Serving homebrew for an existing restaurant

[pandelion]

HBT, I need your help. My girlfriend's father owns a restaurant and has offerred to serve my beer there if I can arrange it. The problem is, I have no idea how I would go about doing this. He said that I can brew there if needed.

I assume that I would need to either (a) turn his restaurant into a brewpub or (b) rent barrel space somewhere and operate as a microbrewery, and then somehow distribute the beer to the restaurant.

Does anyone have an idea how to do either one of these? Everything I found on google gave me a headache; I'm not legally inclined.

Thanks

 

[Yooper]

HBT, I need your help. My girlfriend's father owns a restaurant and has offerred to serve my beer there if I can arrange it. The problem is, I have no idea how I would go about doing this. He said that I can brew there if needed.

I assume that I would need to either (a) turn his restaurant into a brewpub or (b) rent barrel space somewhere and operate as a microbrewery, and then somehow distribute the beer to the restaurant.

Does anyone have an idea how to do either one of these? Everything I found on google gave me a headache; I'm not legally inclined.

Thanks

You will need to get licensed as a brewery, and either on site at his restaurant, or in another commercial space. You definitely need a lawyer, but you can get started on your own.

I'm not sure of the laws in California on the advantages from brewing onsite (brewpub) and opening a microbrewery, and how small you can be to self-distribute to his restaurant, so those are things to check into for sure.

 

[Bobby_M]

Laws are different by state but the general rule of thumb is that he'd have to turn it into a brewpub with the appropriate brewpub license and hire you as a brewer or... as you said, open your own commercial brewery and distribute. The latter is harder and more expensive for you but does have the upside as potentially being further reaching than just his restaurant.. other bars, tasting room, etc.

 

[daksin]

Another option would be to get your beer brewed by a contract brewer and sell through a single distributor (if you could find one). You'll still need a lawyer to set everything up, but there would be less wrangling with the TTB/ABC.

 

[Drew Brew]

HBT, I need your help. My girlfriend's father owns a restaurant and has offerred to serve my beer there if I can arrange it. The problem is, I have no idea how I would go about doing this. He said that I can brew there if needed.

I assume that I would need to either (a) turn his restaurant into a brewpub or (b) rent barrel space somewhere and operate as a microbrewery, and then somehow distribute the beer to the restaurant.

Does anyone have an idea how to do either one of these? Everything I found on google gave me a headache; I'm not legally inclined.

Thanks

I have a history of brewing for a living. It was a long time ago. Last year a friend asked about setting up a brewery in a local high end restaurant/pub.

We brewed a couple kit beers in the restaurant basement, filtered them with a SuperJet, carbonated them in corny kegs, and took over one of the eight taps available.

Here’s the thing. He doesn’t sell it. He serves it as a complimentary addition, to “enhance his customers’ experience”, when he sees fit, and it’s a big hit. The owner drinks it. He pours it for the staff. I drink there for free.

We planned on getting around to boiling raw extract and being more involved with the whole deal, but we don’t see a need now. Why fix a machine that works?

Someday he might get around to licensing his place to sell it, but for now, it’s already a win/win!

PS - This is in an area where brew-on-premise stores are a thing, which means legally, brewing doesn’t have to be confined to your “home”, so we’re not breaking any laws.

Cheers!

 

[Brewskey]

I have a history of brewing for a living. It was a long time ago. Last year a friend asked about setting up a brewery in a local high end restaurant/pub.

We brewed a couple kit beers in the restaurant basement, filtered them with a SuperJet, carbonated them in corny kegs, and took over one of the eight taps available.

Here’s the thing. He doesn’t sell it. He serves it as a complimentary addition, to “enhance his customers’ experience”, when he sees fit, and it’s a big hit. The owner drinks it. He pours it for the staff. I drink there for free.

We planned on getting around to boiling raw extract and being more involved with the whole deal, but we don’t see a need now. Why fix a machine that works?

Someday he might get around to licensing his place to sell it, but for now, it’s already a win/win!

PS - This is in an area where brew-on-premise stores are a thing, which means legally, brewing doesn’t have to be confined to your “home”, so we’re not breaking any laws.

Cheers!

It's necro week at HBT! The guy you replied to hasn't logged in since June of 2013

 

[bracconiere]

Here’s the thing. He doesn’t sell it. He serves it as a complimentary addition, to “enhance his customers’ experience”, when he sees fit, and it’s a big hit. The owner drinks it. He pours it for the staff. I drink there for free.

i heard a story of someone doing something similar, just had a tip jar...got popped for it....watch your ass!

 

[odie]

don't steal from the gov't...they like their taxes...

 

[bracconiere]

don't steal from the gov't...they like their taxes...

and on the distribution front, don't try and think for yourself to a drug dealer either...they have lobbyists....