Opening a Brewpub

[RandomBeerGuy]

However it works out, make sure you allow in the budget for an adequate marketing campaign. Best wishes and keep us posted.

Big 10-4

 

[Scruffy1207]

1. IPA
2. Pale Ale
3. Stout
4. Brown
5. Belgian Trippel
6. American-style Dark Ale

 

[Weizenwerks]

BTW - they are going to write a book about ALL the problems with opening a brewpub, The BIGGEST so far was getting a 12 foot range hood installed, getting ripped off by contractors, secret government documents that need to be signed that appear out of no where. The brewing part is easy.

Further evidence sustaining my opinion it is 80% business skills and 20% about the product. Also remember this is a brewpub serving food, so it's two businesses in one. Have one owner manage the beer side and the other owner manage the food side.

The one thing I have heard out of the few other brewpubs owners I have talked to is it costs MUCH more then you would suspect.

Any business is like that. Opening a business is just like home improvements: double the cost and triple the time.

This is a small place - a Home Brew pub basically - not so fancy shiny place but a 49 seat, small town place - 2 barrel system.

Figure 5 barrels per seat per year. 245 barrels on a 2bbl system is 123 batches. That's a lot of work.

 

[Grinder12000]

49 seats total. Can't go larger or else there are a lot of new rules to have to worry about.

 

[Grinder12000]

Inspections Monday. Opening Tuesday if inspect go well. Crossing fingers

 

[dedhedjed]

What are they fermenting in? Size? Number of FV's?

 

[Grinder12000]

It's a complete DIY Brewpub, should have been a reality show - 49 seat capacity, FVs??? Shoestring budget! Total homebrewer project - not some glitzy fancy thing. 30 gallon system twice a day. Good question on the "in" as the brewery part is still under construction.

Tomorrow they should have 4 beers on tap but will probably run out.. I would say it's more of a pub-brew with a fantastic grill AND homebrew on tap. So perhaps "taproom" would be a better name??

Health inspection went fine - building inspectors tomorrow. STILL working on getting the 700 lb 12 foot long range hood installed.

 

[dedhedjed]

Fermentation Vessels...

What are they fermenting in? How many are they using? Fermentation capacity is a big consideration...

 

[dedhedjed]

Not trying to be negative, btw, just curious... Two 1bbl batches a day means either big fermenters or lots of them...

 

[Scruffy1207]

Not trying to be negative, btw, just curious... Two 1bbl batches a day means either big fermenters or lots of them...

I help with a local nano on occasion and they do two 50g batches a day. Fill a 120g fermentor on wheels. They don't have a ton of room I think they manage with 4 fermentors. It's doable. 8 hour brewday right there.

 

[Grinder12000]

OH - they have 50 gallon drums for fermentation - da! I was looking at them today - I know Aaron is thinking of 12 hour days for sure which would actually be LESS work then he has been doing the last 5 months. (16 hours, 7 days a week for 5 months). As I said DIY to the max.

More work then I would do!

dedhed - no worries about negative - MOST people say it can't be done - I point them to Worth Brewery which is 10 gallon brewery. Columbus WI USED to have the largest brewery in America in the late 1800s.

Scruffy - how big was the place you helped at.

 

[Scruffy1207]

OH - they have 50 gallon drums for fermentation - da! I was looking at them today - I know Aaron is thinking of 12 hour days for sure which would actually be LESS work then he has been doing the last 5 months. (16 hours, 7 days a week for 5 months). As I said DIY to the max.

More work then I would do!

dedhed - no worries about negative - MOST people say it can't be done - I point them to Worth Brewery which is 10 gallon brewery. Columbus WI USED to have the largest brewery in America in the late 1800s.

Scruffy - how big was the place you helped at.

Ohh, probably the size of a two car garage or so, it's in one of industrial complexes with lots of small businesses like metal shops and stuff. Also a tasting room.

 

[Grinder12000]

OH - so it was not a brew pub with tables and chairs?

 

[Scruffy1207]

OH - so it was not a brew pub with tables and chairs?

No, it was just a tasting room.

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Update for Pub: So over last weekend I spoke with my busniess partner. We both came to the conclusion that after the christmas madness we will start scoping out our locations. We have ideal's for 4 total cities. Starting January we will head out to each location and stop at the local pubs and see if we can hand out our survey of 5 questions. As long as the pub will let us. So I thought might as well get your guys and gals input. Feel free, please note that this is a survey of your own opinion. All the feed back is appreciated. We will be starting off small serving beer and food. Then in about 6 months or so of success. We will then expand and build our brew station. We have many great idea's and are moving towards planning but we would like your input.

1. What type of food do you like to eat in a pub setting?
A. Burger's and Fries
B. Toasted sandwiches, soups, and salad's
C. Appetizer's (hot poppers, chicken wings, ect)
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
Suggestion:

2. How many beer selections would you like to see?
A. 5+
B. 10+
C. 20+
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
Suggestions:

3. What type on entertainment do you enjoy?
A. Sports and Events
B. Pool table, darts, arcade, ect
C. Music
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
Suggestions:

4. How often do you frequent a pub in a week?
A. 1-2
B. 2-4
C. 4-7
D All of the above
E. None of the above
Suggestion:

5. What type of decor/theme would you like to see?
A. Sport's
B. Automovtive
C. Social
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
Suggestion:

 

[Scruffy1207]

update for pub: So over last weekend i spoke with my busniess partner. We both came to the conclusion that after the christmas madness we will start scoping out our locations. We have ideal's for 4 total cities. Starting january we will head out to each location and stop at the local pubs and see if we can hand out our survey of 5 questions. As long as the pub will let us. So i thought might as well get your guys and gals input. Feel free, please note that this is a survey of your own opinion. All the feed back is appreciated. We will be starting off small serving beer and food. Then in about 6 months or so of success. We will then expand and build our brew station. We have many great idea's and are moving towards planning but we would like your input.

1. What type of food do you like to eat in a pub setting?
A. Burger's and fries
b. Toasted sandwiches, soups, and salad's
c. Appetizer's (hot poppers, chicken wings, ect)
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
suggestion:

2. How many beer selections would you like to see?
A. 5+
b. 10+
c. 20+
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
suggestions:

3. What type on entertainment do you enjoy?
A. Sports and events
b. Pool table, darts, arcade, ect
c. Music
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
suggestions:

4. How often do you frequent a pub in a week?
A. 1-2
b. 2-4
c. 4-7
d all of the above
e. None of the above
suggestion:

5. What type of decor/theme would you like to see?
A. Sport's
b. Automovtive
c. Social
d. All of the above
e. None of the above
suggestion:

d
c
a
a
a

 

[Grinder12000]

Hey - thread jacking LOL You might want to start a new thread as you will get more responses! People might be bored of this thread.

BTW - soft opening last night went great!!

To answer your questions it is really your baby! Do what YOU want and not what others want AND - more importantly - what is the competition.

1. Food is VERY VERY important - it makes people drink more and 70% of your retails sales will come from food.

2. We will have 10 once the pipleline is in full production - we also make all of our soda.

3. we play 40s music because it's like a speak easy, like Cheers, nothing glitzy. TV is only used for special occasions like football Sunday and City Council drinking games on Tuesday's. We want people talking and drinking, not watching TV.

4. What is "c" anyway LOL I guess we are "c".

OOPS = mess u- the numbers - #3 - we have a pool table and three slot machines (70% pay out raking in about $300 a month each). I would LOVE one of those super long shuffle boards (cost $6000)

#4 - twice a month but now every day. Most places just suck I feel and are nothing but drunk fests.

 

[ericksoncl23]

Try to find a copy of the first "Bar Rescue" season. That would be good info.

 

[dallasdb]

Figure 5 barrels per seat per year. 245 barrels on a 2bbl system is 123 batches. That's a lot of work.

IMO 5 barrels per seat per year seems high for a new brewpub.

~31 gallons/barrel
128 oz/gallon
16 oz/pint
248 pints/barrel - 10% waste = 223 pints/barrel

5 barrels = ~ 1,115 pints/seat per year

Assuming you're open 7 days a week that is ~ 150 pints per day.

For a new establishment in a town of ~ 5,000 that seems like wishful thinking, even with a busy highway going through town.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but what do you think of those calculations?

I'm agreeing with some other posts that starting out with other breweries micros on tap and offering a limited selection of your brews would probably be best, especially using a 1 bbl system (if I recall the OP realized it wasn't a 2bbl).

Anyways, I'm all about starting small before stepping up to say a 7 bbl system.

 

[RandomBeerGuy]

Hey - thread jacking LOL You might want to start a new thread as you will get more responses! People might be bored of this thread.

BTW - soft opening last night went great!!

To answer your questions it is really your baby! Do what YOU want and not what others want AND - more importantly - what is the competition.

1. Food is VERY VERY important - it makes people drink more and 70% of your retails sales will come from food.

2. We will have 10 once the pipleline is in full production - we also make all of our soda.

3. we play 40s music because it's like a speak easy, like Cheers, nothing glitzy. TV is only used for special occasions like football Sunday and City Council drinking games on Tuesday's. We want people talking and drinking, not watching TV.

4. What is "c" anyway LOL I guess we are "c".

OOPS = mess u- the numbers - #3 - we have a pool table and three slot machines (70% pay out raking in about $300 a month each). I would LOVE one of those super long shuffle boards (cost $6000)

#4 - twice a month but now every day. Most places just suck I feel and are nothing but drunk fests.

Not meaning to thread jack, some of other posters asked to report my finding. We have our idea and its quite diffrent from whats out here. I know its going to rock better than expected. I can take it and repost in a different thread. Good luck on your venture. What was ment by a soft opening? just family and firends? Our opening is to rock, We are planning for a Grand Opening in the summer with an event. But thats all hush hush.

 

[Airborneguy]

5 barrels = ~ 1,115 pints/seat per year

Assuming you're open 7 days a week that is ~ 150 pints per day.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if he's producing 1,115 pints per seat, per year, than its about 3 pints per seat, per day if he's open 7 days a week, no?

 

[Weizenwerks]

IMO 5 barrels per seat per year seems high for a new brewpub.

The Brewer's Association data recommends to account for 5-10 barrels per seat per year to estimate production capacity for a brewpub serving their beer retail by the glass. If there are guest beers available, then the numbers can change. The local brewpub has a 3.5bbl system brewing once a week for a pale, brown, and oatmeal stout and has guest taps and bottled beer.

~31 gallons/barrel
128 oz/gallon
16 oz/pint
248 pints/barrel - 10% waste = 223 pints/barrel

5 barrels = ~ 1,115 pints/seat per year

Assuming you're open 7 days a week that is ~ 150 pints per day.

Just remember the loosely used term of "pint". When I say pint, I mean a true actual 16 fluid ounces being a pint. When the industry says a pint, they mean the "bar pint" which is 12 fluid ounces in the shaker glasses used for mixed drinks.

Your pint measurements are true pints and very, very few establishments actually serve a true pint (BTW we serve true pints). By your 10% waste yielding 1,115 true pints per 5 barrels, it's 17,840 ounces. Served into true pints it's 1,115. Served into "bar pints" at 12oz is 1,486 (and two thirds). Serving "bar pints" versus true pints gives 371 additional servings of beer. If you're charging $5 a pint, that's an additional $1,855 in revenue.

For a new establishment in a town of ~ 5,000 that seems like wishful thinking, even with a busy highway going through town.

Depends on if they are only going to serve their beers or if they are going to brew a few beers and have guest taps or beers.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but what do you think of those calculations?

Calculations are accurate but don't take into account how the beer is sold, bar pint versus true pint. Furthermore, a brewpub should expect a beer drinker to have 2-3 beers during their visit as an average. The food is why they are there, so a brewpub should focus on session type beers that are very drinkable and won't fill you up, since you are there to eat first and foremost. They shouldn't be brewing a lot of 8% stouts and IPAs.

I'm agreeing with some other posts that starting out with other breweries micros on tap and offering a limited selection of your brews would probably be best, especially using a 1 bbl system (if I recall the OP realized it wasn't a 2bbl).

Yup, for sure. If you're tiny and can't produce enough beer, you're going to have to incorporate guest beers there in order to make things happen.

Anyways, I'm all about starting small before stepping up to say a 7 bbl system.

A business should look at it in terms of labor. Ingredients and water don't really change much with production size as it's pretty linear, but production versus labor is different. A 3.5bbl system at the local brewpub takes 9 hours for a brew day. They brew once a week. If they got a 10bbl system they would almost triple their production capacity for the same amount of labor involved and brew less. Any excess production capacity they have could be spent for package sales if they chose. That's another thing to consider, will they only be brewing and selling at retail for consumption on premises or will they distribute for off premises consumption? That makes a big difference. Additionally, setting up a brewpub for a 1bbl system then moving to a 7bbl system fairly soon, say 5 years, is a total mess and involves a lot of reworking the layout of the brewing area. It's much better to get a larger system from the start than to grow into one after a few years. Just something to think about.

 

[DannPM]

1 a light Belgian Blonde or a smaller end of a Belgian Golden Strong (to serve as a transition to craft to any bud drinkers)

2 an insanely hoppy and utterly delicious IPA. Gotta have the hop heads talking this place up.

3 a stout, dark and opaque. Malt guys love these as well as newly found craft drinkers seem to really be drawn to these.

4 english mild or esb, for something balanced, well rounded.

5 an american pale ale, everyone has to have a house apa. This should be their flagship imo.

6 a bi-seasonal, an eight beer rotation that changes throughout the year. Should all be high gravity highly abv brews that are special releases and seasonal showcases.