Nanobrewery System

[Cape Brewing]

I've been told by a couple of different bars where I know the bar managers really well that "craft beers" typically go anywhere from $60-$75 for a 1/6th. Obviously, if you're importing a St. Bernardus Xmas Ale or something, they'll go a lot more but for a "run of the mill" beer out of a local brewery, I haven't heard of them going much higher than that.

That was also backed up by a member of our HBC who is the beer manager at a pretty decent liquor store in our area.

For us... we're assuming the lowest price in order to build cushion into the numbers.

... but yeah... a "pint" is anywhere from $5 to $10 depending on the beer. Loose Cannon IPAs are $6 I think around the city but something like a Palo Santo will run you a bit more.

 

[CnnmnSchnpps]

If you want to start a nano, come to Japan! Craft pints run anywhere from 10 to 20 USD in Tokyo!

Don't mean to rag on any one's plans btw, the debt and risk are real factors. But keep in mind that the potential rewards will be directly proportional to the amount of risk you take on, whereas the amount of head- and heart-ache will be constant regardless of the size of your brewery

Beers
D

 

[pjcampbell]

thanks for the info. I'll try to work with those numbers. I'll have to ask some local nano brewers too.

 

[Cape Brewing]

whereas the amount of head- and heart-ache will be constant regardless of the size of your brewery

Beers
D

... and I don't really agree with that. Given the size of our situation, we're basically limited to one batch per week given our fermentation set-up. I don't see the head/heart ache of having to brew one batch per week and maintain the brewery among three guys as being "constant" with trying to maintain a 7bbl start-up, with a massive investment and your livelyhood hanging over your head, forcing you to push out every keg you can for the bottom line.

I'm not just trying to argue with you... it is just as I keep saying though... people start businesses for different reasons under different philosophies and I don't see any of them as necessarily wrong... it is just what it best suited for that particular person.

 

[CnnmnSchnpps]

No worries, best of luck with your plans!

Beers
D

 

[pericles]

Are you incorporating? If not, will ATF allow you register as a brewery under a general partnership (which is what you'll be unless you create some other kind of business)?

 

[Lucky_Chicken]

Im just going to say.... I wish I was going pro now! you guys are living the dream, keep us informed of your progress so maybe I can learn something from what you did and go pro in the future.

 

[mkwasnie]

It all depends on who your customer is...if you are selling 100 barrels a year and it is all in your taproom you can make money. $60 for a sixtel is high for wholesale unless it is a specialty. So if you are wholesaling 300 barrels a year from the same nano, it's going to be a lot of work for very little money.

 

[pjcampbell]

There is also wholesale bombers if you can self distribute.

Selling bombers for, say, $3.50 is a more profitable than a $60 or even $80 sixtel.

Hand bottling is a lot of work but so is cleaning kegs.

 

[mkwasnie]

You are just increasing the workload, and thus making your time less valuable. Nanos can make it, but it is best to find a niche. You are not going to survive in a competitive market hand bottling bombers. The whole idea of going bigger is just simple economies of scale. You don't start an excavation company with a spade shovel and you don't open a bank with $10,000, it's just not worth your time. Now say there are certain niches that even those can fulfill, like maybe a small payday loan company or hand dug grave sites. It could be far fetched, but it could work, just like nano breweries. I've worked in a small (10 BBL) production brewery, and we moved a lot of product wholesale. At the end of the day though, it was the margin in the taproom that made the money.

 

[LordUlrich]

First off best of luck. I will back up the comments that pro brewing is different from home brewing. I am the brewer at a brew pub running a 10bbl system. First bigger is not always better, it is important to sell all your beer quickly. Having beer go stale will up costs quick, by killing the reputation, and sometimes just having a good product wont garuntee you will sell out.
I will say the things which matter are a bit different when scale increases. For example at home my heavily insulated mash tun can lose several degrees in an hour. The much larger mash tun at work, with hundreds of lbs in grain loses nothing. At the same time things like autolysis which are not dealt existent in small batches takes care to avoid in a 15 foot tall tank.
I see the allure of nano brewing being lower risk but also lower profit potential.
In regards to the price of kegs, keep in mind while a pint may cost $6 keep in mind everyone wants a cut, the bar, the distributor, the state, the feds.
For equipment did you look at the plastic conicals, yeah stainless is better but also way more expensive. I looked at them a few years ago when thinking of opening my own place and they were like 1/10 th the price. Although I would call them a short term solution, programed for replacement after 3-4 years with stainless.
As far as cobbling together a system while you may save money, a system built by an expert has advantages. I recently visited a brewery with a system built from modified tanks and after talking with the brewer I got the impression that the little nuisance problems were from piecing the system together, made me glad I run a purpose built system, from a brewery manufacturer.

 

[CnnmnSchnpps]

So, how is it going? Would love to hear any updates from the OP!

 

[dansrc51]

check his site. sounds like they are licensed and almost ready.

 

[crazyirishman34]

They are up and running and have been fore a bit.