Proposed new micro/nano brewery

[MJD83]

Hello all.

I have recently purchased a commercial property in the Kingston, ontario area, and am looking at opening a small brewery. The business plan is in the works, and I have lined up all of the appropriate licenses in order to both produce and sell beer. Finances are also organized.

My background is in business and marketing so my main issue is trying to lock down a brewmaster, as I do not have the necessary skill set to brew full time. I am looking for ways that I could possibly find one. I am also unclear if something this small scale would require an individual full time or what.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

MJD

 

[Piratwolf]

I would start with probrewer.com

 

[m_c_zero]

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Make good beer

Just kidding, wish you the best of luck!

 

[MalFet]

How small scale is small scale? Your business plan should include at very minimum your brewhouse size, your fermentation capacity, and your logistics chain. The amount of manpower you'll need is completely dependent on these factors, and there's no way to say whether you'll need a full time brewer without doing the math.

That said, I have a hard time imagining that a production brewery (rather than a brew pub) could be profitable without at least one full time employee. As was mentioned, probrewer.com is a good place to advertise and recruit.

 

[MJD83]

Thanks for the replies! I will certainly check out probrewer.

I know the size of the brew house, and the logistics situation, but would have no idea where to start with fermentation capacity and output. That's were someone with experience would come in handy.

We are planning on having full time employees, in a management and marketing role, but I am unclear if the brewmaster would be full time. Looks like figuring out capacity is the key here.

That's again, and for the well wishes.

MJD

 

[MalFet]

Thanks for the replies! I will certainly check out probrewer.

I know the size of the brew house, and the logistics situation, but would have no idea where to start with fermentation capacity and output. That's were someone with experience would come in handy.

We are planning on having full time employees, in a management and marketing role, but I am unclear if the brewmaster would be full time. Looks like figuring out capacity is the key here.

That's again, and for the well wishes.

MJD

Glad to help, and speak up if you have other questions.

To get you started, it is worth pointing out that your production output will likely be far more constrained by your fermentor capacity than by your brewhouse size. When you think about your space and resources, the first question you should ask is "How much fermentation capacity can I buy, keep, and cool?" Your brewing and packaging (and the labor to go with them) will follow almost entirely by that answer.

 

[Piratwolf]

Glad to help, and speak up if you have other questions.

To get you started, it is worth pointing out that your production output will likely be far more constrained by your fermentor capacity than by your brewhouse size. When you think about your space and resources, the first question you should ask is "How much fermentation capacity can I buy, keep, and cool?" Your brewing and packaging (and the labor to go with them) will follow almost entirely by that answer.

Good points, MalFet. I'd also add, as someone who has been crunching numbers on these issues myself, that if you're planning to sell direct-to-consumer (i.e., over your own bar) rather than package for distribution, you need to consider how much beer you can sell given the number of seats in your place. No point in being able to produce 2500BBL/year if your place only has 20 seats: you're likely to sell only 200BBL.

There's so much to consider. I think it's very good that you're looking for experienced input!

 

[Nightshade]

I would love to entertain brewing at a new location, currently running a 3bbl system for a brewpub. If I had another 3 fermenters I could easily keep them full.

Can't entertain it though, Canadia won't let me in