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3bbl or 5 bbl brewhouse doable in 1200 sq foot facility?

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  • 3bbl or 5 bbl brewhouse doable in 1200 sq foot facility?

    hi all -

    we re a brewery in planning and looking at all options... one location we saw and like vey much as its in a town thats going thru a revitalization an old auto service center with two garage doors... improvement have been made to the facility on the outside.. high traffic and right in downtown.

    question is - can we do a 3 bbl brew system or a 5 bbl brew system (we want to go as big as possible) with consideration to the size of the facility? also room for FVs and tasting room. we anticipate most of our sales to be in the tasting room our first few years focusing on good quality beers and connecting to our community before we grow bigger.

    thoughts on this?

    mark

  • #2
    Short answer, I'd say that yes, a small system would fit. Of course it's highly dependent on number of products, kegs vs. serving tanks, whether you do any packaging, serve food, etc.

    If you figure your process vessels are roughly 3' diameter then that's ~20 sq ft for a two-vessel system, double it to allow for making connections and you're still under 50 sq ft. Another 50 for four FVs and a brite, double it all again to account for a walkway, that's 200 sq ft. Set aside another 100 since you want some room to grow the tank farm, add an HLT, or what have you.

    Two pallets of malt (4000 lb or ~20 batches) and two of empty kegs (24 bbl) are another 30, 100+ for a cold room (you'll hate yourself if it's any smaller), plus hop freezer(s), counter space, a sink, etc. and you're at ~500 sq ft for the back of the house. Take out the bar and back and there's about 600 sq ft left for seating.

    I'm assuming you'll need at least one restroom, and you can't fight city hall (the ADA) so that takes up 60 sq ft plus walls and door clearance, and you're down to maybe 30-40 seats. If that's a number you're comfortable with given the revenues you need (20 bbl of FVs with a 2-week average turn is 500 bbl or ~10 pints/seat-day), then I say go for it. Location, location, location.

    My suggestion would be to cut out some paper circles to scale with the size of your equipment and try to actually place them on the floor plan. We ruled out the first two buildings we considered just based on how cramped the brewery would be.
    Sent from my Microsoft Bob

    Beer is like porn. You can buy it, but it's more fun to make your own.
    seanterrill.com/category/brewing | twomilebrewing.com

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    • #3
      thanks for the feedbacks its much appreciated.. yesterday a building just came on the market... 600 more square foot at for 500 dollar less... more space for less $$$ still right in downtown area. i have put a call in that building for a visit.. we will be checking it later this afternoon... if looks good i will let you know how it looks and would like your insights. are you in the brewery business? as an owner? brewer? i

      mark

      Originally posted by a10t2 View Post
      Short answer, I'd say that yes, a small system would fit. Of course it's highly dependent on number of products, kegs vs. serving tanks, whether you do any packaging, serve food, etc.

      If you figure your process vessels are roughly 3' diameter then that's ~20 sq ft for a two-vessel system, double it to allow for making connections and you're still under 50 sq ft. Another 50 for four FVs and a brite, double it all again to account for a walkway, that's 200 sq ft. Set aside another 100 since you want some room to grow the tank farm, add an HLT, or what have you.

      Two pallets of malt (4000 lb or ~20 batches) and two of empty kegs (24 bbl) are another 30, 100+ for a cold room (you'll hate yourself if it's any smaller), plus hop freezer(s), counter space, a sink, etc. and you're at ~500 sq ft for the back of the house. Take out the bar and back and there's about 600 sq ft left for seating.

      I'm assuming you'll need at least one restroom, and you can't fight city hall (the ADA) so that takes up 60 sq ft plus walls and door clearance, and you're down to maybe 30-40 seats. If that's a number you're comfortable with given the revenues you need (20 bbl of FVs with a 2-week average turn is 500 bbl or ~10 pints/seat-day), then I say go for it. Location, location, location.

      My suggestion would be to cut out some paper circles to scale with the size of your equipment and try to actually place them on the floor plan. We ruled out the first two buildings we considered just based on how cramped the brewery would be.

      Comment


      • #4
        Stacked Serving Tanks

        We built a 7bbl brewery with Two vessel Brew platform, 3 7bbl and 1 14bbl CFV's. 8 stacked serving tanks. 8,000# 2-row grain silo out side, and all specialty malt stored along the wall. Produced 1200 bbls first year in a brewery space of 550 sq/ft. Walk in cooler was outside that stored spare kegs and food for the pub. Just make sure you have outside storage space.

        Lance
        Rebel Malting Co
        Reno, Nevada USA

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        • #5
          Originally posted by SilverFox View Post
          are you in the brewery business? as an owner? brewer? i
          Off-and-on brewer for the last decade, currently in construction of a new brewpub. Feel free to reach out with any questions - assuming we actually manage to stay ahead of your project! Best of luck.

          Sean
          Sent from my Microsoft Bob

          Beer is like porn. You can buy it, but it's more fun to make your own.
          seanterrill.com/category/brewing | twomilebrewing.com

          Comment


          • #6
            thanks. we looked at the other location... 1800 sq foot... we liked it very much. zoning will allow for a brewery. right now we re talking with the city s community development 's director. we still looking around and keep all of our options open.

            mark

            Originally posted by a10t2 View Post
            Off-and-on brewer for the last decade, currently in construction of a new brewpub. Feel free to reach out with any questions - assuming we actually manage to stay ahead of your project! Best of luck.

            Sean

            Comment


            • #7
              good to know its doable... we liked both locations we looked at... still keeping our options open. now talking with people with the city s CDC.

              mark

              Originally posted by nohandslance View Post
              We built a 7bbl brewery with Two vessel Brew platform, 3 7bbl and 1 14bbl CFV's. 8 stacked serving tanks. 8,000# 2-row grain silo out side, and all specialty malt stored along the wall. Produced 1200 bbls first year in a brewery space of 550 sq/ft. Walk in cooler was outside that stored spare kegs and food for the pub. Just make sure you have outside storage space.

              Lance
              Rebel Malting Co
              Reno, Nevada USA

              Comment


              • #8
                moving forward on 3.5 brewhouse and a mixture of 3.5 & 7 bbl fermenters

                Gents -

                Its been a while since i post on here... anyway we re moving forward on a 1200 sq ft facility w/ 6000 sq ft parking space. Right we have a letter of intent on the building.

                We re debating on the # of fermenters and size of the fermenters... I would like to hear your thoughts...
                For sure we will go with a 3.5 bbl brewhouse system.... now we need to decide how many fermenters to go with. Originally we were planning to go with 6 - 3.5 bbl fermenters but we are now considering 7 bbl fermenters... since can do 3.5 bbl batch in 7 bbl fermenters and in 7 bbl brite. we will doublebatch for 7 bbl fermenters.

                What are your thought on this?
                to go with:
                6 - 3.5 bbl FV (21 bbl)
                or
                1 - 7 bbl FV & 3 - 3.5 bbl FVs (17.5 bbl)
                or
                2 - 7 bbl FVs & 2 - 3.5 bbl FVs (21 bbl)
                or
                4 - 7 bbl FVs (28 bbl)

                we will also get a brite tank

                and either a 1/2 bbl or 1 bbl pilot system.

                Would like to hear your thoughts on this!

                Silver Fox

                Comment


                • #9
                  We started with a 2bbl brewhouse and 3 2bbl FVs in 2000 sq ft. 500 sq/ft brew space and a 10x10 cooler, used the office for a grain room and 40 seats in the taproom. Within a year we upgraded to a 7bbl brewhouse with 2-7bbl Fvs and 1-7bbl brite. At first it felt like a ton of space but it fills up very quickly. The cold storage is the biggest roadblock. You can only brew as often as you have space to store it, so you need to match your cold storage to your number of tanks. Its year 3 and now we have added the building space next door for a dedicated brewery space added a 20x22 cooler and more tanks and guess what? Its already full again.
                  Everyone that I talk to, Irecommend finding a space that allows for growth. Friends of mine have started small as we did, and don't get me wrong I wouldn't have done it any other way. They opened in a space that didn't allow for growth and had to move the entire operation and do a whole new buildout and permitting and TTB,ect. If you make a good product and are moderately popular you will have to grow.
                  Oh, one more thing. Setting up the brewery in the back of a space where the only door is in front is a PITA. everything brewery related has to drug through the taproom. I was so happy to not have to move tables and chairs everyday to drag out spent grain or park the forklift indoors.
                  Hope that helps.

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                  • #10
                    I wouldn't go less than 3. It's definitely doable but you will be brewing constantly. 5 is a great starting point.


                    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

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                    • #11
                      1500 sq ft

                      I have a 5BBL brewhouse, 3 fermenters, 10x14 walkin with 7 serving tanks, along with 2 bathrooms and 70 seat tap room in 1500 sq ft. Did 400 BBLs through the taproom this year.
                      Its a pain in the ass brewing in the same space as the tap room, everything has to be done by the time the doors open at 4pm. I ease the pain by staring at $1000+ dollars every month that Im not paying in additional rent for additional space.
                      (Its figurative, I never really see that money)

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