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3.5 BBL Potential Brew pub
Hi there,
I am looking at starting up a brewpub in my hometown and have been trying to get as much advice as possible from every resource available. No better place than Probrewer. Thank you for reading.
Dryden is a small city of 6000 people (another 6000 in periphery) in North Western Ontario, about 8 hours drive north of Minneapolis. The closest brewery is in Kenora about 150 km away which has expanded and has shown success in distributing. Dryden itself does not have much for pubs let alone brewpubs, so I see there to be an opportunity with little competition except for out of town craft beer in cans.
Buildings are hard to come by that fit the bill for a brew pub, which I guess is the same story everywhere. I am currently looking at an existing 40 seat restaurant which has a residential rental unit above which could pay for the mortgage of the building, helping keep expenses low. This comes with a disadvantage in that the building does not leave much space for a brewery. It is located next to the higher end grocery store in town, a hockey/pool arena which is big for tournaments, and zoned commercial downtown on a main road with a lot of traffic. There is room to expand a patio out front and have hop plants growing around a pergola.
I have contacted a Chinese company to help out with the layout of the building. I see its max potential, without major renovations, at a 3.5bbl brewhouse with 6 3.5 bbl jacketed fermenters and 6 non jacketed serving tanks (quoted 72K USD without shipping). This would be in the existing 10x16 kitchen and expanded 9x13 cold room which has a portion backing onto the bar. In the meantime I have access to a 1bbl Spike trio system, with 4 1 bbl jacketed fermenters which I would use as a proof of concept for the business without having sunk too much in initially, other than a down payment on the building. There is future potential to put an addition (15'x30') on the front of the building, which I believe would hold a 10bbl system but comes at an incredible cost due to COVID.
Food would be all cooked in a pizza oven which would come with the building. It would be solely tater tots but injected with culture. Mexican totchos, korean kimchee, sauerkraut, malt vinegar, anything that is simple and straight forward. This is done in a smaller room with a take out window attached.
The intention would be to sell everything across the bar. Minimal canning if need be.
So the business plan would be operating on 3 stages. First the 1 bbl minimal financial risk. I would likely buy some plastic fermenters to increase capacity, understanding fully that a 1bbl system is unsustainable and with the intentions of expanding to the 3.5bbl system preferably within a year.
The 3.5 bbl system is the max capacity of the building in its current state. This is where I am not sure the investment is worth it. I would prefer to go serving tanks as that requires less man hours for cleaning kegs. I would prefer a larger system but I am restricted due to the size of the building. Judging by the posts made on Probrewer, it seems as though people end up running out of beer. I am not sure if this is because people are selling kegs to distributors, which I do not intend to do. Most 3.5 bbl sized breweries that I hear of are frankenbrewed, but the system would need to be very particular to fit in the current space.
This is where everyone also says that you should leave room for expansion, which is where the 10 bbl brewhouse addition comes in with a proper canning line, but would be an incredible amount of money to build.
I intend to maintain my normal job, which is busier in the summer and totally free in the winter. I am able to take care of the brewing with help from my local home brewers club throughout the summer. My wife would be available during school hours as I have 2 young kids. I would need to hire part time staff to work as bartenders, and some cook staff/can fillers.
While at work I have a lot of time on stand by to work on planning, staffing, accounting and marketing.
Another possibility is just leaving the operation at a 1 bbl brewery, which seems difficult, but could possibly bring in kegs from other breweries to supplement.
Any help is appreciated.
I am looking at starting up a brewpub in my hometown and have been trying to get as much advice as possible from every resource available. No better place than Probrewer. Thank you for reading.
Dryden is a small city of 6000 people (another 6000 in periphery) in North Western Ontario, about 8 hours drive north of Minneapolis. The closest brewery is in Kenora about 150 km away which has expanded and has shown success in distributing. Dryden itself does not have much for pubs let alone brewpubs, so I see there to be an opportunity with little competition except for out of town craft beer in cans.
Buildings are hard to come by that fit the bill for a brew pub, which I guess is the same story everywhere. I am currently looking at an existing 40 seat restaurant which has a residential rental unit above which could pay for the mortgage of the building, helping keep expenses low. This comes with a disadvantage in that the building does not leave much space for a brewery. It is located next to the higher end grocery store in town, a hockey/pool arena which is big for tournaments, and zoned commercial downtown on a main road with a lot of traffic. There is room to expand a patio out front and have hop plants growing around a pergola.
I have contacted a Chinese company to help out with the layout of the building. I see its max potential, without major renovations, at a 3.5bbl brewhouse with 6 3.5 bbl jacketed fermenters and 6 non jacketed serving tanks (quoted 72K USD without shipping). This would be in the existing 10x16 kitchen and expanded 9x13 cold room which has a portion backing onto the bar. In the meantime I have access to a 1bbl Spike trio system, with 4 1 bbl jacketed fermenters which I would use as a proof of concept for the business without having sunk too much in initially, other than a down payment on the building. There is future potential to put an addition (15'x30') on the front of the building, which I believe would hold a 10bbl system but comes at an incredible cost due to COVID.
Food would be all cooked in a pizza oven which would come with the building. It would be solely tater tots but injected with culture. Mexican totchos, korean kimchee, sauerkraut, malt vinegar, anything that is simple and straight forward. This is done in a smaller room with a take out window attached.
The intention would be to sell everything across the bar. Minimal canning if need be.
So the business plan would be operating on 3 stages. First the 1 bbl minimal financial risk. I would likely buy some plastic fermenters to increase capacity, understanding fully that a 1bbl system is unsustainable and with the intentions of expanding to the 3.5bbl system preferably within a year.
The 3.5 bbl system is the max capacity of the building in its current state. This is where I am not sure the investment is worth it. I would prefer to go serving tanks as that requires less man hours for cleaning kegs. I would prefer a larger system but I am restricted due to the size of the building. Judging by the posts made on Probrewer, it seems as though people end up running out of beer. I am not sure if this is because people are selling kegs to distributors, which I do not intend to do. Most 3.5 bbl sized breweries that I hear of are frankenbrewed, but the system would need to be very particular to fit in the current space.
This is where everyone also says that you should leave room for expansion, which is where the 10 bbl brewhouse addition comes in with a proper canning line, but would be an incredible amount of money to build.
I intend to maintain my normal job, which is busier in the summer and totally free in the winter. I am able to take care of the brewing with help from my local home brewers club throughout the summer. My wife would be available during school hours as I have 2 young kids. I would need to hire part time staff to work as bartenders, and some cook staff/can fillers.
While at work I have a lot of time on stand by to work on planning, staffing, accounting and marketing.
Another possibility is just leaving the operation at a 1 bbl brewery, which seems difficult, but could possibly bring in kegs from other breweries to supplement.
Any help is appreciated.
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