It's official starting my own brewing business!

CornyKegs 728
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LLBrewer said:
The "haters" in this thread highlight what a steaming pile of horsesh!t government has created for it's citizens in the USA. I, like all of you, have run the numbers. I, like all of you, are more than willing and able to put in the hard work to produce a quality product that fellow citizens would pay for. But alas, with every agency under the sun waiting in line to take their pound of flesh, the barrier to entry becomes too great for all but the most driven, rich, or stupid. Gone are the days of the local baker, grocer, and brewer. And we all lose because if it. Rant over...
Click to expand...

Well Jesus H. Christ, tell us how you really feel! :tank:

The "haters" as you called each person who seemingly didn't write something that was overly supportive appear to be much like me. You have this guy, who seems to be an adult, decide to open a brewery but pretty much opted to go about it all wrong because everything was just haphazard. I think if I am looking for someone to support me and tell me how great I am, the last place I'm looking is the internet. Sorry but all that bureaucratic paperwork you hate (that I hate too) is necessary because without it, you have nada for your "business". Want to change it? Figure out a way to change it but until then, you abide by it every step of the way.

There is no throwing caution to the wind and just doing it because you think you can. You invest your money, perhaps money from others, and your heart and soul into a business that you will end up pissing away when you try to play cute with the system. It sucks that it has to be this way but comparing those who were "haters" in the thread to those who created the red tape that comes with opening a brewery is a pretty big reach. I could be wrong but none of the respondents to this thread have anything to do with the rules and regulations surrounding opening a brewery/camp ground/brewery or campground…whatever it is today.

Let us not even get into the fact that if you read the 400+ posts or at least every post from the OP, you would see that the red tape is the least of his worries. Having a clear plan and making a decision is pretty much key to starting down the journey of the bureaucratic red tape road.
 
Wow dude, hold on you missed the point lol. There's a reason haters was in "". I think this guy was doomed from day 1 and there was plenty of free advice from guys that were doing it right. My point was just that it's too bad you can't really create and operate a small local business anymore due to endless red tape and bureaucracy. I'm really responding to posts like from the guy that had to go through hell to have a damn sprinkler head replaced. This kind of madness places an enormous barrier to entry that almost can't be overcome by the little guy. And it's too bad. As ill-conceived as akthors plan was, he did seem to have the drive (if not the sense)to make a small brewery work.
 
I can't believe I just spent the past 2 hours reading this whole thread. It is seriously the biggest c*ck-tease of a thread I have ever read.

Synopsis:

February 2012, OP posts "It's official starting my own brewing business!" Original plan is to renovate the first floor of a rental house into a 10gal brewery and brew-pub in Maine.

Spring 2014, OP - before ever selling a single beer - scraps original plan entirely and is now buying a campground and potential brewpub in Minnesota.

In between, OP refuses to ever work out a business plan or investigate legalities involved with zoning/licensing. Multiple commentators offer advice about zoning/licensing, which goes mostly unheeded. OP never gets all that far with the brewpub idea, so the lack of planning never really bites him in the ass. Which is really what I was expecting for at least an hour of the last 2 hours.

Along the way there are some pictures of a partial grain mill, a whole bunch of corney kegs, most of a hop garden, and most of a propane 10 gallon keggle system. Some hints of recipes. A fair number of renovation pictures, but almost all of the apartment.

There is some good advice from commentators regarding licenses/regulations/zoning. But if you expect to read about a successful (or even an unsuccessful) nano in Maine, that is not what you're going to get with this thread.

Good luck to OP on his new (ad)venture.
 
LLBrewer said:
The "haters" in this thread highlight what a steaming pile of horsesh!t government has created for it's citizens in the USA. I, like all of you, have run the numbers. I, like all of you, are more than willing and able to put in the hard work to produce a quality product that fellow citizens would pay for. But alas, with every agency under the sun waiting in line to take their pound of flesh, the barrier to entry becomes too great for all but the most driven, rich, or stupid. Gone are the days of the local baker, grocer, and brewer. And we all lose because if it. Rant over...
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They aren't over yet , bro. I grew up in the campground business as my father pioneered it in NH. Personally, I'm small time ag supporting small business that demands my product. I maintain about 3 hundred acres. Small ag is gaining in NH and ME where we just don't like big bro. It is also happening in CO, WA, MI. WY and MT. VT can go fork itself being NYC run.

For the record, I don't grow dope.
 
Here's the thing, @ 3.50/pint or $9/growler I OUGHT to be able to turn a profit even at small scale. I would be paying taxes and licensing fees as well as spurring my local economy. We should be encouraging these businesses not making it as difficult as possible to achieve.
 
LLBrewer said:
Here's the thing, @ 3.50/pint or $9/growler I OUGHT to be able to turn a profit even at small scale. I would be paying taxes and licensing fees as well as spurring my local economy. We should be encouraging these businesses not making it as difficult as possible to achieve.
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:off:

There's a monitory cost as well as a human cost to legal, plentiful, and readily available alcohol. You don't have that cost with other industries. Taxes and red tape are annoying and the latter should be minimized as much as possible, but unregulated and untaxed alcohol isn't fair to those in society who also have to pay the monitory and human costs but don't partake. We're not talking about making baby formula or shoes.

/:off:
 
ImNoExpert said:
:off:

There's a monitory cost as well as a human cost to legal, plentiful, and readily available alcohol. You don't have that cost with other industries. Taxes and red tape are annoying and the latter should be minimized as much as possible, but unregulated and untaxed alcohol isn't fair to those in society who also have to pay the monitory and human costs but don't partake. We're not talking about making baby formula or shoes.

/:off:
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Let me reiterate, @$3.50/pint or $9.00/growler I OUGHT to be able to turn a profit after taxes and licensing fees. Whoever argued for untaxed alcohol? I wonder, how many people are whining about "human costs" associated with the local burger joint?
 
ImNoExpert said:
:off:

There's a monitory cost as well as a human cost to legal, plentiful, and readily available alcohol. You don't have that cost with other industries. Taxes and red tape are annoying and the latter should be minimized as much as possible, but unregulated and untaxed alcohol isn't fair to those in society who also have to pay the monitory and human costs but don't partake. We're not talking about making baby formula or shoes.

/:off:
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I don't even understand this statement. A human cost? There's a human cost to everything if you go deep enough. And the reference to shoes and baby formula? How about I don't drink baby formula so maybe that crap should be taxed to high heaven since the users are putting an exceptionally higher burden on society than those who don't need it/want it. Unregulated and untaxed baby formula isn't fair to those in society that that to may the monetary and human costs of everyone's children but don't partake in creating any of their own.

The taxation and regulation of alcohol does absolutely nothing to address the societal issues you imply with your statement. They are there to drive profit for entities which exist solely to certify and grow their power over individuals. They provide no real benefit to society for the investment. Many would argue they reduce benefit to society through nonsensical regulatory and politically motivated behaviors.

The product, alcohol, is not the problem. It is the individuals who abuse it. There are literally millions of people who use alcohol without incident or impact on society. Laws are for the law abiding and have little to no influence on those who operate outside the law... So more laws decreases freedom with no impact on societal outcome.
 
Sorry I have bored so many folks.

Sorry I don't divulge every little detail, wanna hear about our plans for upgrading the toilets and TV's?

Sorry if plans have changed along the way. It became a living thing and evolved.

Sorry but you do need to sign NDA's folks don't want their customers to know they are selling. Sometimes we had to sign before we could even learn the places name or the selling price let alone see the books ( when working with Realtors )

Sorry it took so long but we both worked full time. Had to get 2 kids thru highschool and into college and had another 23 yr old return to the nest and need to be put back on his feet. We also did our homework and research. We did do a business plan and 3 yrs of financials to submit to the lenders.

Sorry but we have both quit our jobs, we've sold or made plans for the properties here in maine. We are packing and selling our stuff. There is a deposit and our offer was accepted.

So yes sorry to disappoint the haters we are buying the place and moving. Like I said as soon as the deal is done I'll post pics.
 
akthor said:
Sorry I have bored so many folks.

Sorry I don't divulge every little detail, wanna hear about our plans for upgrading the toilets and TV's?

Sorry if plans have changed along the way. It became a living thing and evolved.

Sorry but you do need to sign NDA's folks don't want their customers to know they are selling. Sometimes we had to sign before we could even learn the places name or the selling price let alone see the books ( when working with Realtors )

Sorry it took so long but we both worked full time. Had to get 2 kids thru highschool and into college and had another 23 yr old return to the nest and need to be put back on his feet. We also did our homework and research. We did do a business plan and 3 yrs of financials to submit to the lenders.

Sorry but we have both quit our jobs, we've sold or made plans for the properties here in maine. We are packing and selling our stuff. There is a deposit and our offer was accepted.

So yes sorry to disappoint the haters we are buying the place and moving. Like I said as soon as the deal is done I'll post pics.
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Sorry, but I hope the chip on your shoulder is removed before you get face to face with your customer base.
 
Akthor

Congrates on the new business ! The New Chapter.
Wish I could combine my two true loves into a living/business - one that I want to work 60 hours a week at !

Go forth and prosper

Haters, gonna hate

maybe cause you are doing what they want to do ?
 
Thank man!

Yeah its exciting, I'm mostly excited to not have to work for someone else. Gonna be a long first couple of years. While the hotel has been successful as is it needs a lot of updating to remain successful and to grow (every room needs a new TV they all have the old style tube TV's for example). Every room needs painting, updated furniture (most of which I'm building) we are tearing up all the rugs and replacing them with pergo type floors ( most of the customers are hunters and fishermen, and dogs are welcome, makes no sense to have carpet) 8 rooms need some major bathroom overhalls. And we have a building to turn into the restaurant, brewpub. So I'll be really busy.

Funny I grew up watching Al Linder and reading In Fisherman. To me Minn. Is the holy grail of fisheries. Species I've only dreamed of, walleye, pike, musky, giant catfish, even big carp. Gonna be hard not fishing very much for the first couple years ;) We're near two huge fishing lakes. Luckily I don't hunt I guess we are right in the national flyway or whatever its called and duck hunting is huge. Guess that's why the hotel has a duck cleaning room. I know strange huh?

Just can't wait for all the closings and other Stuff to happen I'm ready to go get started.


steveoatley said:
Akthor

Congrates on the new business ! The New Chapter.
Wish I could combine my two true loves into a living/business - one that I want to work 60 hours a week at !

Go forth and prosper

Haters, gonna hate

maybe cause you are doing what they want to do ?
Click to expand...
 
steveoatley said:
Akthor

Congrates on the new business ! The New Chapter.
Wish I could combine my two true loves into a living/business - one that I want to work 60 hours a week at !

Go forth and prosper

Haters, gonna hate

maybe cause you are doing what they want to do ?
Click to expand...

I think you're misusing the over-played "haters gonna hate" term. People who cannot support haphazard and ill-thoughtout plans or people (me) who identify someone who wants to be front facing with customers as having a chip on their shoulder, aren't haters. I've even wished the guy luck in his long-term and ever-changing endeavors. I assure you that personally speaking, I am not "hating" and I have zero desire to waste years of my life wandering around trying to start a business nor am I inclined to own a brewery or start a campground. So we're solid there for sure. :)

I truly hope this takes off. Whatever state the guy lands in and whatever the business turns out to be, I wish I were closer so in 3-5 more years I can be a patron of the establishment.
 
akthor said:
There is a deposit and our offer was accepted.

So yes sorry to disappoint the haters we are buying the place and moving. Like I said as soon as the deal is done I'll post pics.
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Awesome news! Congrats! Best of luck to you guys, and when you announce the name & location, I'll send my dad up your way (a MN native). :mug:
 
Can you say what city or town this is all taking place in? I Live in Minneapolis and got a cabin near International Falls. I'd love to stop by and check out the brewpub when it's up and running someday!
 
I cant say til we close cuz if I tell you the town you'll know the hotel since its the only one ;-)

Let me just say also that they say people are friendly in Maine wow we got nothing on Minnesotan's! I've lived in Maine over 30 yrs and New England my whole life and I was a little nervous about moving. When we went there to visit the property I saw a good chunk of MN and boy what nice people!

pat_carnig said:
Can you say what city or town this is all taking place in? I Live in Minneapolis and got a cabin near International Falls. I'd love to stop by and check out the brewpub when it's up and running someday!
Click to expand...
 
OMG! they dropped the price by 200K! Lol we might have been in at that price! The place we are buying is in the other direction and 3x larger and unfortunately over 3x more $$$.
 
This is awesome bro! I wish you all the luck. I've told my wife for years that a joint serving onsite smoked BBQ and onsite craft brews, if done right, is a cash cow. Exactly what I am planning out here on the left coast :rockin:
 
Cape Brewing said:
I have $3 that says it is in Greenbush.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew because it impresses people
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Holy $h!T!!!!!! My kitchen costs more than this place! I have been offered time shares that cost more to rent than this place! Having spent my time playing hockey in MN, you can have it:D I like more than 3 months of warm weather.
 
RoughandReadyRanch said:
Think that I would probably stay here instead. http://www.mnresortsales.com/proper...hotel-luxury-accommodations-premiere-location Now did I miss something or did "campground" evolve into "motel" all of the sudden in this ever changing model?
Click to expand...

It does look nice, what scares me about that place is that they are willing to do a partnership...which means they don't really want out but they are losing money and want some other sucker to help keep them a float if they can.

Also what the hell is the "NorthEastern Minnesota thriving hospitality market"...maybe a few hundred people a year? The lake is nice but that ****s so far north its probably only unfrozen 4 months out of the year lol.
 
FuzzeWuzze said:
It does look nice, what scares me about that place is that they are willing to do a partnership...which means they don't really want out but they are losing money and want some other sucker to help keep them a float if they can.

Also what the hell is the "NorthEastern Minnesota thriving hospitality market"...maybe a few hundred people a year? The lake is nice but that ****s so far north its probably only unfrozen 4 months out of the year lol.
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3 I think. And have you met the state bird? AKA the mosquito! I use to go to Hockey camps in the summer out there and got picked up for college resulting in some of my coldest experiences in life. Really nice folks there but between the humidity, mosquitoes, and cold it would be a tough pitch. Always freaked me out when the pilot would make the landing announcement for Brainerd and you look down and just see trees, grass and lakes. Then you get pulled off approach for deer "grazing" the run way! Never could get used to the calling soda "pop". Still cracks me up.
 
Trust me on this here in Maine we have mosquitos but our state bird is the Black Fly!! Soooooo much worse!!! Used to cold weather as well ;)

Honestly the reason we ended up in Minnesota is the SWMBO is a MN native and her parents still live there and they are both in their 80's. She wants to be closer to them to be there to help out as they age. ( She finally admitted this during the search ) We pretty much ruled out anything in Northern MN due to many reasons the biggest one being there's a lot of motels, inns and lodges fighting for the same dollar in the busy parts and the ones without a lot of competition were too remote for us.

As I detailed earlier we couldnt find a decent successfull campground in our price range. They either were failed or failing. Example to find a campground with the income of the hotel we chose would be around $2.5 million. The most income we could find in our $500k limit ( and within our geographic requirements ) was like $14k a year.

Turns out campgrounds within our means to buy are more a labor of love than a money making one. Money isn't everything but we have other plans and we need the money generated by the business we buy to provide the capital to fulfill those plans.

RoughandReadyRanch said:
3 I think. And have you met the state bird? AKA the mosquito! I use to go to Hockey camps in the summer out there and got picked up for college resulting in some of my coldest experiences in life. Really nice folks there but between the humidity, mosquitoes, and cold it would be a tough pitch. Always freaked me out when the pilot would make the landing announcement for Brainerd and you look down and just see trees, grass and lakes. Then you get pulled off approach for deer "grazing" the run way! Never could get used to the calling soda "pop". Still cracks me up.
Click to expand...
 
akthor said:
Trust me on this here in Maine we have mosquitos but our state bird is the Black Fly!! Soooooo much worse!!! Used to cold weather as well ;)

Honestly the reason we ended up in Minnesota is the SWMBO is a MN native and her parents still live there and they are both in their 80's. She wants to be closer to them to be there to help out as they age. ( She finally admitted this during the search ) We pretty much ruled out anything in Northern MN due to many reasons the biggest one being there's a lot of motels, inns and lodges fighting for the same dollar in the busy parts and the ones without a lot of competition were too remote for us.

As I detailed earlier we couldnt find a decent successfull campground in our price range. They either were failed or failing. Example to find a campground with the income of the hotel we chose would be around $2.5 million. The most income we could find in our $500k limit ( and within our geographic requirements ) was like $14k a year.

Turns out campgrounds within our means to buy are more a labor of love than a money making one. Money isn't everything but we have other plans and we need the money generated by the business we buy to provide the capital to fulfill those plans.
Click to expand...

Good luck with that. Not sure how well hotels/motels do but if you have a duck cleaning room than that should be interesting. Not a duck hunter myself as there have been none out here in Cali for the last 2 years but maybe someday it will warrant a trip to MN. Good luck and enjoy the "pop".
 
Ok so the date we head out for Minnesota is Monday July 14th. Will be staying at the in laws in Litchfield until the closing on the Motel (Lodge actually) at the beginning of August.

So anybody in that area who wanna grab a brew give me a hollar I am moving away from all my friends and family so I will missing having bro time :cross:

Anyone who lives close to or feels like making a trip to Verona Island, Maine we are having a huge blowout bash going away party on Saturday the 12th. We will be shooting guns, making a giant bonfire, eating a bunch of good food and yes drinking beer and probably will be some karaoke thrown in. Plenty of space around to pitch a tent if you wanna crash and not drive home. I will be up from about 4am on manning the smoker so arrive anytime. Food will be ready around 5pm. For beer it will just be keg(s) of PBR since I have not made any beer in preparation for the move so BYOB if that's not in your wheel house.

Hope to see some folks here or there.
 
Sorry been busy got in a car accident today so I will publish a longer version later. Short story, got moved here to MN. We've had some setbacks but in the end they may be a godsend. We spent the time traveling around the state and have fallen in love with a particular area and we are looking at property there.
 

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