It's official starting my own brewing business!

[akthor]

Made the deal for a new property. One that allows me to live upstairs and brew downstairs.

Will be an Alehouse and smoked BBQ joint. Will have outdoor and indoor seating, a firepit, horsehoe pits, long term might also create a campground. Only selling beer and other fermented beverages I make no liquor (keeps the riff raff away)

Still I am a looooonnnggg ways off from opening. I am not quitting my full time job and I go to class nites. I don't want to borrow money so I am DIY everything as I can afford it, the goal is to be open by the fall if I can but I am not going to be worried if I don't open till Spring 2013.

So I will be posting a lot in here, building my brewing system now, then I have to move by April 1st. Then the real work begins, setting up and building the brewing area, creating a fermentation room, DIY 15 gallon conicals, grain mill, storage for grain and supplies, and building a walk in cooler. Also incorporating and all the legal stuff, licenses, permits ect. Just a ton of things to do but I am doing it and it's pretty exciting to be working towards doing something I love.

I work 4 nights a week and have weekends off, so my FT job pays the rent and utilities and everything else. So I will only be open Fri - Sat (Sundays too during the NFL season) and since I don't need to make a certain amount of money at it to live I can do what I want when I want and grow the business however I want. And if I fail it's OK I won't be bankrupt and I will have a pretty great setup for brewing beer

Lots more to come! I will be looking for lots of advice and expertise

 

[broombrew]

Very jealous. This is the type of situation I hope to have in the near future.

 

[rhamilton]

Can I come live with you? Just feed me BBQ and beer and I'll stay out of the way

 

[BasementBrewmistress]

Congrats - ditto the first two posters, lol. Good luck in your adventure!

 

[Texan]

Good luck AkThor!

I hope you find some Good Brisket to Smoke!

 

[Revvy]

Congrats!!!!

 

[stamandster]

Sounds exciting! Let me know when I can come up to visit ME!

 

[DubBrew]

Sounds awesome, I'll be watching this post for regular updates. We'll need pics too! Its hard to live vicariously thru you without visual aid.

 

[rexbanner]

Congrats! Check out these Brew Strong going pro episodes if you haven't already. http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong One thing I just have to add...are you planning on brewing ~15 gallon batches? If so, you might want to reconsider. It's extremely difficult to make money on less than a 1 BBL system. Even then, 5 BBL is preferable. At least that's according to these guys. I am not trying to be a downer, just trying to help.

 

[Reuben1012]

Thats Awesome!!!! me and my girl want to do that but with Pizza instead.

Ill keep an eye on this thread, it will be great to see you get everything going on step at a time...

Maybe you could have homebrew competitions there when you get up and running. It would be fun and could bring in some good business. There is a brew pub here that does that, the winner gets to brew his recipe on the pro system and serve it on tap in the pub.

 

[brewingmeister]

good luck!

where is this going to be?

 

[tre9er]

good luck!

where is this going to be?

ME...Middle Earth :cross:

 

[-MG-]

VERY COOL! Look forward to your progress.

 

[duckdogs]

Gratz sounds like fun

 

[zeus53219]

Very cool!

 

[bigbopper]

kiler diller

 

[richbrew99]

I'm planning mine also, so I'll be following you.

 

[LMGK]

Do you plan on homebrewtalk members getting twofers? Where is going to be?

 

[sakeyfour]

Where in ME?

 

[Reuben1012]

ME is Maine I believe... a ways from Cali but a good excuse to visit the East Coast

 

[Reuben1012]

do you plan on homebrewtalk members getting twofers?

+1

 

[akthor]

I will actually be brewing on a keggle system so my plan is to do 10 gallon batches

Remember I am only going to be open 2 or 3 days a week, from say lunch till whenever the last customer leaves for the night but 1am would be the cutoff. As of now I plan on being the whole show no employees. I am not borrowing money. So by definition this will be starting out as a small business. In the beginning I will be overjoyed if revenues covers expenses.

I want it to be small so I can learn as I go and not make big mistakes or try to do too much. Greed is bad in my book. I believe if I build it right, make a quality product in a great atmosphere and then the rest will take care of itself. If I brew it they will come.

Calling it Middle Earth is kind of appropriate since the look and the vibe I am shooting for is a tavern like you read about in books like LOTR and the like. I am not meaning so much in looks but in the sense community and independence of being a small village tavern.

Locationwise I am 1 mile off the busiest road in Maine in the Summertime. I don't want to say too much about my location or ideas for company name ect. until I am incorporated. Just because I don't want anyone stealing my ideas.

By my figuring I can make it work. I have an MBA and I am going nights for a BS in Accounting. I won't get into numbers too much but I figure I could comfortably make 30 gallons every brew day 30 gallons = 3840 ounces = 240 pints give or take. But I am not going after quantity or heavy drinkers or drunks. It will be kind of like a Starbucks but with beer and BBQ. Eat some food drink a couple pints, socialize, read the paper, surf the net. Just selling beer by the pint, not selling kegs to bars etc. If I sell 240 pints in a day I will be very happy.

If I can sell more than I make than my business will be very successful and I will look at expanding brewing output. But until that day comes if it does I am going to do it my way. Small batches, with lots of time and care taken in the crafting of the brews and the food. Quality over quantity at a reasonable price not overcharging like so many place do.

It will be a lot of work but I enjoy that work and I have been doing it on a smaller scale for a couple years. Now I am just looking at adding more friends and they won't eat and drink for free I am sitting on 35 acres so there is lots of room to grow.

 

[akthor]

And yes HBT'ers can have two fors, the least I can do for all I have learned and all the inspiration and help I have gotten here. Plus when I do open for all first time customers the first beer is free

 

[geniz]

Congratulations.
Looking forward to following your success

 

[OG2620]

How do you plan to live upstairs and brew downstairs? As far as I know, the TTB doesn't allow a brewery to be located within a dwelling.

 

[sakeyfour]

Asked where in ME not what is ME. I am from Maine as well, which is why I wanted to know.

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

subscribed... I would like to do something similar someday!

 

[OG2620]

Asked where in ME not what is ME. I am from Maine as well, which is why I wanted to know.

Me too.

 

[akthor]

Mid-Coast Maine

 

[dgriffith]

Love your enthusiasm. Go for it!
dg