Brewing one keg at a time.

[el_mocoso]

I am the brewer at a rather large(relatively speaking) brewpub. My smallest batch size is 8bbl and each batch I brew is around for quite a while. The problem is when it comes to regulars who tire of the seasonal or two that last quite a while. It also is a problem when trying to tweak/play with recipes and brew more odd brews.

I would like to have more exciting offerings for my customers to get them in the door more often, but 8bbls of anything that is less than a spectacular hit with the public ties up tanks and beer lines for quite a while.

My idea is to use my 10gal homebrew setup as a pilot brewery. I have a couple of 10gal cornies I could gas in and serve out of. This would give me a lot more freedom and room to grow in my brewing skills. It would also give the local something to get excited about and even have a bit of say in what I brew.

My question is about legality and tax determination. I would be fermenting in a converted in a 1/2bbl keg and then racking into a 10gal cornie to force carb and to serve out of. for tax purposes I would just tax it as 10gal, any extra would be going down the drain anyway. If the beer did not fill the cornie, I would still tax it at 10gal.

I know I will have to figure out the legality at a state level, but do any of you have any knowledge about the legality at the federal level? Do any of you do this? Any advice or info is greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

[MikeRoy]

I've known a few brewers who have done this and there hasn't been any issues. They were required to send specs of the "new system" to the TTB for approval, but once approved there were no issues. As long as you're recording your batches and paying taxes it should be fine.

[BrewinLou]

Why not keg off the beers that are slow movers and serve them from kegs? That will open up tanks and give you more of a selection at one time. All you need is some kegs and a tower to serve them from. Could you open an outside account or two to move your excess brew?

[Jephro]

Another suggestion would be to make use of the beer you already have or make some schizo beers. Maybe do some barrel aging of the beers you already have or brew a fairly neutral base beer, like a honey wheat, that could be served as is and/or turned into a specialty or three. Add a fruit puree (i.e. raspberry wheat) to some, or do a secondary fermentation with it, maybe hit it with some brett and additional sugars (from fruit, first running’s wort, honey, etc.)... you get the idea.

Keep in mind that you're going to spend nearly as much time brewing 10 gallons as you would brewing 10 bbl's. Bad if your on salary or own the place, good if your a starving brewer and need more hours . Anyway, my point is to consider what your time worth compared to your return on 10 gallons of beer you'd spend a whole day brewing- for the money alone; its probably not worth it- but long term for PR, to improve your image, and your selection; maybe so. ...and i guess it's a great excuse to get a pilot system for formulation, R&D, and test marketing. (hmm, now i want one)

- I was in the same boat at my first brewpub gig, it was a 14 bbl system in a small college town. We had 3 3.5 bbl grundy's so we did 1/2 batches (7 bbl) and split them off in the ways i suggested to increase selection and keep the beer fresh. The honey wheat was our flagship (28 bbl brews) and the base for our raspberry, cherry & peach beers we rotated through.

[porter]

Same Boat

I'm in the same boat with a 15bbl system that makes it difficult to do anything smaller than 10 bbl.
I have 4- 1/2 bbl NFG's that I pulled the stems out of that I use to ferment different versions of the house beer wort in. I use sugars, different yeast strains, honey, wood chips, vanilla beans, peppers and anything else I can think of to create new and interesting "experimental" brews.
Some of these have been turned into full size seasonal batches.

We only have 5 serving tanks and enough kegs to have maybe 2 other specialty brews on tap, yet I usually have 8-10 beers of my own creation pouring.

[beerking1]

If you do some kegging, and have a walk-in for storage, you can set a few kegs of a seasonal batch to bring out later. Serve that Holiday beer in the summer for a "Xmas in July" special. Bring out that winter barleywine from last year, and serve it side by side with the new one for an in-house vertical.
You get the picture.

[el_mocoso]

Thanks

Thanks for all the advice and ideas. I will probably use many of them sooner or later, some I already do.

But I am still interested in getting the small batch operation going, if not for the customers than at least for my own growth as a brewer and recipe formulator (and a bit just for fun).

I would love to get a half of a batch of seasonal out the door to outside accounts, but distributors around these parts aren't interested in rotating brands. They are barely interested in handling any non-macro/large regional beers. That is another problem I am working on separately.

Again, thanks for all the tips and ideas,

Cheers!

el_mocoso