New Brewery: Checklist

[jlc767]

Hello, everyone!

I'm heavily researching the business and considering my own 3.5 bbl brewery, but there are just a few important tid-bits of information I'm having trouble finding online and I was wondering if anyone here knows of a comprehensive online resource (or book) that has a detailed checklist of specific requirements for a brewery.

For instance, what type of floor drainage renovations are required? What are my options for cold storage? What is the ideal ceiling height? What things are common in the build-out phase of a new brewery during installation of a brewing system? Gas / electrical specifications, etc.

Thank you!

 

[davefleck]

your questions are all specific to your equipment and how you want to use it.

ceiling height, i've seen some brewerys with hardly enough space for the top hatch of the fermenters to open and others with tons of room.

cold storage... it depends on how much you want to be storing. How long you age it prior to release. Do you want space with growth room or for max compasity? Many buy used equipment so $ drives the answer to much of your Qs.

Learn from local brewers.

Do some rough math. Time it takes per batch to brew, ingredent costs, reasonable price you can sell for, employee costs and overhead. At 3.5bbl you may find it hard to be profitable unless your workers are volunteers and your equipment next to free. Don't forget, if you're brewing you aren't selling your product or growing the biz. This is why very few start with anything less then a 15bbl or 5bbl for a brewpub. Think of it as runing a factory not a brewery. Beer is just your product that has a couple other legal requirements

 

[Sigafoos]

I think a whole host of nanobrewers would disagree with your volume requirements. Well, if you're planning on pulling down 40k a year from the start, then yeah: no go. But yeah, there's quite a lot more than just step 1 homebrew more, step 3 profit.

As for specific requirements, people do things so differently I doubt you'd find much. Also, so much of it is local zoning/health/etc requirements. Some people do 10G batches out of their garage, others (cough cough) have to look into filing zoning variances for a building they'd like to buy. I guess part of the magic is that no two stories will ever be the same.

 

[DustinHickey]

A lot of those questions are questions for an engineer familiar with the local health department and construction codes in that juresdiction. I am a plumbing and sprinkler engineer in NYC so I could get general but the specefics can be very specific to the local juresdiction.

If you were serious about building a brewery you would probibly have to hire an architect, engineer, ect.. to make sure all electrical, sprinkler, plumbing, mechanical, fire alarm, and egress codes are met. You would also need them to sign and seal drawings so the contractors could pull permits to start doing work.

This all depends on local codes however.

 

[Brewmoor]

I agree with what the other posters said about local rules. Go to the town planning offices and ask those questions.

As for your cold storage options. I am building my own cooler. I am going to use the Store It Cold CoolBot. I am going to frame out a 10 x 12 room and skin the inside with 4 inches of rigid foam. I will be useing a 24,000 btu air conditioner from Home Depot.

I am trying my best to do all my own work if I can. It will end up saving me a ton of money. I have friends who can pull permits I will need and help me be sure everything will pass. If you need to hire contractors to build your brewery you will need to plan for much more money for start up.

 

[Boar Beer]

What volume are you planning to make each week. Is it the 3.5bb and how are you selling? bottles, kegs, brewpub type.

 

[Lcasanova]

Try this book it was a good read and gives you some general knowledge and also talks about floors and other things you encounter along the way. Good luck, keep us posted.