Building A Small Brewpub - 7
The following is a fictional description of opening a brewpub.
Just for fun and cheapness, I went on Fiverr.com to get started on a logo. It’s not bad and could use some work but shoot, it only cost less than $20 and doesn’t look like I made it up. The key for a logo to me, is that it will look as good in 20 years as it does today.
I decided against a large contracting group, even though they seem so professional, and no doubt they could get the work done on time, but I decided on a single guy as a general contractor. He will hire out the subs. I looked at his past work, which was excellent and though this isn’t scientific, I liked him and I liked his 1972 GMC pick up. It was in original condition and neat as a pin. He cares about details. And when I checked with people who he had done work for, they gave him stellar reviews. He already said he knows some guys, firefighters, who do work on their off hours and are very reasonable. He can get them in this week to do the demo. Remember, you don’t need a building permit to do that. While that happens he will apply for a building permit and line up sub-contractors. I will be helping as much as possible.
I struck gold on Probrewer today finding a nice direct fired kettle for $6500. Though the whole brewhouse for sale is only $12,500 I think I can do better piecing it all together on my own, but maybe not, I have to think about it. This location isn’t too far and I can borrow a friends Ford F250 and we can go pick it up and throw it in the back. The Kettle is made by Forgeworks, and their stuff is excellent. I will store the kettle outside for now. It weighs so much I don’t think anyone will walk off with it.
Now for the business system. I’ve been thinking about this. The place is really small, but I still want service. So my first order of business will be to identify the positions in the brewery. Here’s what I came up with.
Brewer
Bartender
Server
P1 (pizza maker)
P2 (makes salads and works the oven)
Dish Washer (only if we are busy enough)
General Manager
Shift Manager
A single person can fill any number of these jobs at the same time. For example, P1 can also do P2’s job if it’s slow. The bartender can also be a server and the server can also jump behind the bar and do that job as well. I see the bartender also as the shift manager too.
I don’t need a host since the dining room is tiny the server can manage that. I also don’t need someone to bus tables. The bartender and server can do that as well. They will be busy, but I plan to pay really well. I could be wrong and need to add those in the future. Those are good problems to have.
I was thinking we would be open 7 days per week but only at night. Maybe something like 4:00PM until 9:00 PM. With a small place, the brewing during the day won’t interfere with customers who come in later. Also, in my experience, nothing good happens after 9:00, especially when alcohol is concerned. Maybe I could open a little earlier on Saturday and Sunday - eventually. But to start, I want to keep everything as simple as I can.
I decided for the sanitation department (remember they wanted to know what I was up to) to describe my effluent and what will be going down the drain. I will be recapturing my water from the heat exchanger and using it to clean with at the end of the brew day, but no matter what, some nasty stuff is going down that drain.
If I brew twice per week, each brew will need about 12 pints of yeast slurry, roughly 12 pounds, though there is a difference in weight between water and yeast (pints a pound the world around). However, each brew will produce at least 30 pounds of yeast. That means about 18 to 20 pounds of yeast will be going down the drain. I plan to kill the yeast first with heat and left-over sanitizer before dumping. I’ll let them know that. As far as chemicals, I will include the data sheets of what I will be using and the dilution rates. That, along with an approximation of quantity based on how many tanks I clean per week should work. Hopefully that will make them happy.
First things first however before we start cutting up the floor for plumbing. I will go down tonight to the space and using blue painters tape, draw out all the walls and tables on the floor. Then with a large extension ladder, I’m going to sit up there like a Rodin sculpture and look down on the layout, trying to imagine it on a busy night. If I think there are going to be any pinch-points, I need to change wall locations now before it’s too late. Hopefully this exercise will save me some grief going forward.
My list keeps growing.
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 - to do
Hire Contractor - check
Start acquiring equipment - in progress
Start on Business System - in progress
Food Menu - to do
Service System - to do
POS System - to to
Oyster! - to do
