Building A Small Brewpub - 15
The following is a fictional description of opening a brewpub
Damn it! I have been so busy with construction, licensing, buying equipment and making employee job descriptions and check lists, there is a whole slew of things that are time-sensitive that I almost forgot. I have to Hop-to-it (pun intended).
First order of business is to order my sign for the front of the building. One thing I know about signage is to keep it as simple as possible. I remember a billboard sign sales person once telling me that anything with more than 7 words will not catch peoples attention. Also, this is a brewpub, so the word Brewery has to be really large. That’s all people care about anyway. We have a Mexican restaurant in our town and their name is, Tacos and Beer. Do you really need to know more than that??
For building signage I need to check with the town. They have very specific rules about how big the sign can be and lighting for the sign and even if it can stick out from the building or has to be flush. Actually, first I will check with the sign company. They must know all the rules and if a permit is involved and most likely they will be the ones getting it. That has to happen today!
Next, I will want Growlers. Though I know they aren’t as popular as they used to be. Still, I’d like to try them. I found a place called Grandstand, that sells growlers and they will screen your logo on for free if it’s one color. They also sell logo shirts, glasses and other swag. I’ll get some shirts from them if I can’t find anyone local. That would be my first choice however: to keep my dollars in the community.
I made up my mind at the beginning of this project not to distribute. However, I still want people to be able to get a can of our beer. A Crowler, or 32 oz. can makes the most sense. They can be taken to parks, or on river trips. They are great for camping because they are light weight and you can crush them when they are empty. They also recycle really well, IF, you first peel off the label.
There is a place not too far from us that sells cans called Cansource. You can buy one pallet of cans and lids, 3200 cans, for about $1,500. A brewer I know however say’s sometimes as much as 10% are damaged in the shipping. He told me that probably wouldn’t be an issue if you ordered a whole truck load, but it would take me 10 years to go through that many cans. I’ll have to take my chances.
I saw some cans sold by Colorado Boy Brewery that were pre-labeled for their most popular beers, and one that you could put any beer into and use a sharpie to write the name of the beer on it. That’s what I think I will do. Those Colorado Boy’s sure are smart! I found a hand crank labeler on Amazon for $175 that should work for label application.
Next I need a seamer, and decided on the Oktober can seamer. I’ve read good reports on it and the seamer can sit right behind the bar so the customers can see their beer canned fresh. I also know you have to monitor the seams and make adjustments to the seamer so you don’t have any leaking cans. This bit of maintenance I will put in my GM (General Maintenance) book as a reminder to check my seams weekly.
And finally, after much research I decided to start with Arryved POS systems. Finding a POS system is such a rabbit hole of information and I can’t say at this point if this one is any better than all the others, but it was created for breweries specifically. What sold me on it is I can use Android tablets and smart phones, which are cheaper than Apple products. Also, if your internet goes down, you can still capture credit cards in the system. Then, when your internet is restored it can process them. That means if I was at a beer fest and wanted to sell swag, I could get peoples cards in the system and process them when I get back to the brewery. We’ll see how that goes.
Lots of progress. It’s getting close.
Sequence of Events
Find a suitable location - check
Draw up a floor plan - check
Check with the town zoning to see if a brewpub is allowed in that location - check
Get someone from the building department to do a walk through in the space while showing them my plan to see if they see any pitfalls - check
Set up Company - check
Set up bank account and fund - check
Draw plumbing plans - check
Draw up detail kitchen plans - check
Meet with architect and engineer - check
Apply for state and federal licenses - check
Come up with a name - check
Get insurance set up - check
Acquire additional funding - check
Sign the lease - check
Demo for plumbing - check
Hire Contractor - check
Start acquiring equipment - in progress
Start on Business System - in progress
Food Menu - check
Hook up Glycol System - check
Service System - check
POS System - check
Oyster! - to do
Kitchen Equipment List - check
Bar Equipment List - to do
Order Sign - check
Order Growlers - check
Order 32 oz. cans and labels - check
Build draft system -check
Hook up glycol system - check
Do hot water brew
Final Inspections
Hire Staff
Make Score Board
Do initial inventory
Getting closer 🙌