My adventure of opening a brewery in Chicago

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Did you take any classes or read any books on large scale brewing? Or did you have experience working in a brewery?
 
Classes, no. Books, yes. Experience, no.

Here's the thing…

There are two ways to get into the brewing business with no experience. One way is to work as an apprentice for months with no pay and get promoted to cellar man and barely above no pay. The other way is to open your own brewery. I chose the latter. Is this a bad business decision? Maybe. We'll find out, won't we?

With that said, 'experience' can be found quite easily in Chicago. Not a day goes by that I am not at another Chicago brewery learning something new. It truly is an incredible group that we are. Any one of us needs help with learning a process or borrowing ingredients and it's done, no questions asked. Without that network of support, I would not be able to make this happen. Classes and books can only teach you so much. Being there, in your boots, clamping hoses is what builds knowledge.

7bbl brewing on my system is essentially the same as home brewing, just much bigger. The equipment is similar, just larger. The biggest difference is the cleaning regiment and setting strict SOP for every task in the brewery. As a bonus you get all the Chicago brewers stopping by and filling our fridge, which is nice.

Cheers!
 
Congrats on doing what many of us only dream of! I will definitely be trying some of your brews the next time I visit the Beer Bistro.
 
When you first made the decision to go ahead with the brewery, what was your first step in the plan to go forward?
 
mnags said:
When you first made the decision to go ahead with the brewery, what was your first step in the plan to go forward?
Click to expand...

Inform my wife we're going to be poor for awhile.

Seriously though, I spent the next two months putting together a business plan and pro forma to see if it was financially possible to do. That included researching equipment, calculating material costs, utility costs etc.
 
I just found this post today and wanted to tell you that our brewpub in southern Illinois Du Quoin St. Nickals bought this psycho system from Bucket List and it just got delivered to the brew house. We plan on getting a 5bbl fermenter from same Psycho brew and kegging our beer to start and get some 7bbl FV and BBT and double brew like you. I am going to be the brewer and have a few questions on brewing on this system. I will post soon or send a PM.
 
Can you tell me about your tankless hot water heater? Could you digitally control the temp coming out? Could you get it to 170~ for sparge water?

Did you mill your own grain?

What hop utilization did you use when doing caculations?

Any tips on mashing in and cleaning out the mash tun?

Hops Pellet or whole? Did you make your own Whirlpool or did you use the pump?

How did the Heat exchanger fair?

Did you have a different pump to transfer the wort to the heat exchange then to the FV? If so what was it?

Tell me how you handled your yeast did you store any? How did you pitch and harvest?

Thanks for any help! and if you have any other tips and brewing on this system or a scale like this.
 
Can you tell me about your tankless hot water heater? Could you digitally control the temp coming out? Could you get it to 170~ for sparge water?
I can get 185* out of it. Adding a second one inline to increase the flow rate.

Did you mill your own grain?
Usually, no. We have a mill, but our grain gets delivered a day or two before brew days and its much easier to open the bag and dump it in the mash tun.

What hop utilization did you use when doing calculations?
120%

Any tips on mashing in and cleaning out the mash tun?
We have one guy stirring and one guy dumping for mash in. Mash out involves a shovel and a lot of sweat.

Hops Pellet or whole? Did you make your own Whirlpool or did you use the pump?
Pellets. We whirlpool by hand with a big paddle.

How did the Heat exchanger fair?
It works well. Last batch it accidentally worked too well due to me not watching the thermometer. We ended up at 59* into the tank.

Did you have a different pump to transfer the wort to the heat exchange then to the FV? If so what was it?
We have a 3/4hp pump with VFD. Bought from CPE in Canada. Was $1600 and worth every penny. A quality pump is the best piece of equipment in a brewery.

Tell me how you handled your yeast did you store any? How did you pitch and harvest?
Depends on timing. If it's perfect, we transfer yeast from one fermenter to another. If it is within a couple days we put it in a corny keg and shoot it in through the racking arm. Anything more than a two day gap and we use a fresh pitch.
 
Here is a new picture of the brewery. Nothing glamorous, just a brewery.
10001541_10152886795787788_1560798603_n.jpg
 
What was you total estimated initial investment?

Do you wish you would have gone with the 7BBL from the get go?
 
I'm super jealous! I'm moving back to KC soon, maybe one of these days I will drive up and come see it!
 
BrewFry22 said:
What was you total estimated initial investment?

Do you wish you would have gone with the 7BBL from the get go?
Click to expand...

I would be interested in knowing this as well. We're also in the startup phase, and also thinking about going with the 4 bbl from Psychobrew, but are having a difficult time ballparking the buildout costs.
 
Around $100k went into getting us up and running. As far as the 7bbl vs 4bbl, best idea ever. I built our 7bbl brewhouse for under 10k with "off the shelf" components from GW Kent and Brewmation.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Demon said:
Around $100k went into getting us up and running. As far as the 7bbl vs 4bbl, best idea ever. I built our 7bbl brewhouse for under 10k with "off the shelf" components from GW Kent and Brewmation.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
Click to expand...

Thanks Demon! If you don't mind me asking, and if it's not too much of a hassle, could you give us an idea of what you used to piece together the 7 bbl? I've been struggling to get a 4 bbl together for less than 30K, and I would definitely love to be at 7.

Thanks again,

Aaron
 
Steve this is a great thread. Congrats on your brewery and hard work paying off.

I have a question though, how do you maintain mash temp? Herms?
 
500lbs of grain and 150gal of water won't change temp much, but we do have a grant on a burner to raise temps if necessary.
 
Last week I built our keg washer. Since we are on a tight budget, funds aren't there for an $8k manual washer, let alone a $20k+ automatic washer. This still needs a couple parts and should be done tomorrow.

This can wash, sanitize and pressurize two kegs in about 4 minutes. One basin for acid/PBW/caustic and one for sanitizer. One pump for each so chemicals don't mix. Also will have a heating element to keep the cleaning solution 140*+.

ImageUploadedByHome Brew1398105302.940742.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
That's where I got the concept from. This is an expanded version. It's the same as his except 2 kegs and can switch between chemicals.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Really cool. Congrats, I'm very happy for you. I've read several threads like this and it always seems like other local breweries are there to help. The first one had me thinking they were just in a good area for that, and then I came to realize that brewing is just an awesome business to be a part of. From what I've read, no one is a stone-cold competitor. That's awesome.
 
Some updates:

Things have been going very well and the expansion continues. Two more 15bbl tanks are on the way. We also signed distribution agreements with Burke Beverage and Chicago Beverage. Two more distributors will be added 7/1 to cover the west and south suburbs as well.

The homebuilt keg washer has been awesome. We are cleaning 100 kegs a week on it and its doing great. For a manual washer its great. Not sure why someone would spend $8k on a manual washer when they could build something like this for $1k.

Next month I am transforming our glycol chillers into a larger unit that has a 100gal glycol bath and can run 10 tanks simultaneously. I'll post pictures when I get it up and running.
 
What kind of pump are those? Where is the inlet to the keg? What size if the manifold 1''? I am trying to build one myself. Trying to figure out how to get from sink>> pump. And what Pumps to get. Also what kind of tubing to use to go from sink>pump>manifold.

Currently we have 1/2'' tubing and 3.5gpm pound pumps but I don't think they will have the pressure to fill our 1-1/2'' manifold and spray the sanke spear.
 
They are 1hp pumps from Tractor Supply. http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/countylinereg;-stainless-steel-transfer-utility-pump-1-hp

The keg is inverted and a 1/2" braided line goes from the manifold to the coupler and in the liquid side of the coupler.

Manifold is 1", there is no need to make it any larger than that.

For sink to pump, just screw a hose barb into the bottom of the sink, then hose to the pump.

The hoses from the sink to the pump and pump to the manifold are 1".
 
BBL is the abbreviation for barrel. A barrel is 31 gallons and is the standard measurement for beer production. Most common kegs are 1/2bbl (15.5 gallons) and 1/6bbl (5.16 gallons).
 
You sir are the epitome of unselfishness, true grit, ingenuity and old fashioned determination to succeed!

Thank you for your generosity of sharing information and answering every question put forth! I so wish I could try your beer!

I have my own question: Did you seek out distributors or did they come to you? What does the deal look like for the distributors and you? Do they take a percentage? Do they pick up your beer and bring back the empties (kegs)? Does the distributor handle all of the salesmanship work introducing your products to the new bars?

ps. LOVE that keg washer!
 
Congrats on the success! Always good to see somebody take the leap and succeed and then share their success stories.

Question for you about your glycol chiller on your previous setup. Did you have a pump per fermenter, or did you run multiple fermenters off one pump? How did you control temperature to each fermenter?
 
Have you run into any problems with the pumps? It says they are for pumping water only, not chemicals, and with a maximum liquid temperature of 120°F.
 
WissahickonBrew said:
You sir are the epitome of unselfishness, true grit, ingenuity and old fashioned determination to succeed!

Thank you for your generosity of sharing information and answering every question put forth! I so wish I could try your beer!

I have my own question: Did you seek out distributors or did they come to you? What does the deal look like for the distributors and you? Do they take a percentage? Do they pick up your beer and bring back the empties (kegs)? Does the distributor handle all of the salesmanship work introducing your products to the new bars?

ps. LOVE that keg washer!
Click to expand...

Happy to post about the journey and help others that want to do the same.

Distributors was a little of both. Ultimately the distributors we chose were one's that we sought out.

They don't take a percentage, they make about 28% margin though. Meaning I sell them the beer for $x, they mark it up their 28% and sell it to the bars/stores for $y. I did my pricing by working backwards. I knew what prices I wanted my beer to hit the bars at, so I worked backwards to see if I could make money at that price.

As for kegs, we use Keg Craft. I send them a forecast for the year, broken down in 2 week increments. They then send me the number of kegs I requested every 2 weeks. We wash them and fill them. Once they are sold to our distributors, we are no longer responsible for them. I send a report twice a month to Keg Craft letting them know how many kegs I sold and to what distributor. I then pay them ~$9 for each keg we used. This is how most breweries operate. We don't need to lay out the capital to buy a keg fleet and we don't ever have to worry about stolen kegs.

Distributors have sales staffs, and they do sell, but no one can sell a beer more passionately and as hard as the brewery themselves. I have one dedicated sales guy that all he does is visit accounts. I have a mantra I stick to, "Distributors deliver my beer, I sell my beer"
 
bsandman66 said:
Congrats on the success! Always good to see somebody take the leap and succeed and then share their success stories.

Question for you about your glycol chiller on your previous setup. Did you have a pump per fermenter, or did you run multiple fermenters off one pump? How did you control temperature to each fermenter?
Click to expand...

Each fermenter has it's own pump mounted to the chiller. The pump is activated by a Johnson Temp controller mounted to each fermenter.
 
orangehero said:
Have you run into any problems with the pumps? It says they are for pumping water only, not chemicals, and with a maximum liquid temperature of 120°F.
Click to expand...

They have held up fine. They are stainless and we have cleaned hundreds of kegs so far. If they break down we can quickly replace one for another $160.
 

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