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  • New Nano coming in Cary NC

    Hi folks

    Thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce myself. I'm opening up a 1.5bbl nano in the heart of downtown Cary NC. I've been home brewing for five years, a scientist by day for ten and have run successful small businesses in the past.

    I've seen more than enough Nano stuff to know that it's not going to let me quit my day job, however I have a great opportunity to get into an area which is about to expand at a very reasonable cost, and which will allow both short term and long term expansion, with the plan being to graduate up to a 3bbl system eventually in the current space and to bootstrap out into a larger brewery in one of the many newly built and expanding mall areas in the region.

    My lease is signed, zoning is confirmed with the local authority, articles of organization will be filed tomorrow with the Secretary of State, and as soon as I can get some decent drawings made my brewer's notice will be filed.

    I'm putting minimal investment into the brew house at this point, I'm making my own system up out of an array of stainless kettles, and will be powering the whole lot with electricity so I can build my own control panel. Currently debating whether I will buy a brew stand or a whole bunch of stainless tube and a TIG welder and assemble it myself.

    We will open doors with plastic inductor tanks, and use revenue as we generate it to fit ourselves out with some 3bbl jacketed conicals. Once we go up to a 3bbl brew house then we'll be able to use these, and supplement them with a few 7bbl tanks to double batch as we grow.

    Now to get a hold of the local health inspector and get the low down on exactly how many sinks I'm going to need

  • #2
    What's the name of your brewery? Would be interested in following your journey/progress :-)

    Good luck!

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    • #3
      Details schmetails

      We are The Levee BrewPub

      Website and associated social media links are at www.theleveepub.com

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      • #4
        I read your blog. Yes, we need more cask ale here in the States! Have you thought about doing a 100% cask only ale house/pub? That would be awesome.

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        • #5
          Sadly I don't think there's enough market to go cask only, at least where I'm at. We've already got one larger brewery in the area who have a real cask focus, however they're far enough away from me that they'll be a customer draw rather than a direct head-to-head competitor per se.

          I expect that in somewhere with a larger hipster population you could make it work, but with my local market there's too much diversity. You'd either need a rock solid group of British ex-pats who would keep you in regular trade, or a big population of people who would actively seek it out because it's different.

          As it is, cask for me will be a mix of a passion project, and also a way to enhance choice within my beer lineup.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by PSkelton View Post
            [...]
            Currently debating whether I will buy a brew stand or a whole bunch of stainless tube and a TIG welder and assemble it myself.
            [...]
            Strut channel is your friend! (e.g. Unistrut, Superstrut, B-line etc). Probably even your local hardware store has it in the electrical section. It's like an "Erector Set" for adults.



            Personally, I don't think there's any need for stainless here. Mine is a mixture of galvanized steel (Steel City brand) and FRP (fiberglass) channel. But if your kettles are heavy, you can build a fine structure from 1 5/8 standard channel. The manufacturer's have engineering data to show it's load capacity, if you get asked by an inspector. It goes together with bolts and special strut-nuts that insert and twist into the channel. Lots of cool accessories are available. Pics below.


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            • #7
              Uhhh... be careful

              PSkelton -

              Looking at your blog and what you've shared here, I want to *strongly* encourage you to talk to an attorney that's familiar with alcohol licensing. It certainly doesn't have to be me (though I am right down the street in Raleigh!), but you probably need to talk to someone about issues like the order things should be done in and what you'll need to do for the filing(s).

              For example, you indicated on the blog that you signed the lease *then* filed your paperwork with the Secretary of State. Well, that means that either the lease is in your personal name (which is a potential hurdle for TTB filing) or the lease is the name of the company that hadn't been formed yet (which means that you may still be *personally* liable for the lease, because the company didn't exist at the time you signed it which means it was, essentially, a sole proprietorship = no liability protection).

              Also, you'll need more than the lease, drawings, and filed Articles to submit for the TTB (and certainly the ABC). Let me know if you want to chat, but please make sure you talk to someone about this to be sure you don't accidentally create problems or extra work for yourself.

              Cheers!
              John
              John Szymankiewicz PE, Esq
              Beer Law Center
              www.beerlawcenter.com
              john@beerlawcenter.com

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              • #8
                Hi John

                I follow you on Twitter, I'm familiar with your work as they say

                The lease is actually under a different company for the moment, which will transfer as things move along. I've done a lot of reading around TTB registration and have a broad familiarity with the NC ABC laws, at the moment I'm still busy talking to the Town to get some details straightened out. I work in a heavily regulated industry during the day already so I'm somewhat used to climbing paperwork mountains

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