beginner equipment for full brew

[dak1b]

Hi All!

I'm looking to start a small scale brewery company from my garage.
What equipment do I need to start brewing?

I'm thinking about buying the yeast and hops locally or growing them myself.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Falcon3]

"Oh no! Don't take me! I'm too little that I am!"
The littlest billy goat gruff



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[LovesIPA]

Does "small scale brewery company" mean you plan to package your beer for sale, to bars or in retail 6-packs?

 

[Komocabo]

Sorry to be a protagonist, but you should know how to brew before considering opening a brewery. Also, you should have a business plan together that would detail this. Also, you will likely not have success as most federal/state/zoning laws will require a separate facility for your brewery...

 

[W0GWT]

Sorry to be a protagonist, but you should know how to brew before considering opening a brewery. Also, you should have a business plan together that would detail this. Also, you will likely not have success as most federal/state/zoning laws will require a separate facility for your brewery...

*antagonist

Also, what he said. Take a step back and read a few books. "How to Brew" is a good starter book.

 

[j1n]

I think your going to quickly realize that opening a brew company from your garage is impossible. If you mean your just going to brew your own beer in your garage for yourself, family and friends then that's just home brewing.

As far as equipment goes, that's up to you to decide. a good starting point is how much your willing to spend. Also are you going to be doing extract, BIAB, All grain? that will also help determine what you will need.

 

[Komocabo]

*antagonist

Wow, I'm disappointed with myself. Cheers

 

[RM-MN]

Making the assumption that you live in the US and are bound by the laws we have, the first thing you need is a ton of money. The second will be patience, the third will be perseverance. The next thing you will likely need is a good lawyer to help you sort through the various laws and ordinances. From there, a good knowledge of brewing will help.

 

[dak1b]

Does "small scale brewery company" mean you plan to package your beer for sale, to bars or in retail 6-packs?

My first step is to produce a product I can sell locally.
I'm working with a well known local chef and restaurant owner. Once we have a sellable product I would like to visit local restaurant and try and sell to them.
Ideally I would start selling the beer in the chef's restaurants i am partnered with and go from there.

 

[dak1b]

Sorry to be a protagonist, but you should know how to brew before considering opening a brewery. Also, you should have a business plan together that would detail this. Also, you will likely not have success as most federal/state/zoning laws will require a separate facility for your brewery...

Yes...first I will learn how to brew beer then we I get a recipe down that people like..I plan on selling locally.
I live in Oakland, California.

 

[jsun]

Well make sure you comply with the local regulations and get the proper licensure if you're going to be selling it...

 

[JBOGAN]

Where is Rod sterling at?...

 

[hunter_le five]

You will not be able to run a commercial brewery from your garage. I don't even mean from a practical standpoint, I mean legally speaking. Sounds like you've got a lot of researching ahead of you, and you may be putting the cart in front of the horse here.

 

[j1n]

Yes...first I will learn how to brew beer then we I get a recipe down that people like..I plan on selling locally.
I live in Oakland, California.

You obviously have not looked into local, state or federal law regarding this. I suggest you do.

 

[JBOGAN]

A good recipe alone will not garner you anything.. You have to be consistent with quality and that will require a large sum of cash and knowledge.

 

[theck]

Need a liquor license?

 

[dak1b]

Well make sure you comply with the local regulations and get the proper licensure if you're going to be selling it...

Of course...I'm going to start small..test with family and friends and find a test group. If the product passes I will move into the second state where I will get a license to sell my product and go from there.

 

[helibrewer]

Hi All!

I'm looking to start a small scale brewery company from my garage.
What equipment do I need to start brewing?

I'm thinking about buying the yeast and hops locally or growing them myself.

Thanks for any advice.

Since you live in Oakland, go out and visit Faction, Heretic, Black Diamond, Anchor, Napa Smith, etc. and talk to those guys. I think you will find that the equipment you would use in a garage (small pilot system) will not be adequate for production runs and that you are looking at a year or so in permitting issues. You CANNOT run a commercial brewery from your garage so finding an adequate facility that you are willing to pay rent on for a year before making a penny is your first hurdle.

You might also talk to Almanac, they use contract brewers and that might be a more viable option for what you are considering...at least to start.

 

[dak1b]

Since you live in Oakland, go out and visit Faction, Heretic, Black Diamond, Anchor, Napa Smith, etc. and talk to those guys. I think you will find that the equipment you would use in a garage (small pilot system) will not be adequate for production runs and that you are looking at a year or so in permitting issues. You CANNOT run a commercial brewery from your garage so finding an adequate facility that you are willing to pay rent on for a year before making a penny is your first hurdle.

You might also talk to Almanac, they use contract brewers and that might be a more viable option for what you are considering...at least to start.

Great thank you for the useful information. Could I start a small scale brewery in the chef's restaurant that i am partners with? With that in mind how much room do I need? Small scale.

 

[j1n]

No offence but if you are serious about this then you need to invest time to research and build a business plan. Coming to a homebrew site and expecting people to spoon feed you info for what you are attempting to accomplish is pretty half assed.

 

[hunter_le five]

Great thank you for the useful information. Could I start a small scale brewery in the chef's restaurant that i am partners with? With that in mind how much room do I need? Small scale.

The restaurant will essentially have to become a "brewpub" and become licensed as such.

To be practical you are likely to need a 3-7bbl system in the restaurant, which will be space-intensive. Not exactly something you can squeeze into the corner. My experience in restaurant kitchens is that they barely have enough space as it is (you can never have a big enough kitchen), so I hope the chef is cool with remodeling/expanding.

If you are expecting to make 5-10 gallon batches on an NG stovetop in the kitchen and somehow make a profit on the beer you sell, then I think think you need to go back to the drawing board.

Honestly it sounds like you need to do a lot more research before you can ask any useful questions, and right now there is too much of "not knowing what you don't know" going on here.



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[Komocabo]

It may seem like we're beating you up here, but we're actually trying to help you realize that you can't wake up an decide to open a brewery... Many here dream if it, but realize that it is not reasonable, or financially possible to do so. (paying rent on a commercial property for a 6 month's to a year before being able to even brew on site, not to mention LOTS of remodeling for the needs of a brewery; having LOTS of cash available; federal and state laws; business and marketing plans, the list goes on and on...). So if you have loads of $$ laying around and are ok spending a lot, not making much (if any) profit for about 1-2 years, not to mention investing all of your time and energy, then have at it brother.

That said, you need to brew some extract, jump to all grain, learn H20, hop, yeast, grain characteristics, learn about starters and fermentation temps, do a he'll of a lot of dishes, (drink some homebrew), etc., etc... ok, you hopefully get the point; were trying to help you see the reality of what really goes on here... Its MUCH more complex that you are thinking it is...

 

[Komocabo]

It's like saying, I know how to make some good ramen noodles, therefore I must be a great chef. How much stuff do I need to open a Chinese restaurant in (fill in the blank) city? The rest must be easy, right? Wrong. Ok, rant over. RDWHAHB... I'll refill my glass now

 

[jsun]

This is just a bizarre story. A reputable local chef in craft brewery-rich northern California commissions someone who has never brewed before to make beer for his restaurants?