425 bbls per year ?

[EarlyBirdBrew]

Weizenwerks, I think plenty of us get the concept of craft brewing. Also you keep saying brewery, the OP is not opening a brewery he is brewing beer to sell at an established restaurant. Therefore he can sell BMC and his brews and since it is a restaurant he can make money off of both.

I agree that if you are a brewery you should only promote your beer but I also understand a bit about marketing and sometimes working with a competitor can bring in profits too. Like I said before, there are plenty of brewpubs in austin that brew their own beer but have other beers on tap. If they didn't they wouldn't be the most popular spots in town, which to me says they are doing good business.

 

[kaiser423]

I'm talking new vehicles, not used.


What's the point in becoming a brewery if you are going to sell other beers? Breweries make beer and sell it for profit. BMC has no place in an establishment that brews their own beer and neither does any other beer.


Sorry, competitor beers are not allowed in my establishment.


I don't care what other people think. You come to my brewery to drink my beer, not someone else's. People don't understand the concept of craft beer.


I don't help competition, I beat it. If competitors help each other, then it isn't competition. This is a business, not a group hug.

What the OP wants to do is fine with the OP. If it works, great.

That's all great if beer is your main schtick. It's not in this case. It is in yours. Totally different business cases.

Yours doesn't support BMC, the OP's does, so you shouldn't serve BMC and the OP should.

Edit: Shared mug clubs are sometimes great for business. Back in my hometown, 4-5 breweries that are geographically spread out share a mug club, and it's been great since when people are in the other areas, they stop by the associate mug club brewery for the benefits rather than going elsewhere. They all found that it really helped sales, and now have some of each other's brews on tap, which has also helped.

 

[Weizenwerks]

Weizenwerks, I think plenty of us get the concept of craft brewing. Also you keep saying brewery, the OP is not opening a brewery he is brewing beer to sell at an established restaurant. Therefore he can sell BMC and his brews and since it is a restaurant he can make money off of both.

Call it what you want, but if you make beer for sale you are a brewery plain and simple. Even if a brewery is combined with a restaurant, it's still a brewery and a restaurant and should be managed as such.

I agree that if you are a brewery you should only promote your beer but I also understand a bit about marketing and sometimes working with a competitor can bring in profits too. Like I said before, there are plenty of brewpubs in austin that brew their own beer but have other beers on tap. If they didn't they wouldn't be the most popular spots in town, which to me says they are doing good business.

If you're not going to sell only the beer you make, what's the point investing in a brewery? That's stupid.

 

[itsme6582]

Jumping on someone's thread to call them stupid is, well, stupid.

 

[ongreystreet]

I think as far as the BMC debate goes, there is probably a lot of underlying politics, not being mentioned.

If you don't think brewing at a restaurant does not constitute what's labeled as a brewery, you are wrong, it's that simple. You are a restaurant and you are a brewery(especially if you are brewing something like 13k gallons a year).

Now that you are a brewery, you have competition, it's a clear and simple fact. You are competing with every restaurant, bar, pub, tavern, brewpub, distributor, and other breweries. Some of this competition may be friendly, some may not be, some may hate you. BMC will hate you. BMC makes a living trying to squash the little guy, buy the little guy, buy his shelf place, buy the distributor, buy signage in his bars, and so on. I don't have any hands on experience in the sales business, but my mother was a sales rep for a major tobacco company for over 15 years, and I now work in the grocery design field, and I know that everyday the battle lines are drawn on by major and minor brands.

Brewing your own to sell while still selling BMC is sleeping with the enemy. When you cut your order in half to sell your own, you can expect your cost for BMC to go up, and the cost for the bar down the street to go down.

 

[kaiser423]

If you're not going to sell only the beer you make, what's the point investing in a brewery? That's stupid.

Every single restaurant/brew pub I've ever been to, which is probably approaching 70-80, as far as I can recall had some BMC on premises somewhere.

These were all extremely successful businesses. Call it stupid if you want, but the vast majority of people doing something "stupid" are making money, staying open, and doing great. You can't argue with success.

Brewing your own to sell while still selling BMC is sleeping with the enemy. When you cut your order in half to sell your own, you can expect your cost for BMC to go up, and the cost for the bar down the street to go down.

Yea, this would be the big worry. But they're already selling 50% other beers, so they're not cutting the BMC order. They're actually largely cutting other half-craft brews (which, well, now that i think about it probably are owned by BMC). So, yea, this might happen to some extent.

But really, he's adding on to an existing restaurant, and you can't just make a 100% massive transition such as changing all of your beer available like you guys are suggesting. It's just not good business sense, no matter how good the replacement beer is.

 

[robtotten]

Where is Weizenwerks Brewing Company? I'd like to stop by this place and have a few pints. It's obviously a successful brew pub.

 

[Weizenwerks]

Currently relocating to Wisconsin from Michigan. We are not a brew pub, we are a brewery. We do not serve food. Beer only. Less hassle and regulations not to mention more profitable.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Ok I have had enough of the BMC debate ! Weizenwerks please don't post anything else on this thread about it ! The owner had made up his mind on this point. If you want to give me some pointers on creating a great sellable beer to convert BMC drinkers or how to get good carbination etc. that would be fine.

 

[Weizenwerks]

You're on your own from here.

 

[kaiser423]

Ok I have had enough of the BMC debate ! Weizenwerks please don't post anything else on this thread about it ! The owner had made up his mind on this point. If you want to give me some pointers on creating a great sellable beer to convert BMC drinkers or how to get good carbination etc. that would be fine.

Be ready to work your ass off, and sweat the small stuff.

Honestly, I haven't opened a brewery, but in other businesses, people sweat the big stuff (like having a good recipe) and forget the small stuff, like executing that recipe. There's a ton of detail in even medium scale production.

Have a plan and schedule for making beer, getting beer into the fermenters, kegs, plans for how to move it around ,etc. Think of every step from draining the beer to filling it, to taste testing, to wheeling it into storage to cleaning and so on. Have plans and schedules.

As Patton said, "plans are worthless, but planning is everything". Your initial plan probably won't even be close to right, but having a plan, and more importantly, having considered all of the different available options in creating a plan will give you the knowledge and flexibility to adjust that plan confidently and successfully down the road.

Best of luck! It sounds like you have a good setup, so just put your head down and slog through it all.

 

[ongreystreet]

I was going to post this on pro brewer but I am afraid they would laugh me out of there.

Ok I have had enough of the BMC debate ! Weizenwerks please don't post anything else on this thread about it ! The owner had made up his mind on this point. If you want to give me some pointers on creating a great sellable beer to convert BMC drinkers or how to get good carbination etc. that would be fine.

You need to grow up a little pokerfreak. Pull up your boot straps and go ask the big boys a few questions, before getting all pissed off at the homebrew people for giving you their honest opinion. Although people on this forum homebrew, when compared to breweries, must of us are just customers, and that's the opinion you're going to get.

You want some pointers from the homebrew forum? Is that how you and your buddy plan to run your brewery? You need a reality check.

If I had to take a shot in the dark gestimate for start-up costs, I am assuming someone is going to invest a minimum $50k just on equipment and set-up (my source is the little I know about brewing and my experience in building construction and kitchen design, I don't know what your experience is, I know you have homebrewed with extract with unknown batch sizes, number of batches, and number of years brewing). What ever the number is, someone is going to spend a lot of dough. You need to find someone or some people you can trust, ask your questions, and be prepared to possibly not like the answers they give you. I would suggest hiring a consultant or contacting a contractor with brewery experience.

It is safe to assume none of your equipment has been purchased at this point. If it has, hopefully it hasn't been received.

 

[itsme6582]

Pokerfreak you are clearly doomed to fail. I bet the guy on the corner begging for money was once told an idea he had wouldn't work. I bet it happened to Bill Gates, too. Keep on truckin. Yay or nay on the recipes? Although I guess that would just be more fodder.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Hey yall, I thought I'd let you know how it's going. It took along time to get all the licences. The TTB sent it back once just for putting our address as interstate 40, they wanted it to say I-40.(our government at work). We ended up with a 115 gal steam kettle and 12- 115 gal conical fermenters. We built a 120 ft reverse chiller to send the hot wort to the fermentation room. Also instead of serving tanks we bought 72 brand new franke kegs. We have brewed 800 gallons this week.

 

[pokerfreak2]

We also got some media attention from Draft magazine and local news !
http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/story.aspx?id=625247

 

[itsme6582]

Great news pokerfreak. I'm glad you were able to put it all together. Good luck. The hard work isn't over yet.

 

[Csuho]

I knew it was the big texan steakhouse.

So when are you pouring the first pint? Congrads on the progress so far.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Thanks ! I know the hard work has just begun. We are planning on our first pour being June 22.

 

[robtotten]

Way to go dude!

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Hey yall, I thought I'd let you know how it's going. It took along time to get all the licences. The TTB sent it back once just for putting our address as interstate 40, they wanted it to say I-40.(our government at work). We ended up with a 115 gal steam kettle and 12- 115 gal conical fermenters. We built a 120 ft reverse chiller to send the hot wort to the fermentation room. Also instead of serving tanks we bought 72 brand new franke kegs. We have brewed 800 gallons this week.

Holy crap. You're brewing at The Big Texan? That is seriously awesome. My wife's family lives in the panhandle so I'm up there at least twice a year. I am headed your way soon!

 

[robtotten]

So what's going to be on tap?

 

[robtotten]

What temperature are you keeping the fermentation chamber? You probably are, but be sure to check the temps in the middle of the beer as it ferments.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

You know I was thinking about what you're doing and you're goal to get as many people as possible to drink house brew. Being very familiar with where you are I can imagine that about 85% or more are BMC drinkers.

So why not make a cream ale? If you've never had one they're very BMC-esque. They're also cheap as sh*t to make. And you don't have to lager them, just ferment cool which it sounds like you have well in hand.

Check out this recipe. I've made a super hoppy version of this one before and it was great.

A strategy you could use to sell it is take a tip from the Olive Garden playbook. They offer everyone a 1oz. pour of their house wine to try to get people to buy a glass or bottle. You could do the same thing with your cream ale. Anytime someone orders a BMC, you bring out a 1oz. pour of the cream ale with it.

I bet you'd move a lot more kegs and make A LOT more money.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Hey thanks for the tips Homebrewtastic. That cream ale looks like a winner and will probably get on the list soon. Today we brewed 200 gallons of an IPA we call rattlesnake IPA ( this ones got a real bite) and tomorrow the Palo Duro Pale ale. Also giving out samples is a great idea. We are planning on having a girl dressed like daisy duke walking the floor with 1 oz samples and pushing the home-brews.

Robtotten, We are keeping the fermentation chamber at about 60 degrees.
On Tap soon:
Amarillo honey blonde
Raspberry Wheat
Pecan Porter
Texas Red Amber Ale
Rattlesnake IPA
Palo Duro Pale Ale
Watermelon Wheat

Look me up when you come in , I'd enjoy meeting y'all !

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Hey thanks for the tips Homebrewtastic. That cream ale looks like a winner and will probably get on the list soon. Today we brewed 200 gallons of an IPA we call rattlesnake IPA ( this ones got a real bite) and tomorrow the Palo Duro Pale ale. Also giving out samples is a great idea. We are planning on having a girl dressed like daisy duke walking the floor with 1 oz samples and pushing the home-brews.

Robtotten, We are keeping the fermentation chamber at about 60 degrees.
On Tap soon:
Amarillo honey blonde
Raspberry Wheat
Pecan Porter
Texas Red Amber Ale
Rattlesnake IPA
Palo Duro Pale Ale
Watermelon Wheat

Look me up when you come in , I'd enjoy meeting y'all !

Oh I will for sure. The best part of my year is quail hunting in the panhandle, and despite it being a huge tourist trap I've always wanted to check out the Big Texan.

 

[DirtBagRob]

Me and a buddy are riding our motorcycles to the great american beer fest this fall and it sounds like Amarillo might have to be our half-way point.
There is definitely nothing better than drinking good beer while eating large quantities of meat.

 

[milesvdustin]

Good luck! Screw the haters on here, follow your dreams and I wish you the best of luck!

 

[pokerfreak2]

Me and a buddy are riding our motorcycles to the great american beer fest this fall and it sounds like Amarillo might have to be our half-way point.
There is definitely nothing better than drinking good beer while eating large quantities of meat.

I'm planning on going to the GABF too ! Maybe I'll follow yall up there on 4 wheels.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Update... All beers on tap now. Sold the first beer tower tonight !

 

[kaiser423]

Niiiiiice.

Good execution man.

 

[chriswilkes33]

Very cool. Congrats.

 

[Weizenwerks]

Glad to hear you're up and running. Be calculated. Business doesn't suffer fools.

 

[TomHanx]

i want to delete this post b/c i found the answer to the originial question about 2 pages back. holy ****e they're selling beer at the 72 oz steakhouse?? i'll have to try it next time im driving through there from dallas to colorado to go snowboarding. thats cool

 

[pokerfreak2]

I'll save ya a few pints or quarts or towers ! Whichever you would prefer TomHanx.

We had to get interviewed for several local news channels today. That is not my favorite thing to do. I much prefer to be the man behind the curtain that makes it all happen.

There is nothing like the feeling of adding 3 lbs of hops to a boil. I swear the smell gets me high...

 

[robtotten]

Beer by the quart? I love it!

 

[pokerfreak2]

We got 4 of these billboards up today ! Yeah !!! Getting some real good feedback from customers. Best seller has been the Palo Duro pale ale.

 

[pokerfreak2]

Got a nice P.M.

"On my way back from Colo. I stopped by the BT on sunday. The wife and I sampled all the homebrews. Excellent jobs fellas!!!! "

Thanks for stopping by ! Sorry I missed ya

 

[pokerfreak2]

I think they must have stopped by for a homebrew ! I'm naming our next beer after them... How about Big Texans Wild Ride but what style reflects this name ?
It was crazy busy tonight !

 

[bartbert]

Once you have a moment to reflect, it would be really interesting to hear your "lessons learned". What went right? What would you do differently if you had a "do over"?

Anyway, congrats on what you have already accomplished. You are living the dream dude!

 

[robtotten]

I think they must have stopped by for a homebrew ! I'm naming our next beer after them... How about Big Texans Wild Ride but what style reflects this name ?
It was crazy busy tonight !

Definitely something west coast! A nice pale ale? Dry hop with Simcoe because it smells like weed! haha.