It's official starting my own brewing business!

[RoughandReadyRanch]

I have $3 that says it is in Greenbush.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew because it impresses people

Holy $h!T!!!!!! My kitchen costs more than this place! I have been offered time shares that cost more to rent than this place! Having spent my time playing hockey in MN, you can have it I like more than 3 months of warm weather.

 

[RoughandReadyRanch]

Think that I would probably stay here instead. http://www.mnresortsales.com/proper...hotel-luxury-accommodations-premiere-location Now did I miss something or did "campground" evolve into "motel" all of the sudden in this ever changing model?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

Think that I would probably stay here instead. http://www.mnresortsales.com/proper...hotel-luxury-accommodations-premiere-location Now did I miss something or did "campground" evolve into "motel" all of the sudden in this ever changing model?

It does look nice, what scares me about that place is that they are willing to do a partnership...which means they don't really want out but they are losing money and want some other sucker to help keep them a float if they can.

Also what the hell is the "NorthEastern Minnesota thriving hospitality market"...maybe a few hundred people a year? The lake is nice but that ****s so far north its probably only unfrozen 4 months out of the year lol.

 

[RoughandReadyRanch]

It does look nice, what scares me about that place is that they are willing to do a partnership...which means they don't really want out but they are losing money and want some other sucker to help keep them a float if they can.

Also what the hell is the "NorthEastern Minnesota thriving hospitality market"...maybe a few hundred people a year? The lake is nice but that ****s so far north its probably only unfrozen 4 months out of the year lol.

3 I think. And have you met the state bird? AKA the mosquito! I use to go to Hockey camps in the summer out there and got picked up for college resulting in some of my coldest experiences in life. Really nice folks there but between the humidity, mosquitoes, and cold it would be a tough pitch. Always freaked me out when the pilot would make the landing announcement for Brainerd and you look down and just see trees, grass and lakes. Then you get pulled off approach for deer "grazing" the run way! Never could get used to the calling soda "pop". Still cracks me up.

 

[akthor]

Trust me on this here in Maine we have mosquitos but our state bird is the Black Fly!! Soooooo much worse!!! Used to cold weather as well

Honestly the reason we ended up in Minnesota is the SWMBO is a MN native and her parents still live there and they are both in their 80's. She wants to be closer to them to be there to help out as they age. ( She finally admitted this during the search ) We pretty much ruled out anything in Northern MN due to many reasons the biggest one being there's a lot of motels, inns and lodges fighting for the same dollar in the busy parts and the ones without a lot of competition were too remote for us.

As I detailed earlier we couldnt find a decent successfull campground in our price range. They either were failed or failing. Example to find a campground with the income of the hotel we chose would be around $2.5 million. The most income we could find in our $500k limit ( and within our geographic requirements ) was like $14k a year.

Turns out campgrounds within our means to buy are more a labor of love than a money making one. Money isn't everything but we have other plans and we need the money generated by the business we buy to provide the capital to fulfill those plans.

3 I think. And have you met the state bird? AKA the mosquito! I use to go to Hockey camps in the summer out there and got picked up for college resulting in some of my coldest experiences in life. Really nice folks there but between the humidity, mosquitoes, and cold it would be a tough pitch. Always freaked me out when the pilot would make the landing announcement for Brainerd and you look down and just see trees, grass and lakes. Then you get pulled off approach for deer "grazing" the run way! Never could get used to the calling soda "pop". Still cracks me up.

 

[RoughandReadyRanch]

Trust me on this here in Maine we have mosquitos but our state bird is the Black Fly!! Soooooo much worse!!! Used to cold weather as well

Honestly the reason we ended up in Minnesota is the SWMBO is a MN native and her parents still live there and they are both in their 80's. She wants to be closer to them to be there to help out as they age. ( She finally admitted this during the search ) We pretty much ruled out anything in Northern MN due to many reasons the biggest one being there's a lot of motels, inns and lodges fighting for the same dollar in the busy parts and the ones without a lot of competition were too remote for us.

As I detailed earlier we couldnt find a decent successfull campground in our price range. They either were failed or failing. Example to find a campground with the income of the hotel we chose would be around $2.5 million. The most income we could find in our $500k limit ( and within our geographic requirements ) was like $14k a year.

Turns out campgrounds within our means to buy are more a labor of love than a money making one. Money isn't everything but we have other plans and we need the money generated by the business we buy to provide the capital to fulfill those plans.

Good luck with that. Not sure how well hotels/motels do but if you have a duck cleaning room than that should be interesting. Not a duck hunter myself as there have been none out here in Cali for the last 2 years but maybe someday it will warrant a trip to MN. Good luck and enjoy the "pop".

 

[akthor]

Ok so the date we head out for Minnesota is Monday July 14th. Will be staying at the in laws in Litchfield until the closing on the Motel (Lodge actually) at the beginning of August.

So anybody in that area who wanna grab a brew give me a hollar I am moving away from all my friends and family so I will missing having bro time :cross:

Anyone who lives close to or feels like making a trip to Verona Island, Maine we are having a huge blowout bash going away party on Saturday the 12th. We will be shooting guns, making a giant bonfire, eating a bunch of good food and yes drinking beer and probably will be some karaoke thrown in. Plenty of space around to pitch a tent if you wanna crash and not drive home. I will be up from about 4am on manning the smoker so arrive anytime. Food will be ready around 5pm. For beer it will just be keg(s) of PBR since I have not made any beer in preparation for the move so BYOB if that's not in your wheel house.

Hope to see some folks here or there.

 

[cuda6pak]

update?

 

[akthor]

Sorry been busy got in a car accident today so I will publish a longer version later. Short story, got moved here to MN. We've had some setbacks but in the end they may be a godsend. We spent the time traveling around the state and have fallen in love with a particular area and we are looking at property there.

 

[RyanDe680]

I think the thread should be retitled.

 

[rexbanner]

The "haters" in this thread highlight what a steaming pile of horsesh!t government has created for it's citizens in the USA. I, like all of you, have run the numbers. I, like all of you, are more than willing and able to put in the hard work to produce a quality product that fellow citizens would pay for. But alas, with every agency under the sun waiting in line to take their pound of flesh, the barrier to entry becomes too great for all but the most driven, rich, or stupid. Gone are the days of the local baker, grocer, and brewer. And we all lose because if it. Rant over...

This whole thread is so full of lulz.

 

[Leadpencil]

I am not even sure what I just read, or was it a flashback. Either way Inception did a better job telling this story.

 

[OHIOSTEVE]

Skeeter Pee with blueberries???

is awesome.. we add blueberry smirnoff

 

[akthor]

Yeah I would re title it but I don't see that option I looked.

I have thought about closing or deleting the whole thing too but I don't want to do that either. I figure if at the end of this tale I end up with a brew pub it will either serve as inspiration or at least an entertaining story.

I will try to summarize the whole thing.

Came up with a plan to open a brew pub where I was living. Plan was to build it as I went and not borrow money. Was working towards that goal. Then we decided to add a campground. Suddenly had $100k in funds available. Really started to work on plans for brewpub and campground. Economic adviser said we should buy an already up and running business. Began search for said business. Learned that campgrounds are labors of love and not money making propositions. Started looking for other options. Decided to buy a mom and pop hotel that had an existing bar/restaurant or the ability to add one. Began search sticking to the Northeast and Midwest. Visited many, many properties, from Maine to Minnesota. Girlfriend's parents in Minnesota health began to decline. Decision made to buy property in Minnesota and live close to her parents to help care for them. Began search for suitable properties in Minnesota preferably within an hour or two from her parents. FOUND the perfect place, made offer, offer accepted, purchase deal signed, deposit made. This was in April 2014, purchase date was for August 2014. Needed to wait to move til July for GF's youngest son to graduate high school and go to Coast Guard. Sold off two households worth of stuff kept only the bear essentials. Sold one house and rented out the other sold off one car, packed the truck and moved to Minnesota in Mid-July. Plan was to stay with GF's parents for a couple weeks til the purchase of the hotel went thru then move into hotel. Rented storage unit and emptied moving truck into it. Was so confident we were moving and I was building a 3 or 5 bbl brewery (was working on schematics with brew house manufacturer finalizing the design) that I put an ad in CL and sold off the 25+ ball and pin lock cornies I had. Had a delay in the financing and had to sign an extension to the purchase agreement for the hotel. New date was to finalize purchase by 10/31/14. Spent all of August driving around Minnesota and seeing the sites and learning about my new state. In September learned there was more problems with the financing, had to hire an attorney. During this time two things happened. One: in travelling around the state we fell in love with the area we lived at with her parents. Especially with a town close by. And that the area the hotel we were buying was in we didn't like as much. We also learned that my GF's parents were in need of more help than we anticipated and that they also loved having us live with them and after being away for 20+ years and only seeing her parents a couple times a year my GF loved being here for her parents just as much. Then we learned from the attorney that there would be a major delay in getting the money (the $100K from the beginning of the story, it's from an asset sale not a lawsuit or nothing) So we had to back out on the sale of the hotel since we weren't going to make the 10/31 deadline. It looks like we'll be living with her parents til they need a higher level of care and it'll be awhile til we have other streams of income so we started looking for jobs and both found really great jobs in the town nearby we love. So what's going to happen now? Well it looks like we are looking at building a fourplex or two duplexes in the town we love. We are trying to get her parents to agree to sell their house and live in one of the duplexes with us. They have lived in this same house for 51 years so not sure if we will convince them. My GF is finalizing floor plans for that and looking at lots. Money from the house sale in Maine finances those. We will receive the $100+K at some point, by spring at the earliest when all the red tape from that is taken care of by the lawyers. We are looking at potential properties to purchase to build a brewpub at when that money comes in. From working on the hotel deal with a bank here in MN they have told us they are very interested in financing whatever it is we decide to do. I am vague about names and places for obvious reasons. We also have non disclosure agreements we have to abide by.

That's the story in a nutshell it's been a long and crooked journey and its still not over. The goal remains the same to brew beer for a living I can't say for sure how or when it will happen but I will continue to add to the tale.

 

[brewingmeister]

..

 

[LandoLincoln]

That's the story in a nutshell

The world's largest nutshell...

 

[lazysunday]

I think this thread should be stickied (stickied? stuck? made a sticky post? whatever). Hear me out.

I think the support on this forum, and the brewing community, is incredible. There's no lack of resources, assistance, or lessons-learned here.

However, sometimes I think there is a real confirmation bias regarding how to scale up. A common theme in any thread about turning pro is "Wow you're living the dream!". And I think it's natural, brewing becomes a defacto lifestyle for many of us, or at the very least a common identity.

The problem is, even with detailed threads regarding TTB licensure, time/money set-backs, etc., there aren't any real cautionary tales like this one. No offense to OP, sounds like life just happened, but I think that should be highlighted. Life happens, and even the most well thought out plans are just that: plans.

Brewing, as complex as it can be, is easily learned and accomplished. Starting and running a business, regardless of industry, is challenging and thankless and sees many more failures than success stories.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Depressing though they may be.

 

[akthor]

No idea why some seem annoyed have you not been entertained?

Well I hate being a cautionary tale but I am what I am.

 

[singybrue]

paragraphs, man, paragraphs!!!

 

[akthor]

Sorry man I was typing on my tablet while on the throne this morning. Trying to remember it all while doing my business I forgot my grammar

 

[lazysunday]

No idea why some seem annoyed have you not been entertained?

Well I hate being a cautionary tale but I am what I am.

It certainly was a journey, and I mean no disrespect. It sounds like you came out of this situation in a place you love, with people you love, and not bankrupt so good on you.

I more meant for the zealous brewer who wants to dive right in thinking all it takes is bigger tanks.

 

[akthor]

Very true, I admit I was a little niave in the beginning. I think my original plan would have worked but I would have worked like a dog and if I lost the love for brewing along the way it would have stopped being fun fast. I think the way we will end up doing it now will be more enjoyable and more easily self sustainable.

The book (its available as a kindle book too) that helped me with a lot of questions was The Brewers Association Guide to Starting your own Brewery by Dick Cantwell. That and visiting any and every brewery and brew pub in Maine and most here in MN. We've picked a lot of brains

I was a bit defensive and stubborn at the beginning of this story. As I've said I have learned a lot along the way. I could close this or edit things so I don't sound like such an idiot at times. But the journey is the journey and it is what it is.

 

[brewingmeister]

I've been rooting for you from the beginning but come on man you've been varying levels of defensive and stubborn all the way through. I was concerned about the reality of this endeavor working out in the beginning when you were gonna pour funds into a rental that really didn't fit your needs.

Living the dream or whatever you want to call it isn't for everyone. I've had a few opportunities to go pro over the years but it just didn't seem to pan out for whatever reason. Then there's that thought in the back of my head reminding me if I have to do this for a living where the stakes are higher I probably wouldn't enjoy brewing anymore.

Life is a strange journey, gotta enjoy the ride as much as you can.

Cheers

 

[craigmw]

Sorry man I was typing on my tablet while on the throne this morning. Trying to remember it all while doing my business I forgot my grammar

That's funny!

I'm enjoying the story, though I do feel your pain, Akthor. As they say, keep on keepin' on. We're all rooting for you.

 

[Kit_B]

So, where in Minnesota are you!?
I think there are a helluva lot of us in MN that would like to meet you, hear more & have a beer.
Besides the obvious entertainment & comraderie...
The snow is getting deep & stories like this become necessary/legendary around here, in the dead of winter.

 

[akthor]

We're in Lichfield, actually that's what we miss most. In Maine we had a great group of friends that we'd have fun with. Haven't really found any here yet really so we'd love to hang out with people.

I got beer on tap and a 120" HD LCD movie theater/TV room/man cave. My XBOX One gamertag is THOR5734. Got 15 gallons of skeeter pee percolating. We enjoy going and finding bars that do kareoke. We do go up to the cities once a month or so to pub crawl with my GF's brothers. The crazy ice fishing culture here in MN really intrigues me so if you need a fishing buddy I'm your man. So anyone who wants to hang out send me a PM.

 

[NickTheGreat]

120" lcd?!?

You're talking LCD projector, right?

 

[PatrickLS83]

This thread is so long I don't feel bad about reviving it. I can sympathize with this experience although I believe this one trumps my own. I started down the path of creating a brewery/brewpub business plan in Jan '14 and did a full year of intense research on everything from financing, zoning, ABC laws and process, sales/revenue estimate spreadsheets that you wouldn't believe. Got a website, facebook, t-shirts, stickers, all kinds of fun swag. By Jan '15 I had finally gotten to the realization that short of an angel investor dropping a load of cash on me, it's not going to happen. If I were single and had no responsibilities then maybe a shoestring start-up could work, but I'm 31 and have a family with young children and 2 mortgages and a good career in IT. I'm in no position to complain but the fact is my situation is not so great for convincing banks or investors to fork over hundreds of G's for a brewpub start-up. Such is life, I'm still brewing a lot and keeping my eye out for opportunities.

 

[cowgo]

OK, I know it's a year later, but I loved this thread. Read it from start to finish and I really admire your dreams. Business start ups are business start ups regardless of the industry, the vast majority of start ups on a shoe string budget fail or never start to begin with so this thread wasn't unusual in that regard. It's what I expected when I started reading post #1.

My take away is the OP's passion. You rock sir!

Thanks for the dreams OP.

 

[akthor]

Thanks guys the dreams not dead just life threw a couple curves. But building a new 1bbl electric BIAB system with an electric hoist to do the heavy lifting. This is at our new house on a lake in MN. It's our part time house since we live with my gf's parents full time to care for them. When they go to the next level of care then the dream will be revisited. In the meantime building the new 1bbl system and a new man cave to house it and the bar in.

Excuse the blurry pic but that's my new 40 gal pot. The PBR can next to it gives you an idea of the scale of it.