for my Nanobrewery story. I've been doing okay so far with 10 gallon batches and am getting ready to move up to 1.5 bbl batches soon. It can be done starting very small, but it doesn't net a lot of money. What is does though is get your brew out in the public and then when you grow you already have a following.
Once you are licensed, it's no longer "Homebrew" so selling it out of local markets and shops is not an issue.
Good luck.

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I have read your success story. and have seen your nanobrewery. I am trying to figure out if I can do the same in my back yard in my home state. Just trying to jump the hoops. I am thinking of going with a 1 BBL system to start off from http://conical-fermenter.com
They have a great RIMS system but it has the coil in the HLT. Here is a diagram I was emailed from them.

I got a nice price quote from the site for a 1 BBL system but now I need a stand. I would prefer a flat stand. Anybody have any suggestions? I remembe finding one somewhere that I really thought would be great but I cannot find it anymore.

doublefisted said:

The brew is called Olde Main Brewery Co. It is a great place you should really visit. They also have a website and their list of beer is here.

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i think they have some major diacetyl issues with their beers.

good luck with the nano, good beer is sorely needed here.