Scaling Up Operation

[MrKvasir]

Hey everybody,

Some family members and I are looking to scale up from a homebrew operation to a commercial meadery.

Over the past couple years, we have managed to make some really nice 5 gallon batches, but we're looking to ramp up production to 25 gallon batches. I was wondering, does anyone have any experience or advice on scaling up a mead operation?

Thanks!

 

[fuelish]

Hey everybody,

Some family members and I are looking to scale up from a homebrew operation to a commercial meadery.

Over the past couple years, we have managed to make some really nice 5 gallon batches, but we're looking to ramp up production to 25 gallon batches. I was wondering, does anyone have any experience or advice on scaling up a mead operation?

Thanks!

Scaling up recipes is the easy part....just, oh, multiply ingredients by 5x for 25 gals instead of 5....scaling up to a "commercial operation" is a whole 'nother HUGE can o' worms - be prepared for the legal jungle you must fight through. More power to you

 

[bernardsmith]

Neither a commercial wine maker nor someone with a head for "business" but if you are even thinking about turning this hobby into a commercial enterprise (quite apart from the legal issues that are involved ) you may want to make a business plan and see how much mead you will have to make and sell in order to recoup anything you spend on the site and equipment and licenses. You may find that you need to think about producing a few hundred barrels a year unless of course you plan in running this enterprise as a tax loss and plan on not paying yourself (but that ain't a business, is it? That is a money pit)..
Good luck!

 

[phil74501]

I looked into the legalities of things in my state when I got into home brewing a few months ago. To be commercial, it takes a license, inspections by the state ABC (alcohol beverages commission), health department inspections, zoning approval, city code inspections. It got really involved, really quick. Things like water filtering, can't use just straight city water. That's a state health department regulation. If you live in a residential area, obviously I do, then you can't operate a commercial or manufacturing enterprise without city zoning approval. And that wouldn't be easy to obtain. Notice is sent to everyone within however many blocks it is. They get an opportunity to give their opinion on the matter. Then you have to prove that your alcohol isn't going to blow up and take out a city block. And then maybe the city council will give you their approval. Your house is subject to both health department and ABC inspections at anytime, without prior notice.

In short, it's very quickly becomes a big pain in the you know what. More of a pain than most people would want to deal with.

 

[TeufelHundenM198]

Some states are friendlier than others.... it'll vary greatly from that angle. I'm near Boulder, CO, and they've allowed people to start nano breweries and wineries in their garages. Other states treat alcohol as if it's one step below narcotics and put you through the ringer.

If you're only looking to go commercial to sell small batch stuff, your first step would be to check with the local municipality to see just how small and where you can put the facility. If you can do it in your garage, awesome. If not, a commercial space will increase the costs exponentially. Basically, you'd need a full commercial setup before you can even apply for your basic permit from TTB. Then once you're going, you'll need the capital to pay the excise taxes, then sit on those expenditures until your mead is ready to sell. This doesn't include the costs of converting whatever facility you get into a winery.

You might tour some local wineries and see what they have to say. Without knowing where you live and how cooperative your area is to your venture, you're only going to get general advice. But suffice it to say, if you want to go full commercial and make money doing it, it will be an expensive startup.

 

[bernardsmith]

I was thinking about MrKvasir's original post and question - an alternative possibility might be to work with a local friendly wine maker who may allow you to make use of their facility to make your mead under their auspices and rights etc. So they pay you as a contractor (but I have no idea of the legal issues that may be involved) - The mead becomes theirs to sell.

 

[madscientist451]

1. Enter your mead in competitions and get real feedback from people that are comparing your mead to others.
2. Invite friends for blind taste test comparisons with your mead and commercial examples.
3. You'll need a winery licence to make mead, no brewing involved, so find out what the requirements are.
4. Visit small wine makers and mead makers in your area and try to get a feel for what they are doing.
5. As mentioned above write out a business plan. If you can't make it work on paper, its just not going to work.
Good luck with your project.

 

[MrKvasir]

Thanks for your responses, everyone! Some really good advice here

 

[bernardsmith]

Don't let any of us put you off - if you really want to make a commercial go of mead making... but just be aware of the obstacles you will need to overcome. and then there is a psychological obstacle that few mention. We all do all kinds of things for fun and pleasure. But if I pay you to do something that you otherwise enjoy doing (and I know this sounds counter-intuitive) very soon you will view that activity as a chore and no longer a pleasure and you soon stop getting any pleasure from the activity. In other words, if your ability to put bread on the table will depend on you working in your meadery every day then that joy can soon become tainted and you have to work quite hard to cast the work as enjoyable and not drudgery.. just sayin' .

 

[MrKvasir]

Don't let any of us put you off - if you really want to make a commercial go of mead making... but just be aware of the obstacles you will need to overcome. and then there is a psychological obstacle that few mention. We all do all kinds of things for fun and pleasure. But if I pay you to do something that you otherwise enjoy doing (and I know this sounds counter-intuitive) very soon you will view that activity as a chore and no longer a pleasure and you soon stop getting any pleasure from the activity. In other words, if your ability to put bread on the table will depend on you working in your meadery every day then that joy can soon become tainted and you have to work quite hard to cast the work as enjoyable and not drudgery.. just sayin' .

I definitely know where you are coming from. I don't think i would try to go commercial on my own. Doing the work (any work, really) with people I'm happy to spend my time with makes it much more enjoyable.

 

[MeadMe]

Any updates on if you ended up going the commercial route?

 

[Dan O]

Any updates on if you ended up going the commercial route?

He hasn't been seen in a really long time. You might have cobwebs forming waiting for an answer

 

[JAReeves]