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Geoffington

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Jun 30, 2009
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Location
Columbus, OH
Has anyone ever heard of a place where all the general sturdy equipment for home brewing is provided, a membership fee is assessed and breakable, non-shareable equipment is personally owned?
I'm considering attempting to design and build such a facility, assuming I can get enough interest from brewers in Columbus. I figure that there's quite a bit of equipment that is useful, but expensive and whose costs and utility would be increased by sharing.
I also envision lockers being made in a room that is kept via AC at 70F and with other rooms/walk-ins at lagering temperatures, set up similarly.
I'd also like to provide large 27 gal fermenting vessels that would be rented, so that people could make large brews for special occasions without having to commit to the equipment cost and forcing themselves into constantly utilizing the equipment to make their investment worthwhile.
Brewing would be done with time slots allotted for various equipment/stations.
Sanitation solutions would be free and you'd be required to clean the equipment.
What would effectively be a home-brew store would be on the premises. That portion would probably be open to the public, but prices would be higher for non-members.
Please let me know what you think of this; if you would be interested, what you would pay for a yearly membership if such a place were available near you, etc.
 
I'm up in Toledo, so if this goes somewhere, think about allowing guest passes. I could see doing this once or twice a year for maybe $25 plus the ingredients that I would buy there.

I'd take my wort with, so I wouldn't need the locker piece of the equation.

Sounds interesting...Good luck!:D
 
Yeah I was already considering guest passes. I figure if you were coming in with a friend who has a membership they'd be cheaper than if you were a non-member.

PS Great sig/avatar.
 
I think it's a great idea, but you really ought to check into the legal issues. I don't know the laws in Ohio, but I suspect you'd probably have to be licensed as a microbrewery.
 
OK, I live in columbus, and was just trying to find something like this, let me know.
:EDIT: I'd pay 25.00 or so plus buying the ingredients. I believe there is a place ib Dublin, near the zoo, that does BOP for wine. I'll see if I can find anything. Maybe he would have some insight for you.

:EDIT: The Winemaker's Guild 6528 Riverside Dr Dublin 43017 614-791-9583
 
I think it's a great idea, but you really ought to check into the legal issues. I don't know the laws in Ohio, but I suspect you'd probably have to be licensed as a microbrewery.

If its more of a club idea, I doubt that. Its a group of people who own a bunch of equipment to make beer. I've heard of clubs buying a wine barrel as a group to cut down on costs.
 
I think it's a great idea, but you really ought to check into the legal issues. I don't know the laws in Ohio, but I suspect you'd probably have to be licensed as a microbrewery.

+1 on that. Very interesting idea though. Good luck, and post your progress on here. I've had an idea of doing something similar, but start up capitol isn't available to me right now.
 
If its more of a club idea, I doubt that. Its a group of people who own a bunch of equipment to make beer. I've heard of clubs buying a wine barrel as a group to cut down on costs.

It's not the equipment, but BREWING on the equipment in a fixed retail location open to the public that probably needs a license. Even if it's a co-op, you're operating a business that needs to follow local and state laws for business licensing. One might be able to get around the requirement for the beer part if you don't pitch the yeast on premises, but even if you could squirm your way out of that you'd still be on the hook for being licensed to sell/produce food, go through health inspections, etc.
 
I don't think the fees would be too necessary if people were paying retail on what you'd be getting at whole-sale. Or you could flip it the other way around, charge whole-sale on ingredients and have the member fee to compensate for overhead.

Might even be able to start a micro-brewery that way. A co-op microbrew-homebrew store. Sell bottles/kegs/growlers of home brew to the general public.
 
The IRS has a saying: "The difference between avoidance and evasion is about 7-10 years." I have no idea what the laws are in the Buckeye State regarding what you propose, but I'm sure you'll research it very, VERY thoroughly before you proceed. Laws involving alcohol in this country are some of the most complex, involved, and irrational there are. Be careful out there.

As a cautionary tale, I live in The Great State of Illinois. Recently, we had the owner of a bar purveying the best selection of micro-craft beers in the area open his own microbrewery in a building one street West of this bar. This micro will be producing four beers, draft only. Under Illinois law, while he can sell the beer in the micro's brewpub, any kegs off those premises will have to be sent from his microbrewery to a licensed distributor. This means the kegs will have to be loaded into a truck, transported several miles, and then transported BACK to his original bar one street away from the brewery he also owns. Res ipse loquitur.
 
I live in Columbus and gotta be honest, I dont really like this idea. It sounds like a brew on premise place to me. Which is fine if thats what you want to do. I work for a fractional airline and the thing about fractionals you need a lot of planes (or in this case kettles, burners etc.) because everyone wants to brew on the weekends, or at crazy times like 5 am or midnight. All the brewers I know, and al the brewers in the local clubs have the equipment for the most part. Sounds like this venture would be targeting new brewers who have nothing. Once they start brewing I'm pretty sure they'll want their own kit.
just my 2 cents. good luck though
 
I had a similar idea for here in so cal actually.. I saw it once on either a discovery show or a news program or something.

I doubt you would have to get a micro brew license. Technically you would be a LHBS / Storage Facility and would just need a standard business license since you are only providing a place for the public to do what they are doing.

Interesting thing to research though...
 
Check the Ohio laws, or better yet, find an attorney that is well versed in the alcoholic beverage code. Like rico567 said, alcohol laws in this country are incredibly screwed up and can vary greatly from state to state. Telling the IRS or some other 3-letter agency that "the people on homebrewtalk.com said they thought it was OK" isn't going to fly ;)

Interesting idea, probably not something I would do if I lived in the area though. I like doing everything at home.
 
Check the Ohio laws, or better yet, find an attorney that is well versed in the alcoholic beverage code. Like rico567 said, alcohol laws in this country are incredibly screwed up and can vary greatly from state to state. Telling the IRS or some other 3-letter agency that "the people on homebrewtalk.com said they thought it was OK" isn't going to fly ;)

Hahah in the Army we called them Barracks Lawyers.. Drill Sergeants and First Sergeants weren't too keen on us quoting them...
 
My room mate is in law school. I could ask him to comb his resources.

Also, my thoughts on this is that it would be convenient for advanced brewers who only occasionally want to do larger batches, so that they can have the ideal mash tun size. I'd have a large pressure cooker for steam infusion mashes, a zopinator and other more specific equipment that a single brewer might only use occasionally or would want to experiment with.
In addition, I'd like to have a few large fermentation vessels, in the neighborhood of allowing 20 and 30 gal batches, so that home brewers would be able to make large batches for special occasions, or just for group brews.
The real idea here is to accommodate further experimentation among brewers, while reducing the investment. I'd also provide free use of equipment for force carbonation and, ideally, keg rental.

I'd eventually like to provide some more specialized form of a bottling setup than a simple bucket, but I see that as down the line.

Thank you hcarter,
I'm going to check with the Winemaker's Guild and see what they say about their hurdles and local laws.

Thanks boondoggie,
I like the IncrediBREW setup even though it's not what I'm going for. It gives me hope that such a thing as this might just work, business-wise. I fine what they are doing interesting and it's probably a more sound business strategy than what I'm working with, but my main goal is to make homebrewing cheaper, more accessible and to allow for more creativity.
 
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