Building A Small Brewpub - 16
The following is a fictional description of opening a brewpub
The TTB actually came out to do an inspection. I didn’t expect this as they hardly ever do from what I am told. But it is the final step in their approval process for my federal brewers license.
The agent was super nice however and only found one issue, and that is the diagram I sent showing the set up was a little different than how I actually laid out the tanks. She said, no problem, and had me change her diagram and simply initial the drawing. That was it. I was approved, which means I can now brew beer!
So my first order of business, and something I hadn’t taken the time to do yet, is a hot water brew. I had already cleaned all the tanks and passivated them as well.
To do a hot water brew, I simply heated my water in the brew kettle, then transferred over a volume of it to the mash tun, then heated the rest to a higher temperature and transferred it to the hot liquor tank. Next I ran the hot water out of the mash tun, through the grant, and on to the kettle again, as though it was wort, while at the same time running hot water from the hot liquor tank and sparging in the mash tun. Once back in the kettle I boil, then whirl pool once I’ve turned off the kettle.
Next I have the heat exchanger set up and transfer the hot water through the heat exchanger to the fermenter that I set the temperature to 70. Testing the heat exchanger using my tap water I cool the hot water to 70 as it goes to the fermenter, but also capture the cooling water going into the heat exchanger that is coming out the other side at 150 degrees, back into my clean mash tun. In future brews I will use this water for cleaning. Once the final water is in the fermenter, I turn the temperature down to 36 to cool the water to make sure the glycol system works.
It’s a huge relief to get that done and see that my brewing system will work when I do my first brew.
Now I need to start ordering inventory if I want to do that brew. Also food, wine, and beverages we will need to start the business. Once the items come in, I will take my inventory count sheet and write down the current prices. Then, and this is really important, I will take an inventory before we open for business to establish a beginning inventory. I can’t forget to do this, no matter how busy I get. This will set me up for doing monthly inventories so I can keep an eye on my Cost of Good Sold.
One other house-keeping item I want to mention before I forget. All through this process I have kept my personal finances separate from the business. For example if I’m out and decide I need to pick something up for the brewery, I don’t use my personal credit card, but a debit card I have for the brewery. The IRS really hates it if you mix the two up, but your bookkeeper hates it even more. If I make sure to establish clean books from the very beginning and reconcile my bank accounts every month, then in some future date if I decide to sell my business I will have nice clean numbers to work with. As the saying goes, believe me now or hear me later.
I have a sign on the door saying help needed. I don’t have a lot of positions, because the brewpub is so small (thank God) and I’m now interviewing. My number one thing I look for is if the employee can smile and has a good personality. On thing I know however from experience is that this initial crew will most likely all be gone within about six months. That just always seems to happen. I may keep one or two, and these will be my key employees and future managers.
It looks like I will have a good crew - on paper - to start with. So in the next few weeks I will do my training week, and before that I have to get some beer in the tanks and a brew is my next priority. I have my license so now I’m legal!
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 - check
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 - check
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 - check
Brew Beer - to do
Final Inspections - to do
Hire Staff - check
Make Score Board - to do
Training Week - to do
Do initial inventory - to do
