Brew on premises?

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Matt Foley

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Has anyone ever used a Brew On Premises establishment? I was aware of one in Montana a while back that did not make a go of it. It seems like it could be a pretty cool business if it had kind of a hang out atmosphere. Just wondering if anyone has been successful with this business model.
 
I did my first brews at a BOP store, which eventually got me into homebrewing. Actually, it was great. They kept a great stock of ingredients, and charged by the recipe (theirs or your own). As a customer, I was responsible for steeping and the boil and bottling -- that's it. The store did the cooling, ferementing, racking, and cold filtering. It was pretty awesome, and the beer was great.

The store was cool, too -- it was an old heritage building that had been restored into a brewery. The staff were pretty cool, too, which is why I eventually quit. Too bad because I think they had the potential to do a really decent business.
 
My primary LHBS is actually a BOP wine/beer shop. They have 6 or 8 of those great steam kettles. I don't actually do BOP there but I do enjoy hanging out and talking shop with the head brewer while he measures out my ingredients.

I've been in there talking to other customers as they do all grain or extract brewing and they all seem to love it. From what I've gathered what they love most is not having to clean anything, personally I don't think it's worth all the extra money but I'm in brewing for a hobby as well as beer so I'm biased. :)
 
The BOPs seem to be a little more popular in Canada. Anyone see one work in the States?
 
The owner of one of my LHBS say they are illegal in Georgia. I have a feeling that this might be the case in many states...old laws that once had a purpose that need to be re-thought. This LHBS does offer fridge space for lagering...for free.
 
I believe there are two in the greater Cleveland area. A coworker has done several batches at one of them. It is a bar, brewpub and BOP rolled into one and appears to be a good hang out place whether brewing or just going to the bar. Both BOPs have been in business a number of years but the one nearest to me just moved to the other side of town so I'm not sure of their current status.

Craig
 
There is one here in Huntington Beach that has been in business for about 10 years. They also do bread. Unfortunately, they do not cater to the home brewer.
 
One of the brewers I know in Southern California owns a little condo, so he goes to a BOP. He loves it. It lets him do things like make ten batches of ale for a wedding in a few days, which would be just about impossible for most of us.
 
We have one here in Washington state located in a city called Edmonds (17mi N of Seattle). I have walked by the shop but never gone in, I spoke to our licensing board and they said they operate under a microbrew lic. I never thought I would go to one but I like the idea of brewing large batches for special events that was just posted.
 
I know that at the MoreBeer in Riverside has BOP, but Im not sure if they let you do it yourself, or thats just the projects for the store itself. They also had a setup in Culver City that has it. So clearly its legal here in California.
 
I have never used one, although had some beers from people who have. I found the beers ok - but that may not be the BOP's fault.
When picking up some supplies, I found 3-4 of these places tried to sell the fact that their equipment was the secret to making good beer. I also found that some of the workers seemed the place was some exclusive club that they had control over. All but one of these places used generic bulk LME and pre-crushed grains. I know that both were quite stale since they only ordered every few months.
I would only recommend one if I knew that the newbie didn't have room for a carboy at home, and that the owners were good people.

Cheers.
 
traderearl said:
We have one here in Washington state located in a city called Edmonds (17mi N of Seattle). I have walked by the shop but never gone in, I spoke to our licensing board and they said they operate under a microbrew lic. I never thought I would go to one but I like the idea of brewing large batches for special events that was just posted.
Maybe that works at some BOPs but I know my coworker who went to the local BOP had to reserve a brew time about 3 months in advance. Doesn't sound like it would be easy to brew for an event there.
Craig
 
TheJadedDog said:
We used to have one in RI, went pretty strong for a while. I think the only reason it closed was that the owner moved due to his "real" job relocating him but I'm not sure.


I started out brewing there (brewers heaven). They were awesome and took care of all of the sanitizing, fermenting, etc. great recipe's, expert support, nice atmosphere, and 15 gallon batches (well, 5 cases)

I (and my associates) were very disappointed when he closed up. He said he was going to reopen, but it never happened.

Oddly enough, just a few months ago the state legislature passed a BOP bill to allow for 5 licenses statewide for BOP shops. The big downside is that there can be no drinking on the premises, which is rather limiting since you would probably want to try your freshly brewed beer or determine what you want to brew.

In any event, they were a booming business right up until they shut down. He'd been there 5 years and every time I was there he had a three or four groups brewing and two or three groups bottling.

So now I just homebrew and none of the other 4 people I used to brew with are homebrewers now (but they drink my homebrews quite readily).
 
CBBaron said:
I believe there are two in the greater Cleveland area. A coworker has done several batches at one of them. It is a bar, brewpub and BOP rolled into one and appears to be a good hang out place whether brewing or just going to the bar. Both BOPs have been in business a number of years but the one nearest to me just moved to the other side of town so I'm not sure of their current status.

Craig
Where in Cleveland, anytime I can hang out with other been enthusiast WHILE drinking beer sounds like a good time.
 
We had a great one in Tempe, just across from the ASU Stadium. My dad did a couple batches there back in the late 90s. They went out of business, unfortunately and the building is now a Sushi joint.

Oh yeah, the fish is always fresh in AZ... ;)
 
Wrey said:
Where in Cleveland, anytime I can hang out with other been enthusiast WHILE drinking beer sounds like a good time.

Great Lakes Brewing Company is located in Cleveland and has an incredible brewpub, and offers private tours of their brewery (no BOP though).

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com

There is a BOP in Strongsville. I can't think of the name of it ATM, but a friend of mine did a brew there a few years ago.
 
We have one here in Albuquerque New Mexico (yes that is still in the US) called Kelly's Brewpub. It's right next to the University so business is always booming. Although I never did BOP myself, I did work there for a while. We had 8 15 gal steam kettles so we were able to brew 19 different styles.

Although it was all extract and partial mash, the beer was pretty %$@#, good save the extract twang (<-----AG snob). Customers could come in a day or two after setting an appointment and brew any of the 19 styles. Kelly's lets them measure out hops, grain, extract and watch the kettle. Two weeks later they come back and bottle it, or we keg it if they have their own keg.

Unfortunately most of the customers are only interested in saving some money for 15 gal batch of beer and not the brewing itself. I often found myself rambling about the history behind various styles and brewing techniques only to watch their eyes glaze over as they lifted a pint glass to their lips.

Nevertheless, Kelly's has a very profitable business model. Even though the food is only mediocre at best, the atmosphere, location, extremely large patio, and good beer make it the place to be for college students and older folk the like, any day/night of the week.

The only downside is capacity. Over the summer, it becomes very hard to keep up with 19 different styles and the BOP side of the bizz with only eight 15 gal steam kettles to run it all.

But hey! Since when is too much business a bad thing? :ban:
 
Wrey said:
Where in Cleveland, anytime I can hang out with other been enthusiast WHILE drinking beer sounds like a good time.
The Brew Kettle
I havn't been there myself but have heard good things about them.
Great Lakes is also a excellent brewpub and microbrewery which I'm sure you know about. Much better beers in my opinion than Rock Bottom or the Chophouse (the other BrewPubs downtown). Out east the Willoughby Brewing Company has excellent beers and food.

Craig
 
mot said:
we have one here in mn
http://www.vinepark.com/ not a bad deal to, you can do wine or beer

I had heard there was on of these in MN. I may have to swing by there just to see what kind of setup they have. After checking their prices on the site, I think I'll be sticking to brewing at home though. ;)
 
traderearl said:
We have one here in Washington state located in a city called Edmonds (17mi N of Seattle). I have walked by the shop but never gone in, I spoke to our licensing board and they said they operate under a microbrew lic. I never thought I would go to one but I like the idea of brewing large batches for special events that was just posted.

Gallaghers? http://www.whereubrew.com/

I brewed there once. I was already an established hb'er but thought it looked cool and was in the process of writing a business plan to open my own and just wanted to see one operate. Cool little business. I would (and proposed to) make it about 30% of a HBS / pub business. I unfortunately ended up moving to CT before I could get started and we have more blue laws in New England than we know what to do with and alas, BOP is illegal here. Things are changing though so who knows what the future holds. I am currently working on a mobile brewing business model where me and my gear come to you and walk you through the brewing process leaving the customer with finished product and the option of buying the gear used. I am bound a determined to make a living off beer without opening a restaurant!
 
My LBHS does onsite but only for wine. They do host events for brewers a couple of times a year - basically a big parking lot party with the hardcore local brewers bringing out their portable rigs to brew on site.
 

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