Ask Dr. Frankenbrew
11/19/23 Hop Backs / Can I sell?
As you’ve probably noticed by now, sometimes I write on whatever comes to mind that I think will be useful, and other times I answer questions. This week I want to cover a couple questions I received. The first from alert reader Scott, and the second from brewery owner Jeremy.
Question: I would love to hear more about how to use a hop back in general and learn your hop back process.
Answer: As I mentioned in a previous article about our R2 Keg cleaner that it can be used as a hop back, what we typically do (and I’d love to hear what others are doing) is use our mash tun as a hop back.
After mash, we clean the mash tun while the wort is boiling in the kettle so it’s ready to add whole cone hops back into the clean mash tun, then I pump the hot wort after boil and whirl pool into the mash tun, avoiding hot side aeration, and then from there to the heat exchanger and then on to the fermenter. I only use whole hops of course and mostly we only use this method in the fall for fresh hop beers. There are hop farms just outside of our town, so when we say fresh hop, they were picked the day before. Mmmmm.
This also makes me think of dry hopping too. When I started brewing I didn’t have conicals and used my serving tanks for dry hopping instead of pellets into a uni-tank. I liked a combination of whole hops and pellets, and they went into a mesh bag tied off on the inside of the tank. The tank was emptied within two weeks so I never worried about them being in there too long, but I also didn’t have sparkly beer either. The hop cloudiness was worth it in flavor. Mmmmm.
Question: Dear Doctor, I’ve read your posts about selling to a key employee and I’m ready to do that now. My general manager is great and I completely trust her. My question is, if I carry the note over a longer period of years, how do I know she won’t run the business into the ground?
Answer: God I love this question. My short answer is, this is simple to do “IF” you follow a kick ass business system (mine is stellar) that will monitor the business without you being there. As long as she is paying you, and she will be paying you out of cash flow monthly (do direct deposits into your bank account so you aren’t looking for checks in the mail) make sure that you have access to the business, access to her books, and most importantly, that monthly audits are performed either by you or someone you trust. As a refresher, the audits check for the cleanliness of the business, how everyone is following their checklists, all the cost of goods sold targets are being met, etc. If she gets tired of you being involved in her business, all she has to do is pay you off and you are out of her hair. She can do that with a bank loan or get an investor.
The beauty of doing it this way is she gets to own the business without having to get a bank loan, which can be difficult as a manager just getting a salary. You are the bank, so you make the interest. And the best part is you really can keep an eye on the business so it isn’t run into the ground, and this is the best part; you no longer have to worry about hiring and firing and all the hassles that come with employing people. This is a truly win/win for everybody involved. Once she has paid you off, she could, if she wanted, do the same thing with her assistant manager whom she will be spending that time grooming. Or, she could continue running the company and expanding.
Yes I’m a brewer and I love successful businesses that haven’t spent a lot of money, but it’s how the businesses are run that really floats my boat. It’s where all the burnout happens in any business and is one of the easiest fixes. It’s also where I find the most resistance from business owners.
Do you have questions about buying a brewery, or selling yours? Drop me a line and tell me your concerns. I don’t need to know a name or location. It’s simply fun to hear the stories.
