Demon
Well-Known Member
About two years ago, I got the crazy idea that I should open a brewery. I figured it would be helpful for others considering this crazy idea to see what I've gone through. From legal stuff, to money saving tips on equipment, I'll post it all in this thread. If you have a question about anything, feel free to post here and I'll do my best to answer it.
My brewery is SlapShot Brewing Company and is in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. We have a 4000sq ft building running a 3.5bbl brewhouse.
Building advice:
Find a good real estate broker, preferably one familiar with industrial buildings and is familiar with floor load and electrical needs. Don't try to negotiate a commercial lease on your own, you will likely not get the best deal you can. Keep in mind, the broker costs you nothing, your new landlord pays their commission.
Equipment:
We got our 3.5bbl brewhouse from Psycho Brew. We weighed a ton of options ranging from pieced together Glacier Tanks systems to high end turnkey setups from Portland Kettle Works. After talking to several friends at other breweries using Psycho Brew systems, we felt it was the best bang for the buck.
We went back and forth on doing plastic fermenters vs jacketed stainless fermenters. In the end it was decided that stainless fermenters were the right way to go. Easier to clean, easier temp control, longer life and they look pretty cool. Our tanks are 7bbl and came from PBST. I could not be happier with the quality for the price.
Glycol systems are expensive, our quotes ranged from 8-12k. Instead we have two 3/4hp glycol line chillers from Foxx Equipment. Each chiller can easily handle up to two 15bbl fermenters at a cost of $1800. This allows us to save some money now and eventually do a bigger "proper" setup when the funds are available.
Refrigeration. Craigslist and restaurant auctions. Make those two places your new best friends. New walkin coolers cost 10k+. We bought our 12x20 cooler for $2500 on craigslist and it was only 2 years old.
If you plan on draft sales, you need kegs. Search for deals on probrewer.com, they come up all the time. We have a mixture of 75 used 1/6bbl kegs and 30 1/2bbl kegs that we lease from Keg Craft at $9/mo/each. Other companies such as Micro Star offer better rates, but you need to be kegging 500bbl a month to qualify.
Licensing:
Federal licensing with TTB can be a crap shoot. You can get approved without a single phone call or email in about 50 days like us, or 180 days of delays like a friend of mine. It's all luck of the draw on who your file gets assigned to.
Avoiding running out or money:
Make friends with other brewers, fast! They will be your best resource for help if you need it. Our friends at Urban Legend Brewing right down the street from my house offered to let us install one of our fermenters at their place and contract brew while we were still in construction/licensing. This helped out huge. It allowed us to get money coming in when we needed it most.
Sell shirts/hats/whatever. You'll run into tons of family and friends that want to help out and give you money. I hate the idea of taking money from people, so we got shirts and hats made. This way people could support us by buying merchandise. It's not a huge revenue stream, but it helps.
Hope this info can help any other people looking to open a brewery. Feel free to post up any questions, whether it's about my brewery or questions on starting one.
Cheers!
Steve
facebook.com/slapshotbrewing
Twitter - @SlapShotBrewing
My brewery is SlapShot Brewing Company and is in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago. We have a 4000sq ft building running a 3.5bbl brewhouse.
Building advice:
Find a good real estate broker, preferably one familiar with industrial buildings and is familiar with floor load and electrical needs. Don't try to negotiate a commercial lease on your own, you will likely not get the best deal you can. Keep in mind, the broker costs you nothing, your new landlord pays their commission.
Equipment:
We got our 3.5bbl brewhouse from Psycho Brew. We weighed a ton of options ranging from pieced together Glacier Tanks systems to high end turnkey setups from Portland Kettle Works. After talking to several friends at other breweries using Psycho Brew systems, we felt it was the best bang for the buck.
We went back and forth on doing plastic fermenters vs jacketed stainless fermenters. In the end it was decided that stainless fermenters were the right way to go. Easier to clean, easier temp control, longer life and they look pretty cool. Our tanks are 7bbl and came from PBST. I could not be happier with the quality for the price.
Glycol systems are expensive, our quotes ranged from 8-12k. Instead we have two 3/4hp glycol line chillers from Foxx Equipment. Each chiller can easily handle up to two 15bbl fermenters at a cost of $1800. This allows us to save some money now and eventually do a bigger "proper" setup when the funds are available.
Refrigeration. Craigslist and restaurant auctions. Make those two places your new best friends. New walkin coolers cost 10k+. We bought our 12x20 cooler for $2500 on craigslist and it was only 2 years old.
If you plan on draft sales, you need kegs. Search for deals on probrewer.com, they come up all the time. We have a mixture of 75 used 1/6bbl kegs and 30 1/2bbl kegs that we lease from Keg Craft at $9/mo/each. Other companies such as Micro Star offer better rates, but you need to be kegging 500bbl a month to qualify.
Licensing:
Federal licensing with TTB can be a crap shoot. You can get approved without a single phone call or email in about 50 days like us, or 180 days of delays like a friend of mine. It's all luck of the draw on who your file gets assigned to.
Avoiding running out or money:
Make friends with other brewers, fast! They will be your best resource for help if you need it. Our friends at Urban Legend Brewing right down the street from my house offered to let us install one of our fermenters at their place and contract brew while we were still in construction/licensing. This helped out huge. It allowed us to get money coming in when we needed it most.
Sell shirts/hats/whatever. You'll run into tons of family and friends that want to help out and give you money. I hate the idea of taking money from people, so we got shirts and hats made. This way people could support us by buying merchandise. It's not a huge revenue stream, but it helps.
Hope this info can help any other people looking to open a brewery. Feel free to post up any questions, whether it's about my brewery or questions on starting one.
Cheers!
Steve
facebook.com/slapshotbrewing
Twitter - @SlapShotBrewing
