Nano Brewhouse

[ArmyATCBrewer]

I don't know if this is the appropriate place for this, so if it isn't, please, someone let me know...

Like basically anyone who has ever homebrewed, my dream is to one day open my own brewpub. I'm still at least 7 years away from that being a possibility, but I'd like to buy things I'll need little-by-little to help soften the financial burden. I'm in Korea (US Army) and there's a place on base that is closing and auctioning everything...including their nano brewhouse (room, more accurately). I'm trying get an idea of what would be a reasonable price for some of the things I was able to see from the window. There are three of these fermenter tanks, a couple pumps, some CO2 parts and accessories and a few brew kettles. The copper tanks appear to be 2 bbl each, but I don't know for sure. There was a metal tag on one of them but I couldn't make it out. There's a good chance I'd have to pay to ship the equipment back to the US, so I'll be taking that into consideration as well. Thanks for any info you guys might have!!!
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[madscientist451]

Depending on the price, If you have the cash I'd buy everything and ship it back. How much? You need to determine how big a system it is and exactly what is included in the sale, then go online and see what you can buy an existing system for. I would think if its on the base, there should be an inventory somewhere of what they have. Your shipping costs will be high and then you need a place to store it back in the US.
Ask around on base about an export agent that is trustworthy. There are all kinds of fees that get tacked on to ocean freight shipments, so add it all up.
If you don't have a cheap or free place to store it, your shipping and storage costs plus the purchase price could put you in the hole. You'll need to build crates to hold the tanks and everything else, and there's a chance some items could get damaged if you are not there to supervise the unloading of the container. If you can't be available to supervise the loading of your freight, don't do the deal, some items could come up missing and there's a possibility of contraband being included with your goods. You are going to need a crew and a a forklift to get those tanks out of that space.
From the pictures, it looks bigger than 2BBL to me. Could be the chance of a lifetime, Good luck!

 

[ArmyATCBrewer]

I have no clue what the opening bid will be, but I'm planning to be there for the auction if I can. Do you know what would be a reasonable price?

 

[madscientist451]

Check out this equipment, does it look like the same size?

http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?44614-3BBl-kettles-for-sale-Clad-amp-Available-today!!!!

Their asking price is $12k, but that's the 3 vessels only, your equipment includes a lot of exras, I saw a pump, electrical control panel, Stainless steel piping and other things I can't identify from the pictures.
Where are would you get your brewery started if it ever happens?

 

[madscientist451]

And another one from pro brewer, this is $28,500:

http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?39575-3-Bbl-Brewery-must-sell-ASAP

 

[ArmyATCBrewer]

Wow! Good info! I think they might be bigger than that. I'm hoping that nobody knows exactly what they're looking at and it goes cheap. I'm not crossing my fingers though. I'm headed there today to try to get a closer look. As far as a brewery location, I don't know yet. Like I mentioned, I'm in the military so I move a lot. Who knows where I'll end up? But I would like to open a place somewhere that the market isn't overly saturated. With the rate craft beer is growing in popularity, that may not be possible. We'll see...
Thanks for the info again!

 

[JohnSand]

Intriguing. Let us know what happens. Do think carefully about shipping and storing. A bargain can become a burden.

 

[ArmyATCBrewer]

So I got a closer look today and it's all or none and it's a WHOLE lot more than what you seen in that room. The manager isn't a brewer and he wasn't sure of the fermenter size, but it's got Glycol piping, industrial wort chiller, one MLT that pumps through the chiller to two HLT's for fermentation, then pumps to a walkin fridge (also included) into kegs which pumps to bar taps. Everything was about $160k new, but that was 12 yrs ago. Still goes to the lowest bidder, but even if it sells for $1k, there's no way I could remove and ship everything. It was worth looking into and helped me gain some insight into what I'll need to look for in the future, but I'm gonna have to sit this one out. Something else will come along like this when the timing is better for me.