School Project

igliashon said:

1. You'll need to say more about their product--is it made from malted grains, or only from sugars and grain extracts? In other words, is mashing and lautering part of the process, or just boiling, fermentation, and clearing?

There is no real product. This is merely an imaginary business for the purpose of my school project. I am however attempting to make it as realistic as possible without it ever existing. Saying that the process for brewing this beverage would need to comply with the correct format and using the correct ingredients in the correct order and utilizing the correct equipment and time periods. In response to your question regarding what is it made from, I can only say...What would you suggest? Then based on your suggestion, what equipment and capacities (Malter, etc) would I need if I were to be producing 14 barrels.


2. The usual production capacity of a nano-scale brewery ranges from 1 to 7 barrels (a barrel is around 31 U.S. gallons). It is difficult to achieve profitability at a capacity below 7 barrels, because the labor involved in producing a single batch of beer is no different for 1 barrel vs. 7 barrels, and it's much more efficient if your labor results in a larger quantity of product.

Based on that I would say we will produce 14 barrels and have the custom for it.

3. I think you are in a better position to answer that than we are--what are the ingredients, where are you sourcing them, and how much goes into each batch?

I dont know what Ingredients are involved? That's why im asking the people who do. If you were to be making 14 barrels of Brew XX utilizing your preferred method, how much of the ingredients would be required and what would the cost be. I really have no clue as to anything with this but know I need to provide answers.

4. Again, that depends on your batch size and process, and considering that we are homebrewers, it will be tough for us to answer. Your man-hours will be no different than non-gluten-free brewing that follows the same process, so you might ask in a pro-brewer forum.

Thank you, I will ask in a pro brewer forum.

5. Providing kegs of gluten-free beer can be problematic, because kegs often share tap-lines with non-gluten-free beers, allowing for cross-contamination and an end-product that will not be tolerable to some gluten-free drinkers. Bottles are more fool-proof, but if you can get your restaurant and bar customers to dedicate a tap to your product, some risk will be mitigated. Nevertheless, I am currently unaware of any gluten-free brewery that is packaged for distribution in kegs. New Planet, Bard's, Green's, Harvester, New Grist, St. Peter's Sorgham, Redbridge, Glutenator, etc. are all packaged in bottles, and I have never seen or heard of them being served on draft. If you decide to bottle rather than keg, your packaging costs will be increased--you will need a bottling line, which is a substantial investment, and bottles are more expensive than kegs and non-reusable. However, they are also easier to move, and can be sold more widely (as well as directly to consumers). As for exact costs, again, a pro-brewer forum will be more helpful.

Great, Thanks again for the info.

6. To figure out kegs per batch is simple: calculate net beer output from each batch (total batch size minus wastage), divide by capacity of kegs. Kegs come in a variety of sizes, and I don't know what typical wastage quantities are like for commercial beer production. Some volume will be lost to yeast, trub, and inefficiencies.

Thanks again.

So I would like to say that due to the nature of this product (Not real), I am more interested in the impacts of a time and money nature. In other words, I would like to follow a real process to achieve my end product but I am more concerned about

1. What equipment is required for making 14 barrels per batch and an estimated cost for each piece of equipment.
2. Amount and cost of ingredients (approximatley) for 14 barrels of beer brewed in a way that is dictated by the equipment.
3. Amount of time to brew 14 barrels from start to finish (again approximatley)
4. Anything else I would need to know to calculate my ROI on this project (purchasing the equipment required to make 14 barrels of beer per batch which are all successfully sold)

The more you can tell us about what you already have figured out, the better.

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