brew rigs, custom built for you

After doing some looking around on here, as well as looking at online stores, i feel like i could make and sell 3 tier brew rigs for a better price than you can get online.

I am posting here to just get a feel if anyone would want one and what kind of options i should offer.

The basic design is simple.
I can offer options of types of burners, size and spacing of each level. Things like this.
Here are some pictures of the one i build for myself.



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As you can see i did not use the standard placement for my levels because i have them set up so the HLT drains into the open side of the cooler, and then the cooler is lined up to drain right into the BK.

An online store has them listed for $1500 with 8 gallon kettles.
I wouldnt include the kettles. Ideas on pricing?

Plus i would like to just start local so shipping would not be an issue.

Finally, these are listed with a build time of 12-13 weeks at morebeer. I would turn mine around in 2-3 depending on how busy i am at work.


IDEAS? THOUGHTS?

This feeler thread is fine, but if you decide to start selling them to HBT members, you'll need to look into a vendor membership.

thats what i figured. i just wanted to see if there was any interest before i started sinking money into this idea

You're unfortunately limiting yourself by only doing it locally. Do you think you could partner with a homebrew shop near you to increase your customer base?

thats what i was thinking about trying. my lhbs is about 15 min away. i was going to make up some kind of flyer and take it into them, but i am not sure how i would present it to them. as a partnership where they would take some money, or just giving them my info so they could direct people in my direction. either one would work out well.


also, i am not saying i would not want to ship them, i just think shipping would be kind of expensive , but i do have plenty of pallets here and i would strap them to pallets and have freight carriers come pick them up.

any of you advertisers out there have any ideas on how to approach my lhbs. or any shop owner know how they would like to be approached?

My suggestion would be to have the plans, the materials, the time to build, and the projected costs for the materials and YOUR time.

In a custom build situation your LHBS should have no problem advertising the availability of such a product. There is no cost to them to do so. However they will need to mark it up in order to make money on selling it, otherwise there is no incentive to do so. I would discuss with them what target price is reasonable. If your cost to them does not allow for it you may have to adjust.

You should also consider the business aspects of this. You are building a product that will house dangerous materials. Your liability for a poor build or misuse could be high. Make sure to protect yourself because the first time someone dumps their 170 degree sparge water from the top tier on themselves it could be a bad time in court for you.

The major problem you will find is that most home brewers are pretty much "DIYer's" and really prefer from an anal standpoint and a financial one, to do this themselves. Most of us see a little piece of all of the brew rigs out there that we want to incorporate. Do a custom job for everyone of your potential customers can get VERY expensive.

Good luck and show us more that just a frame, maybe I might look into one.

As far as the LHBS I would see if they'd just let you put a flier up. Not really involving them in the sales. I know my "local" HBS has has a bulletin board for this sort of thing.

Simphoto02 said:

The major problem you will find is that most home brewers are pretty much "DIYer's" and really prefer from an anal standpoint and a financial one, to do this themselves. Most of us see a little piece of all of the brew rigs out there that we want to incorporate. Do a custom job for everyone of your potential customers can get VERY expensive.

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That is the general vibe from the main supporters of this site, but in general I think theri are plenty of people out there that like making beer, but would pay for something like this as well. Compare the number of home built rigs to actual forum members. It doesn't take fabricating knowledge and engineering skills to brew beer. Plus Brewing is the only free time a lot of us get let alone building a rig also.

Equipment aside, you will certainly need better pictures if you go ahead with this. I'm trying to not be picky here, as this is just a feeler thread for you. Honestly though, you need better pictures from the word go if your are trying to sell something. You need to look professional from day one as these pics will reside on HBT and will be found in searches long after you have the vendor membership (Unless you delete them, of course)

IrregularPulse said:

As far as the LHBS I would see if they'd just let you put a flier up. Not really involving them in the sales. I know my "local" HBS has has a bulletin board for this sort of thing.


That is the general vibe from the main supporters of this site, but in general I think theri are plenty of people out there that like making beer, but would pay for something like this as well. Compare the number of home built rigs to actual forum members. It doesn't take fabricating knowledge and engineering skills to brew beer. Plus Brewing is the only free time a lot of us get let alone building a rig also.

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I totally agree. Point I was trying to make is that the vast majority of ACTIVE forum members (Ones I see posting the most) are also the guys (and gals) that tend to want to do it them selves. Run it up the flag pole and see who salutes. Just be ready for either few orders or all custom ones.

Another option is to give the LHBS a prenegotiated referral fee on each custom customer they refer to you. It might give them the incentive to move you from the "bulletin board" and into thier sales staff mind.
You might also want to look into what type of kettles/mlts etc they carry and stock and back into a "stock" design to compliment the products they already sell...
I completely agree with the mostly DIY attitude of Homebrewers mentioned already, but there are also PLENTY of people (unfortunately not me, I have neither) that have more money than time.

I would just talk to them. My buddy is making keggles and stuff and just started talking to the owner about maybe selling them, or at least putting in a good word for him. They liked the idea of using his rig to cut the tops off and stuff. Or if you want to talk to my buddy (he welded his own brew rig) then maybe you two could work something out. I'm too swamped with work and family life to jump in. But the guys at Keystone Homebrew will at least hear you out from what I can tell.

Instead of making it a custom job, just build a copy of yours and bring it to the LHBS and ask if they'd be interested in selling it on consignment. If it goes well, do it again. I'd have a short written contract that you both sign that lays out what percentage of the sales price they keep and what happens if it doesn't sell in 3 months, etc. You'd probably want to take it back and sell it on your own at that point. They'd probably want to package it with their own kettles and accessories, but for most brewers the stand and burners is the hard part.

wow, nice info everyone

LTS
the legal issues were first on my mind. i know that i can jusp up and down on all 3 levels of my rig. but what happens when one person bumps it in the wrong way or something like that and they either burn their house down or dump their HLT all over themselves. i honestly dont know what to do. insurance? for a little side job. seems like a bit much. possibly if i were go get in with my LHBS they could insure me under their liability coverage. i dont know.

simphoto02
i figured i would do better locally selling them because the majority of the people in my area dont seem to be the DIY type. there are a bunch of country clubs and gated communitys around here with people who have a DIY ability to the extent of a pen and a check book.

irregular pulse
you hit it right on the head with that i was looking into. the first thing i would like to try is just put up a flyer or something to see if anyone would be interested.


laughing gnome
the professionalism is kind of what i was asking on here for. i have no marketing ability of my own. would a good picture just be in the yard with nothing else around, or shoukld i fill the background with carboys and kegs? i guess i should just take a couple pictures and see what looks best.

greenwood rover
i have been trying to work with my LHBS in the past, since we sell co2, i am trying to get them as a customer. maybe i should try again to get their business that way, and use that as a door to bring up the talk of these brew rigs.

XL
good call. i am just going to go in there in the next week or 2 and talk to them. it cant hurt to try.

bobby
maybe when i go in to talk to them i'll say that i will make one, drop it off and if it sells i'll make another, and if not, no hard feelings. they might like that. the only problem there is that my LHBS is lacking on display room so they might not have a place for it.

Advertise locally and try to get a few systems in use so you can get customer testimonials. Word of mouth sales hopefully will feed a side business. As to insurance, yes you should have it but it will cost you some big money. Doubtful you could be insured through your LHBS as they would not have insurance to cover manufacturing liability, etc.

jonp9576 said:

wow, nice info everyone


simphoto02
i figured i would do better locally selling them because the majority of the people in my area dont seem to be the DIY type. there are a bunch of country clubs and gated communitys around here with people who have a DIY ability to the extent of a pen and a check book.

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THATS what I call a Target Market. Go forth and git r done dude!!!!!!

How close do you live to the LHBS? If it's close enough and they have the outdoor space, you could maybe sit it outside the front door during the day one your way to work, then pick it up on the way home if they're closed. You of course wouldn't want to do this if it's way out of your way. But could be an option for floor space. Another option, See if they'll let you do an AG Brew Demo at their shop on a weekend. This would bring people in. Then in the back ground you could have a flyer about the stand and be mentioning the stand for sale during your brew. You could be the new Billie Mayes.

For a picture, Make a quick back drop out of a sheet on a wall and photograph the stand at different angles. Nothing to steal the eye away from the stand. Plus a solid white background on a black stand would make it easy to edit the picture for any fliers or ads. People here could help you with that. I'd be willing to make a flier with a picture like I mentioned and the info you wanted on it.

I'm the kind of person that would buy one. I have NO DIY ability, but I know what I want.

Shipping would probably be a fortune, though, so that would be the deal breaker.

What do retailers like morebeer.com charge for shipping? I wonder how they ship them.

Once you get up into freight, it's not proportionally more expensive than we're used to. I remember when I ordered the 42 sacks of grain from Northcountry and it was only $125 to ship 2400 pounds across two states.

Just browsing the thread, I think you are severely limited. Are you talking about building only 3 tier gravity systems? Locally? That is a small market.

The LHBS will probably not want to put thier stamp on it... only because, who are you? Are you licensed? Bonded? Insured? If something happens will they be in the line of fire because they have deeper pockets than you do? Are you an LLC? Or are you a guy in his garage with a welder?

Id think they would be ok with a flyer, but actually selling it as one of thier items, I am not so sure. If it were me, and there were gas lines plumbed on the thing, Id say no unless you were all of the above... too much liability. Heck, simply the fact that copious ammounts of boiling liquid will be on shelves, up high... would make me nervous if I were a business owner.

Bottom line, risk vs reward... Id look away. I mean, how much potential profit is in it for them?

Approach them... but that is a small market, and you need to bring a lot to the table to be a trusted supplier, THIER reputation is on the line.

Pol raises some good points, and having a proper business license and insurance would be a necessary step to getting the business going if you plan on selling at a LHBS.

From the prospective of a HBS owner I would tell you to work on getting designs together for a 3-tier, 2-tier, and single tier stands, with pricing for both the suggested retail price, and the cost you would sell the stand to the LHBS. Even if all of the stands are completely custom, you will need a jumping off point to start to attract customers. You can always quote for additional options on the stands. Let the LHBS know that you will only do the stand and they can add to the packages to include things like brew pots, and other items needed to use the stand.

If the LHBS can make money off the stands, and you can make money off the stands and no one has to spend money on anything until after an order comes in then it should not be too much trouble to get the LHBS interested in carrying them.

If there is anything I can do to help please do not hesitate to ask. I can not wait for the day that we carry custom brew stands.

Ed

I know you did not ask for design suggestions but -

One suggestion to help with shipping and foot print size would be to make either all three or just the top two shelves adjustable. If you welded each shelf to a collar, a slightly larger pipe than the main upright, and put 2 "tighteners," T handles or set screws, in the collar at 90 degrees from each other, that would allow you to ship all the shelves on the same side to reduce the foot print. The "tighteners", rather than a pin, make it so you can eliminate any wobble in the shelf. Adjustability, I do not think that is a word, would also allow people to use there existing pots/equipment and you would be able to focus on the money maker, manufacturing. Also, you could use round pipe so that the shelves could be spun if needed and you would only need "tighteners" on one side, opposite of shelf.

Does any of this make sense?

Pol
thanks for the info. the one thing i am considering is getting certified before i sell anything i welded. I have been welding for years, and i would trust my own welds, but i am sure anyone who purchases anything wouldnt hesitate to sue me for the slightest thing.

as far as gas plumbing goes, my company deals in compressed gas sales and service. i install propane lines for a living. that is not a big concern for me.

also "who am i" is a big thing. Thats why i am interested in getting their co2 business from them first, and then possibly once i have occicial certs i can weld these rigs for them.

brewruff
i understand the concept of making the shelves mobile. i ran through a bunch of ideas when i made my personal rig.

using just a "tightener" to hold the shelves in place would scare the crap out of me. also, that would make burner placement a problem as well.

i do love the idea and with flexible burner hoses and a better way of securing the levels it might work

brewmasters warehouse
thanks for the ideas. i am not set on making just 3 tier rigs by any means. i have just never made or used a single tier or 2 tier rig. plus i am fairly new to brewing so i dont quite understand the bells and whistles on a lot of these rigs i am seeing on here. so i wouldn't want to attempt to put one together. i figure i wouldnt want to sell anything i dont know how to use and or brew with myself.