Gilded Goat Brewing Co. - Building a Brewery

[ColoHox]

How do you measure volume for tax purposes - markings on the brite tanks or...?

Yep! A properly calibrated sight-glass (or other measuring device) is really all that is required by the TTB. We will also be using a flow meter during each transfer for additional measurement and to keep better records of equipment losses.

 

[FoCobrewguy]

Great I love the sours and would love a new brewery with more unique offerings. I feel like some of the small breweries around here don't get enough rotation on their taps and it's hard to differentiate their core offerings because they are just the standard blond pale ale porter. Sounds like you are not going that route so good luck. I think you are right that there are enough educated pallets in northern colorado you don't need to water it down for us.

 

[Pantherjon]

A Coffee Pale? That's a new one on me..All the 'coffee' beer I have seen have been really dark..Certainly would be game for it if I were there..

Also nice to see what all goes into starting a brewery, as a friend of mine asked me if I was going to do that..I was like, I dunno..Well, now I DO know, and for me, I think that answer is no...LOL..Wishing the best for you tho!

 

[ColoHox]

A Coffee Pale? That's a new one on me..All the 'coffee' beer I have seen have been really dark..Certainly would be game for it if I were there..

Also nice to see what all goes into starting a brewery, as a friend of mine asked me if I was going to do that..I was like, I dunno..Well, now I DO know, and for me, I think that answer is no...LOL..Wishing the best for you tho!

I thought it was an interesting combo of flavors. Another local brewery made one last year and it was fantastic. A chocolate blonde is also on the docket. These "dark beer" flavors can actually do well in lighter beers. Thanks for the kind words.

 

[m00ps]

My background is in microbiology, so we will have a pretty extensive sour program starting right away. We will have to make what sells, despite my particular preferences, obviously. We will have to avoid what doesn't sell as well, but that will be hard to know in advance.

To answer your question directly:
1. Belgian Quad
2. Kolsch
3. American Rye
4. IPA (with native CO hops and CO grown malt)
5. Traditional Bock
6. Blonde
7. Chocolate Stout
8. Berliner Weisse
9. Kentucky Common
10. Coffee Pale
11. English Bitter
12. Scottish Ale

And yes, that is a lot. We plan to open with at least 6 beers, and increase to 12 available beers by the end of month 3. Theoretically, our equipment should allow for that schedule, but it will depend on a number of factors.

Nice going and congrats dude. But how do you have a damn kentucky common and golden coffee beer but no farmhouse ale? That is whats going to sell, I promise you

 

[ColoHox]

Nice going and congrats dude. But how do you have a damn kentucky common and golden coffee beer but no farmhouse ale? That is whats going to sell, I promise you

Hey thanks. I like the Common, but I also anticipate that it won't be a big seller. We'll give it a try though.

The sour/wild/farmhouse beers are coming, trust me. They just aren't on our "opening" beer list (which is also subject to change). I will do some quick sours (sour mash/kettle sour) to hold people off until the real sour beers are ready. We are also going to make session versions of a few of our offerings for the day-drinkers with responsibilities.

 

[bbohanon]

Curious how you are funding it? Investors or personal loans, crowd-funding, etc.

I am starting the foundation for a small nano in one of the smaller neighboring towns that has money and market for it as well and have finally gotten a logo and started conversations with the city planner who is also the former mayor so things are moving albeit slow..

I also have another guy I know starting up a 3bbl brewery and they have not even started their paperwork nor had a beer menu/niche beer planned out yet it are acquiring space which seems a bit backward to me.
Good luck and I will certainly be reaching out to you on PM.

 

[ColoHox]

Curious how you are funding it? Investors or personal loans, crowd-funding, etc.

I am starting the foundation for a small nano in one of the smaller neighboring towns that has money and market for it as well and have finally gotten a logo and started conversations with the city planner who is also the former mayor so things are moving albeit slow..

I also have another guy I know starting up a 3bbl brewery and they have not even started their paperwork nor had a beer menu/niche beer planned out yet it are acquiring space which seems a bit backward to me.
Good luck and I will certainly be reaching out to you on PM.

This is a family funded adventure based on equity financing. We have a detailed corporate structure and family members are shareholders in the corporation. We don't have any debt financing...yet. Unfortunately, when planning a brewery, there are a lot of dominos that have to fall at the same time. You can't submit your license paperwork until you have a location and/or lease. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

 

[MuddyCreek]

Your space looks great! It's nice to see you moving forward!

 

[BGBC]

Congrats! Looking forward to watching the progress.

So it looks like a 7 bbl brewhouse based on the fermenter sizes? And what is the space behind the 'tax determination area'? Is that your space as well? Room for expansion?

 

[Setsumi]

There is a thread here titled, "I don't want to open a brewery (maybe you shouldn't either)". Boy you sure proof them wrong. Good luck.

 

[ColoHox]

Your space looks great! It's nice to see you moving forward!

Thanks Muddy. The nerves are building right along with our walls.

 

[ColoHox]

Congrats! Looking forward to watching the progress.

So it looks like a 7 bbl brewhouse based on the fermenter sizes? And what is the space behind the 'tax determination area'? Is that your space as well? Room for expansion?

Thank you! Yes, 7bbl brewhouse with a 10bbl mash tun...extra room for high gravity beers. That space behind the Cooler/Tax area is my brother's liquor store, ie. our first distribution client!

I didn't include our other drawings, but since someone asked in a PM, I'll explain a bit. We have an additional 1500sqft of basement space directly beneath our brewhouse. We will build another cooler in this area (and run tap lines up to the bar) and use it for barrel storage. We are in negotiations for the rest of the basement space as well, (~2500 sqft, I think), for storage of many, many oak barrels. Directly to the south of our brewhouse is additional space for expansion. It is in the middle of this building, and probably not really lease-able for anyone but us. Still chipping away at the price/sqft.

There is a thread here titled, "I don't want to open a brewery (maybe you shouldn't either)". Boy you sure proof them wrong. Good luck.

Yeah, I've contributed to that thread. I agree, that there are too many brewers trying to sell mediocre beer, and that gives the whole industry a bad name. However, (taking the author's advice) planning your venture and finding the right people will help tremendously. Just charging out and trying to open a <3bbl sole proprietorship with a limited budget sounds like absolute torture to me, so I agree with some of his statements.

 

[MuddyCreek]

The nerves are building right along with our walls.

Ya, that'll happen. It will get better.

 

[ColoHox]

Progress! They've finally started demolition on the exterior of the building. The front face of the building is being moved towards the photographer by about 20ft from where it is now.

Here is a quick render of what the front of our space will look like.

We are still working on some of the details for the front facade, but this render is close. I don't know if we will use the entrance arch either...$$.

 

[BentBrewer]

That entrance arch is an awfully nice touch. If you can't afford it at the start, I'd make sure it's in the plans for year two.

Edit: Maybe make it a touch bigger, so the diameter of the circle matches the curve of the arch. My 2 cents.

 

[Oginme]

I second the arch. Very nicely conceived!

 

[ColoHox]

That entrance arch is an awfully nice touch. If you can't afford it at the start, I'd make sure it's in the plans for year two.

Edit: Maybe make it a touch bigger, so the diameter of the circle matches the curve of the arch. My 2 cents.

I second the arch. Very nicely conceived!

Thanks! I like it a lot. We definitely have to get curve right. We are trying to find someone to make this for us, instead of using our GC or one of his Subcontractors. I think the landlord's people will be doing the columns and arch since they are a part of the overall building design, but we can have the circular logo bit made.

In case anyone reading has any experience with something like this...would we plasma cut plate steel, then powder coat it? What gauge steel?

 

[m00ps]

Brown's Shoe Fit Co is the best brewery name I've seen in a while. Nice job dude

 

[BentBrewer]

In case anyone reading has any experience with something like this...would we plasma cut plate steel, then powder coat it? What gauge steel?

It all depends on what you want. You could do that, and you'd have a wide choice of colors with powder coat.

OR... You could plasma cut it from stainless, and then run either a regular or random pattern on it with a grinder and a sanding pad. I wouldn't polish it, as there will be times of day that it's reflecting somewhere unwanted. You could also put a gold clear coat on it so it's a metallic gold.

OR... You could do it in mild steel, and patina it with vinegar (rust) or use one of the various patina washes for various dark browns/blacks, etc.

OR... cut it from copper or brass, and patina similarly.

 

[ColoHox]

It all depends on what you want. You could do that, and you'd have a wide choice of colors with powder coat.

OR... You could plasma cut it from stainless, and then run either a regular or random pattern on it with a grinder and a sanding pad. I wouldn't polish it, as there will be times of day that it's reflecting somewhere unwanted. You could also put a gold clear coat on it so it's a metallic gold.

OR... You could do it in mild steel, and patina it with vinegar (rust) or use one of the various patina washes for various dark browns/blacks, etc.

OR... cut it from copper or brass, and patina similarly.

Excellent suggestions, thanks! Any idea if this would be something that a metal fab shop (or something similar) would normally do? Or maybe get the particular metal cut then add a patina ourselves? We have seen some amazing things done with a patina on copper or brass, and it would keep with our gilded theme.

 

[BentBrewer]

My guess, (and that's all it is) would be that most fab shops wouldn't want to do the patina. Since they wouldn't be set up with a wet area, and since they'd probably have no experience with the effect on the steel, they'd be hesitant. I'd still ask though.

If you have any sort of a large metal supply house, they might know of a metalworking artist that's familiar with doing patina work. I'd also try asking the Rocky Mountain Smiths, and see if anyone knows anyone with some experience in that area.

 

[bradleyhunt]

High School FFA Ag Mechanics class. Those kids are always cutting and making stuff out of steel. Not advocating a 16 year old make your piece, but those kids can do some awesome stuff. Kid I went to high school with made 3D steel roses.

 

[g-star]

Good luck to you. Are you hiring a brewer with professional experience, or are you making the jump from homebrewer to pro-brewer?

 

[Auger]

High School FFA Ag Mechanics class. Those kids are always cutting and making stuff out of steel. Not advocating a 16 year old make your piece, but those kids can do some awesome stuff. Kid I went to high school with made 3D steel roses.

Yes, this or a college manufacturing/mechanical engineering department. The MEs I went to college with had access to all sorts of cool equipment - miling, lathe, even a waterjet, and were able to use it for whatever. Might be able to get away with just the cost of material (plus some beer?) and build some goodwill in the process.

 

[Brad2287]

A guy I went to high school with is a welding instructor at front range community college and does a lot of welding/metal art. Not sure if he would be interested in the project but I can probably get you his contact info if interested. Might at least be able to point you in the right direction locally.

 

[ColoHox]

Good luck to you. Are you hiring a brewer with professional experience, or are you making the jump from homebrewer to pro-brewer?

Making the jump, technically. I was (am) very aware that it is not an easy jump, so for the past year, I have been brewing with many of the other local breweries. Last week I did a double batch with a brewery in Denver that is using the same equipment that we purchased. In two weeks, a brewery in CO Springs is commissioning a brewhouse in almost our exact same configuration and I will be spending a lot of time with them. Our equipment manufacturer (Alpha Brewing Ops) sends a few people out with the equipment for commissioning and training on the brewhouse, which will occur in July. We have also hired a brewery consultant who has been brewing professionally for 20 years and has helped start up at least 10 other breweries in the past few years. He will be helping us learn the equipment and helping with brewing our first few batches. Two things were very apparent...that commercial brewing is not just homebrewing on a larger scale, and that the brewers in this area are some of the most helpful and open people I have ever met. Cheers to them!

A guy I went to high school with is a welding instructor at front range community college and does a lot of welding/metal art. Not sure if he would be interested in the project but I can probably get you his contact info if interested. Might at least be able to point you in the right direction locally.

That would be great! Which campus does he work out of? Send me a PM.

 

[MuddyCreek]

...that commercial brewing is not just homebrewing on a larger scale

This is really important!

Those ridiculously amazing IPA's you guys all make at home - Ya. Those don't always translate well to 10 bbl batches. That takes a LOT of work and dedication. There's a reason IPA's are the full on rock-stars of the festival world.

 

[ColoHox]

A huge day for GGBC! We received our state licenses in record time...30 days! This includes a state manufacturing license and a wholesaler license. It took another brewery in the area 9 months to get state approval...for some unknown reason.

The agents at the Dept of Revenue here in CO were so easy to work with. A few weeks ago, we brought our application over personally, instead of mailing it. While we were there, one of the agents asked if we would mind going through the application with him. We were shocked, but of course agreed. He pointed out a few errors in the application but said he would hold on to them, that we just needed to send him some documents describing the amendments we were making. For example, the tenant (us) in the lease is Gilded Goat Brewing Co, however the corporate structure that is doing business as GGBC is Aztech. We had to send a memo to the agent, signed by our landlord, stating the discrepancy and resolving it.

The big hurdle we have yet to clear is the Federal TTB brewing license...aka Brewer's Notice. We are at 45 days since the application packet was received. We still need to be assigned to a specialist, and at that point, the turnaround could be fast (with some help from our state representatives and senator), or painfully slow. The average processing time is currently about 160 days...from the date you are assigned a specialist. We still have quite a while on that one.

One very large step closer to brewing!

 

[thunderwagn]

Congrats!