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HBHoss

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Mariposa, CA
Going pro soon so I'm building a simple 10 X 22 building to be the Brew Hause.
It will have a 4 X 9 cold room in the back for fermentation and storage. I'll also have my 4 tap (for now, max is 8) keezer in there as well as other pieces pertaining to the brew process. I'll have a 3 tier sculpture once the building has a roof on it. As the business grows so will the equipment.
Here's what I have so far.

Raw ground
1 Brewery 8-21-09.JPG

'dozer leveling the spot
8-31-09.jpg

Base framework finished
9-03-09.jpg
Framing almost done
9-8-09 Framed.jpg

Side walls up
9-10-09.jpg
 
Are you going to be doing all kegs at first or will there be some kind of bottling setup in there?
 
Are you going to be doing all kegs at first or will there be some kind of bottling setup in there?

I'll be doing both corney kegs and bottles to start. I'll be selling out of a Wine Tasting Shop so people can come in and have a taste and buy a bottle if they want to. I have a feeling it will get bigger pretty fast. Small town with not a lot of choices.
 
Looks good! can't wait to see it finished! Just one question, maybe I missed it, is there a foundation for you building? Won't the wood rot?

The base is sitting on treated wood and the floor has a layer of roofing paper under it for protection. I didn't want to deal with pulling permits and having my taxes go up so I made it not permanent.
 
How big of a kettle or fermenter will you be using? Just curious if that floor will be strong enough to hold a big kettle/fermenter full of liquid.
 
How big of a kettle or fermenter will you be using? Just curious if that floor will be strong enough to hold a big kettle/fermenter full of liquid.

For now it will just be 5 and 10 gallon batches. If it grows enough I will determine my next step. The flooring is 5/8" interlocking sheets on top of wood pallets. Pretty strong for now. The ground underneath that is composed of decomposed granite and clay. Basically cement.
 
For now it will just be 5 and 10 gallon batches. If it grows enough I will determine my next step. The flooring is 5/8" interlocking sheets on top of wood pallets. Pretty strong for now. The ground underneath that is composed of decomposed granite and clay. Basically cement.
Gotcha. What is the min/max amount brewed per year that defines 'nanobrewery'? I'm just wondering if I'm a nanobrewery, picobrewery femtobrewery...etc.:D
 
The base is sitting on treated wood and the floor has a layer of roofing paper under it for protection. I didn't want to deal with pulling permits and having my taxes go up so I made it not permanent.


looks good .. I just found out that anything over 10 ft tall or larger than 100 square feet needs a permit foundation or not where I live. So my brew shed is on hold till I pull the permit.
 
Are you really going to sell beer? You know the black boot guys at ATF will come visiting. For a permit you can not have wood and have to meet loads of health stuff.
 
I'll be doing both corney kegs and bottles to start. I'll be selling out of a Wine Tasting Shop so people can come in and have a taste and buy a bottle if they want to. I have a feeling it will get bigger pretty fast. Small town with not a lot of choices.

It may be none of my business and I hate to be a stickler but do you have the proper licenses to sell your product? its just that I work with a lot of state/federal mandates and I'd hate to see ya get jammed up... one of my insureds is in jail and paid a 1 million $ fine because he wasn't licensed to perform the operations he was doing .. bridge repairs for the state.

He made 2 million on the project . So after expenses they hit him with about 300k more than he made
 
looks good .. I just found out that anything over 10 ft tall or larger than 100 square feet needs a permit foundation or not where I live. So my brew shed is on hold till I pull the permit.

If by chance the county decides it's necessary it's real easy to get permits here. I wonder if those "portable" car ports they sell at CostCo need a permit then? They're 200 sq ft. Some people anchor those down with cement. I would doubt it though.
 
I would presume that there is licensing and such involved? How much is a license to sell alcohol running you? Taxes on production? Are there certain regulatory mandates that dictate the design, layout or operation since you are producing something for consumption and sale?
 
If by chance the county decides it's necessary it's real easy to get permits here. I wonder if those "portable" car ports they sell at CostCo need a permit then? They're 200 sq ft. Some people anchor those down with cement. I would doubt it though.

I have a 20X24 Cover-it on my property no permit needed for anything with a canvas shell. I was taking that down to put up the brew shed . But with wood and shingles they feel anything over 100 sq ft is really a permanent structure.
 
Are you really going to sell beer? You know the black boot guys at ATF will come visiting. For a permit you can not have wood and have to meet loads of health stuff.

It's now called the TTB and they are the last ones I'm waiting on. I have my Sellers Permit but the TTB has to give me a Brewer's Notice before I can sell.
 
It may be none of my business and I hate to be a stickler but do you have the proper licenses to sell your product? its just that I work with a lot of state/federal mandates and I'd hate to see ya get jammed up... one of my insureds is in jail and paid a 1 million $ fine because he wasn't licensed to perform the operations he was doing .. bridge repairs for the state.

He made 2 million on the project . So after expenses they hit him with about 300k more than he made

I would presume that there is licensing and such involved? How much is a license to sell alcohol running you? Taxes on production? Are there certain regulatory mandates that dictate the design, layout or operation since you are producing something for consumption and sale?

There are web sites that list all the permits and licenses etc.. necessary. I'm still dealing with the state and feds but it's all going well. They're not used to such a small operation. Right now I'm basically a homebrewer wanting to sell his beer. I don't have all the numbers but it's something like .20/gallon excise tax, $1,000 Surety Bond, around $400 for upfront taxes and license fees. I still need to get a label okayed from both state and feds. Everyone wants a piece of the pie.
 
Once they all get a piece, any idea what volumes you have to produce and sell to break even?
 
Once they all get a piece, any idea what volumes you have to produce and sell to break even?

Given a lack of overhead and low rent where the beer will be sold, I'll be making a profit after three 5 gallon cornies/month.
The only reason I decided to do this was because my brother does his wine tastings out of a small store in a great location. Plus I was lucky enough to meet a guy who was going to open a Brewery but decided to go winery instead and he's "long term loaning" me all the brewing equipment he has. I just have to give him a beer once in awhile. This includes a complete 7 bbl system, should I ever need it. But a nice 3 tier to start plus brewing vessels, otherwise I would have never considered it.
 
Id love to brew beer, but that means Id be home daily, and I cannot handle that!!!

Kudos to you for converting your hobby.

Will this be THE income soon, or is this a side gig like my part time writing gig is, to fund my other vices?
 
Id love to brew beer, but that means Id be home daily, and I cannot handle that!!!

Kudos to you for converting your hobby.

Will this be THE income soon, or is this a side gig like my part time writing gig is, to fund my other vices?

Only a side gig. Perhaps something to retire to in 20 years. ;) I work from home and the brewery is 38 ft from my house so it works for me right now.
 
That is cool... 4 days at home and I am ready to bounce. I have a friend that was looking to start a brewpub (he is a professional chef) and approached me a few times. Problem is again, Id be home all the time and take a 50% pay cut.

Plus, what the hell do I know about brewing beer?
 
That is cool... 4 days at home and I am ready to bounce. I have a friend that was looking to start a brewpub (he is a professional chef) and approached me a few times. Problem is again, Id be home all the time and take a 50% pay cut.

Plus, what the hell do I know about brewing beer?

You mean I need to know how to brew beer??? Oh crap, now what? :D
I'm making sure to try and keep it so that if everything fell through tomorrow it wouldn't change a thing. I'd just have a really cool man-cave.
 
You mean I need to know how to brew beer??? Oh crap, now what? :D
I'm making sure to try and keep it so that if everything fell through tomorrow it wouldn't change a thing. I'd just have a really cool man-cave.

That is like buying your wife a radial arm saw for Xmas... right on!
 
This is epic. Three 5 gallon kegs a month is nothing. Why must you tempt me so! I can nearly brew that in my current system in a single session. I think you might be my new hero.
 
This is epic. Three 5 gallon kegs a month is nothing. Why must you tempt me so! I can nearly brew that in my current system in a single session. I think you might be my new hero.

It's one thing to brew it, another to sell it. I'm hoping the pizza place across the street will want in on the action as well. Then I'd really need to step up the brewing. Plus if you buy bulk ingredients then profit goes up also. ~Fifty twelve oz bottles from a 5 gallon keg at around $2.50/bottle is $125. Let's say $200/month for rent for the space, .20/gallon state excise tax, $30 in ingredients and $50, or so, in misc. ~$25 in bottles/keg + $30 in ingredients and $1 in excise tax puts us at $56/keg. Haven't figured out all the expenses yet with regard to state and feds but it's about $1.72/gallon federal excise tax and .05/bottle. $8.60/keg fed tax. Just some numbers but lets say this is it. If I sold 1 kegs worth/week I'd make around $9/week. That's at only 5 gallons/week.
So I suppose there's profit in one keg.
 
$9 for doing something we all love to do, that's effing awesome! But, don't quit your day job.:D
 

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