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Layout feedback on our Orchard/Cidery/Meadery

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  • Layout feedback on our Orchard/Cidery/Meadery

    Hello everyone,

    We are starting a apple orchard and will be producing ciders and meads. We are set to close on our property the middle of next month and are trying to get everything in line to start modifications as soon as we can. I have our state and federal applications sent in but nothing is approved yet.

    I wanted to get expert opinions on our layout. Keep in mind we are considered a farm winery. The 5 tanks are 2bbl's each. We will be kegging all cider and mead and storing it in the walk in cooler. Taps will be installed on the cooler wall and served from there. There is a 1000 square foot finished loft/upstairs above the office. Bottles will be sold as well.

    Here is the layout and a few pictures of the building. We are on a total of 12.1 acres. Let me know what you think as we are newbs at this! (constructive critisim is appreciated!)

    2018-04-22_09-44-44 by Edison Bender, on Flickr

    2018-04-22_09-45-06 by Edison Bender, on Flickr

    2018-04-22_09-46-21 by Edison Bender, on Flickr

    2018-04-25_09-45-07 by Edison Bender, on Flickr
    Attached Files

  • #2
    As a guy who spent two years at a meadery where production shared space with the tasting room, your production area looks a little small. Now, that whole left side of the tasting room looks pretty open, maybe you're planning on sharing some of that space between production and tasting – but we were only open one day a week, and even then, juggling stuff around in shared space (which was pretty much all we had, real estate being what it is in the SF Bay Area) was a time-consuming PITA. You're gonna need room for all your equipment, room to walk around it connecting and monitoring and cleaning, room to move your pallet jack around, etc, etc – and having to finish your production day, and clean, and move tasting room stuff back into place, that you just moved out of place before you could even start production... you're not paying San Francisco rent/mortgage in Indiana, don't make the crappy compromises we had to.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by feinbera View Post
      As a guy who spent two years at a meadery where production shared space with the tasting room, your production area looks a little small. Now, that whole left side of the tasting room looks pretty open, maybe you're planning on sharing some of that space between production and tasting – but we were only open one day a week, and even then, juggling stuff around in shared space (which was pretty much all we had, real estate being what it is in the SF Bay Area) was a time-consuming PITA. You're gonna need room for all your equipment, room to walk around it connecting and monitoring and cleaning, room to move your pallet jack around, etc, etc – and having to finish your production day, and clean, and move tasting room stuff back into place, that you just moved out of place before you could even start production... you're not paying San Francisco rent/mortgage in Indiana, don't make the crappy compromises we had to.
      Thanks for taking a look and comments. At this time, we aren't sure how much space we will actually need for production, so that can change as needed. We don't plant on sharing a space and moving equipment around. We do have a 1000 SQ foot loft upstairs as well for seating if needed. Maybe I should rotate the trench drain for future expansion?

      What do you think about having the fermenters close to customers? I think it would be enjoyable, but my wife thinks it will look to industrial. I'm using spiedel tanks which are pretty good looking tanks! Her main concern was having the sink visible, so I put that behind a wall.

      You are right about the real estate cost. We are paying $270,000 for this 12 acres and building (~4000 square feet). It's on a private septic and well with propane.

      Comment


      • #4
        Do you intend to expand.. or stay tiny?
        Would it be too much effort to rotate the stairs along the other wall and put your cellar along the back wall?

        Comment


        • #5
          I would move the offices upstairs. Put the bar in the area around the cider classes room. Do the classes in the main room not in the small space. Open the wall to the main room up, or install windows. And use most all of the main room for production. A corner could still be used for tables for people and tours, etc.

          I also replied via PM with more suggestions and considerations.

          Comment


          • #6
            Expansion is possible considering how we do on the alcohol side. We will still be a u-pick orchard as well so we would like to keep all alcohol related activities to the large room and the office area converted to the farm store. This is a stick frame building and not easily altered so moving rooms or walls is not an option at this time.

            I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind when we are able to expand and/or move rooms.

            Comment


            • #7
              I took some input from people on here and changed the layout a bit. Still not 100% ideal but we had to work with what we have for now. Walk in cooler got moved to the left side, fermenters going in their own "room" behind some plexi-glass.

              I really want the consumers to feel like they are inside a cidery and I think I accomplished that.

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