Opening New Jersey BOP?

[hoops4life511]

I've lurked around here for a while and searched for info, but finally joined because I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. I'm interested in learning what it takes to open a Brew on Premises location similar to the Brewer's Apprentice in Freehold. It's such a great concept, I wish there were more around like that. I know each individual "home brewer" needed a license, but I remember reading that the requirement was going away. What licensing is needed from the ABC, state, or local governments to move forward with opening a similar location in New Jersey? Also, if someone is more familiar with this process, what are the approximate expenses of such licensing? I appreciate any help and or reading material that can be provided.

 

[BrewingViking]

Hey I used to work at the Brewer's Apprentice, all I can tell you is that it's a lot to open and run a BOP. Besides the Brewer's Apprentice has a pretty strong hold in NJ. I think there's only 2 others, Brew-U and Cask & Kettle. Probrewer.com would be a better source of information for commercial brewing. But good luck.

 

[beergolf]

There is a BOP near me. It is Brew Your Own Bottle. Maybe you can contact him and he can tell you about the laws and fees in this crazy state. The owner is great and it is a well stocked, clean LHBS as well as a BOP.

http://brewyourownbottle.com/

The homebrewer license has gone a way, so you don't have to worry about that.

 

[Bobby_M]

I really don't understand the BOP business model. It requires such hand holding for extensive periods of time and most of the customers seem to be one-time deals. They either become homebrewers from that point or never do it again.

Even if it's a decent business, I think South Plainfield is close enough to Freehold that your market is now cut in half. You're not going to put Apprentice out of business.

 

[hoops4life511]

I appreciate all the help, I'm going to reach out to some of the local BOP's as well as the similarly modeled wine school near me. While the selfish me would love a homebrew store and BOP in South Plainfield, I understand that Brewer's App. is solid and close enough already. The question I posed was more for gathering information for my Uncle who expressed interest in the idea out in his barren land of Warren/Hunterdon County.

 

[H22W]

Not sure we even have a Homebrew store out here in Hunterdon / Warren, do we???

Like someone else mentioned... I don't get BOP idea. I might suggest opening a Homebrew store and then consider expanding into BOP even if only as a way to demo the high-end Homebrew gear.

 

[beergolf]

Like someone else mentioned... I don't get BOP idea. I might suggest opening a Homebrew store and then consider expanding into BOP even if only as a way to demo the high-end Homebrew gear.

The BOP idea is to help new brewers get into the hobby and then they will purchase supplies and equipment for your store. Some people need to learn by seeing it done. Once you get them started, theoretically they will continue to purchase from you.

 

[BrewingViking]

Believe it or not but when I worked at the brewers apprentice there was probably more regulars who came to brew on premise then homebrew. I kept trying to sell them equipment and got either I have no room or 5 gallons is to small. A lot of people would actually rather pay extra so they don't have to be bothered with the equipment, cleaning, and fermenting process. It's kinda like fast food lol.

 

[Bobby_M]

Unbelievable. I do run into quite a few people who tell me about the cool bachelor party they went to that started at apprentice. For the average Joe that will never start homebrewing, they do get a kick out of a brew session there. I don't think I could ever run that kind of business because I'd be disappointed in all the people who don't "get it". I guess I just hold brewing more sacred than it just being a goof like an alternative to bowling for the afternoon.

 

[malkore]

Your uncle could open an LHBS, and then start a local brew club that's unrelated.
Then his store isn't responsible (directly) for teaching, and wouldn't need the same level of licensing, as large a space, etc.

The local brew shop here has sponsored some of our events, or allowed us to hold a big-brew in his parking lot.

For example, tomorrow is the big brew day for www.lincolnlagers.com and we often have novice/newbies show up...someone's brother-in-law, a neighbor, a friend, etc.

We mash and end up with something like 75 gallons of wort that we split up, and then everyone makes some beer.

Last year we made it into a yeast challenge and 8 brewers used the same hop schedule but a different pitched yeast which we then compared 2 months later at a meeting.

 

[Love2BrewCrew]

I appreciate all the help, I'm going to reach out to some of the local BOP's as well as the similarly modeled wine school near me. While the selfish me would love a homebrew store and BOP in South Plainfield, I understand that Brewer's App. is solid and close enough already. The question I posed was more for gathering information for my Uncle who expressed interest in the idea out in his barren land of Warren/Hunterdon County.

I would recommend against a homebrew shop in South Plainfield.

 

[devils4ever]

I would recommend against a homebrew shop in South Plainfield.

Wow! Another homebrew shop in NJ! I've been going to Keystone in Bethlehem, but it's a bit far from western Morris County.

I work in Piscataway, so North Plainfield is not too far.

 

[komet155]

I used to spend most of my weekends in Maryland and at that time would brew various friends at a BoP in Frederick called The Flying Barrel.
It was very reasonably priced....something like $135 for a 5 gallon, $175 for 10 gallons and $210 for 15 gallons if you only used one brew kettle.
The setup was very rustic and low tech but we loved it because it was just like homebrewing, only with an expert nearby to help in case you forgot something or needed to figure out certain calculations like alpha acids to or to adjust a recipe to scale. They also handled cleanup.
Unfortunately, it's no longer cost effective to go all the way down there since my brew buddies have lost interest.
So, I started looking into doing it up here (Im in central NJ) and besides Brewer's Apprentice I've only found 2 other places that do BoP. All seem to be exorbitantly expensive.
I think that's one of the reasons they won't see repeat business. If someone wants to actually homebrew but doesnt have the room or has weak sanitizing skills, they would rather go somewhere you can pay a fair price to use their equipment and park your fermenter(s) with a minimum of hand-holding. That would be an ideal BoP for me.
The very people who will pay these very high fees are only doing it to try something different, but would never be able to justify continually brewing beer that essentially costs over $60 a case for 4 cases of the same thing at a time.
Pardon my rambling message.
Does anyone know of a decent BoP that is geared more to repeat brewers?

 

[Darwin18]

$135 for a five gallon batch is a "good" deal....


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[komet155]

I agree, it's not bad considering you can brew whatever you want. The owner didn't quibble over how much extract you used (within reason) or if you preferred using white labs yeast. He also didnt mind you bringing in your own bottles or any special ingredients such as fresh lemon peel, espresso coffee or the odd spice, or even using your own recipe.
Also, if the alpha acids for his hops weren't the same as what your recipe called for, he'd convert it to the appropriate weight to get the same effect.

$135 for a five gallon batch is a "good" deal....


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[komet155]

I would welcome it! I think it would be better for brewing enthusiasts if the field was a little more competitive.

I would recommend against a homebrew shop in South Plainfield.

 

[CBXBob]

I think Darwin18 was asking a question. By my calculations 5 gallons of beer at $135 works out to $2.70 per 12 oz. bottle, if you bring your own bottles and caps.
Or am I missing something?

 

[komet155]

Yes, it is pretty expensive, even not including bottles, BUT that's because craft beer is typically made much more economically due to economies of scale AND the use of all grain vs extract.

Having said that, if you adjust your example to 22 ounce bombers, it comes out to $4.65 per bottle and if you've created something that's extra hoppy or spiced or high abv, that's not such a bad deal for a small batch you can call your own.

Besides, there's some volume discount if you scale up the batch to 10 or 15 gallons.

I think Darwin18 was asking a question. By my calculations 5 gallons of beer at $135 works out to $2.70 per 12 oz. bottle, if you bring your own bottles and caps.
Or am I missing something?