I went "pro" - What it actually takes to do so

[25518]

Bring it!

 

[ghosthef]

I hear all too often the very same scenario about quickly outgrowing a location and equipment. Makes me think starting off with a 7-10BBL system would be the better idea...

 

[Cape Brewing]

I hear all too often the very same scenario about quickly outgrowing a location and equipment. Makes me think starting off with a 7-10BBL system would be the better idea...

... unless you end up hating commercial brewing and/or making shtty beer... or even awesome beer that no one buys for some reason.

I can't speak for my two partners but I don't think any of us regret going the way we did one bit. We weren't about to take that much cash out of our pockets and just roll the dice with it. We realized from the beginning, "but I LOVE brewing!!" was a tiny slice of the "will this business succeed" pie.

 

[Brewmech]

... unless you end up hating commercial brewing and/or making shtty beer... or even awesome beer that no one buys for some reason.

I can't speak for my two partners but I don't think any of us regret going the way we did one bit. We weren't about to take that much cash out of our pockets and just roll the dice with it. We realized from the beginning, "but I LOVE brewing!!" was a tiny slice of the "will this business succeed" pie.

It's also much less of a hassle going from a 10gal tricked out homebrew set up to a 1bbl commercial set up. The brewing/fermenting is damn near the same just a little bigger. If you make the leap to the bigger set up you pretty much have to make it your primary job and go at it balls to the wall.

These guys had a goal in mind and have met it. Now they have to think hard about how they are going to move forward and who is going to commit to putting on the big boy pants.

 

[ghosthef]

Yeah...I understand completely. I simply hate to sink cash only to have to spend more less than a year later. Cash flows can kill...

 

[Cape Brewing]

Yeah...I understand completely. I simply hate to sink cash only to have to spend more less than a year later. Cash flows can kill...

Don't get me wrong... going big out of the gate might be the PERFECT answer for some folks. I don't think it was for us, that's all. All I was saying was that FOR US, we didn't want to go that route. We just weren't willing to slap that kind of money on the barrel head and give it a go.

That said, one nice thing about the cash flows is that we now have some revenue to offset the larger bills that are likely coming down the line.

 

[hillybilly]

Read this whole thread Congrats on the success!!!!! Not having enough beer is proof you are making good beer.

 

[mattd2]

Don't get me wrong... going big out of the gate might be the PERFECT answer for some folks. I don't think it was for us, that's all. All I was saying was that FOR US, we didn't want to go that route. We just weren't willing to slap that kind of money on the barrel head and give it a go.

That said, one nice thing about the cash flows is that we now have some revenue to offset the larger bills that are likely coming down the line.

Sorry I have read most of this thread but my memory is lacking
How often are you brewing, and what is your turn around ferment-carb/cond? I too have dreams of starting a small brewery that would be run as a side business and only supplying a limited amount of beer (due to zoning regulations, available space, etc.). Again same as you, if the outlook looks good potentially expand to a full time operation.
Your first post basically stated what is happening now, you said you realised that at 1.5 bbl you would never be able to survive on this venture but more use it as a stepping stone.
Congrats on your achievments!

 

[bob1852]

Like I was saying earlier... the total lack of naked boobies CONTINUES to be a nightmare.

I would've figured PaultheNurse would've stopped by already.

 

[paulthenurse]

I do go by occasionally but I keep my shirt on.

 

[cuda6pak]

Been following this thread since it started as it has been one of the biggest inspirations for me to jump into homebrewing. Congrats to your success

We're on a 1.5 bbl system and while we ABSOLUTELY knew this going in, at that scale, it is impossible to make any money. We can work around the clock if we want and sell every drop and at the end of the year, each one of us would make a couple grand. If you are brewing on a 15 gallon rig, take that tiny profit and erase it completely.

I believe in a following post you calculated you would be making about $400 total per month between the three guys on your current setup. Have you met that goal and then some?

IIRC you guys still work full-time jobs on top of this "side project". How many hours per week are you putting into it? How do you work it in around your full time job?

 

[Big_Cat]

Cape brewing ..what burners are you using since you can't use banjo burners?

 

[Cape Brewing]

We're well over the $400 a month now that we've started selling bottles out of the brewery but it is still no where near enough to support a full-time employee (owner or otherwise). Yes, we're all still working our "day jobs" and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Working it around our full-time jobs isn't really that hard given that there is three of us and we try to work in shifts as much as possible.

We brew every Saturday and once in a while during the week. One of my partners has work hours that end about 2:30 in the afternoon so he can get things rolling pretty early and then me and/or our third partner can releive him when we get home from work so... say he works from 3:00-7:00 and then I hop in from 7:00-11:00... we both only worked for 4 hours on a weekday and got a full batch in the fermenters. Same on Saturdays. Having the three of us makes it possible. I couldn't imagine trying to do it solo.

For burners... we ultimately had to go to a resaurant supply place and buy two four-burner stove tops and those are what we use to heat our HLT and BK... which... in hind sight was a great call. They weren't cheap but they'll heat the *^&$ out of the pots which is nice.

 

[RoughandReadyRanch]

For burners... we ultimately had to go to a resaurant supply place and buy two four-burner stove tops and those are what we use to heat our HLT and BK... which... in hind sight was a great call. They weren't cheap but they'll heat the *^&$ out of the pots which is nice.

Can you shoot a pic of that in the near future. I am trying to source my options and I am not sure if I am looking at electric or gas at this point. What do you think the limit is on those burners as far as Gallons per pot and total if you happen to know? I know you are trying to keep things simple till you decide to jump to a larger system so I am really interested since I am trying to do the same. Thanks in advance and no rush as I know you are extremely busy.

 

[Cape Brewing]

This isn't the exact one we we have extremely similar. We have two, one for the HLT and one for the BK. We bought three small stainless commercial utility tables that fit the stove tops, and then the MT, perfectly.

When we place the pots on these, the pots almost cover all four burners.

 

[Cape Brewing]

In terms of limits.... I don't know.

I think you could get what the true expected BTU output for any burner would be and then do some pretty straight forward math on how long it would take to heat a pot of a given size... and then it becomes more of a question of whether or not you want to wait that long.

 

[LovesIPA]

How are you getting enough airflow indoors for all those burners? If I had to build a brewery indoors I would almost certainly go electric.

 

[Big_Cat]

This isn't the exact one we we have extremely similar. We have two, one for the HLT and one for the BK. We bought three small stainless commercial utility tables that fit the stove tops, and then the MT, perfectly.

When we place the pots on these, the pots almost cover all four burners.

This is exactly what i need...Do you happen to have model or manufacturer info? I had a call from the fire inspector who in short words said that if i did not have UL info on my banjo burners i would need to replace them

 

[Cape Brewing]

How are you getting enough airflow indoors for all those burners? If I had to build a brewery indoors I would almost certainly go electric.

Uhh. A vent.

 

[Cape Brewing]

This is exactly what i need...Do you happen to have model or manufacturer info? I had a call from the fire inspector who in short words said that if i did not have UL info on my banjo burners i would need to replace them

I don't. Sorry. You can find them at any commercial restaurant supply place. I would just check out places near you. They should be really easy to find.

.... and yeah, it was our Plumbing Inspector but we got the exact same message on the UL cert.

 

[paulthenurse]

I have an old main engine off of a Saturn Five rocket that I found on Craigslist for $50 and change. I've been tinkering with a LOX feed system and just about have it dialed in. It brings my five gallon kettle to a full rolling boil in 78 seconds. Unfortunately, my local plumbing inspector cane by my garage because of my big mouthed next door neighbor and he fell over dead. That complicated my plans to do exactly what you're doing a little bit.

 

[yeager1977]

Obviously not on your brewstocity... It splits the fuel too many times to heat 1 gallon over 2 days

 

[RoughandReadyRanch]

In terms of limits.... I don't know.

I think you could get what the true expected BTU output for any burner would be and then do some pretty straight forward math on how long it would take to heat a pot of a given size... and then it becomes more of a question of whether or not you want to wait that long.

Thanks for the quick response. I might have to look into those

 

[tyzippers]

I have an old main engine off of a Saturn Five rocket that I found on Craigslist for $50 and change. I've been tinkering with a LOX feed system and just about have it dialed in. It brings my five gallon kettle to a full rolling boil in 78 seconds. Unfortunately, my local plumbing inspector cane by my garage because of my big mouthed next door neighbor and he fell over dead. That complicated my plans to do exactly what you're doing a little bit.

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Perhaps a main engine from a Mercury-Redstone would be more in direct order. Couple that with your LOX system, and you should be good to go. YMMV.

 

[yeager1977]

I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Perhaps a main engine from a Mercury-Redstone would be more in direct order. Couple that with your LOX system, and you should be good to go. YMMV.

Wow from old to older technology....... Should just go with a Merlin 9d

 

[PeteNMA]

I have an old main engine off of a Saturn Five rocket that I found on Craigslist for $50 and change. I've been tinkering with a LOX feed system and just about have it dialed in. It brings my five gallon kettle to a full rolling boil in 78 seconds. Unfortunately, my local plumbing inspector cane by my garage because of my big mouthed next door neighbor and he fell over dead. That complicated my plans to do exactly what you're doing a little bit.

Your boil-off rate must be insane with that setup.

 

[dmiller224]

Hey cape I was wondering how do you keep all your fermentators at a consistent temperature through out the fermentation process? And how you also keep your mash temperatures consistent?

 

[TrickyDick]

Hey cape I was wondering how do you keep all your fermentators at a consistent temperature through out the fermentation process? And how you also keep your mash temperatures consistent?

Earlier in thread he describes briefly, a glycol cooling system created with a PID and an air conditioner that is used for the fermentation vessels.
Don't think he talked about the mash tun or mashing setup. Would assume single infusion with or without a mash out?

TD

 

[Cape Brewing]

For the fermenters we have a chilled glycol reservoir with PID-controlled pumps that push the glycol through copper coils wrapped around and insulated to the tanks. They are really pretty efficient and we can control temp to the degree.

For the mash tun.... We don't temp control at all. Given the mass, over the course of an hour or so we only lose a degree of temp so we've never bothered to even insulate the tun in any way.

 

[Cape Brewing]

We were invited to the American Craft Beer Fest this past weekend and had a blast. To the half dozen or so of you guys who stopped by to say hi, thanks for stopping! The even was a ton of fun for us and it was cool to cool to catch up with some HBT'rs.

Here are two pics...

 

[Cape Brewing]

Another one

 

[bob1852]

Another one

I hope you brew beer better than you focus cameras.

 

[Jukas]

He was probably 'networking' (drinking all day), give him a break

 

[Cape Brewing]

I didn't take the pic.... I am the "tall" one behind the bah.

(I was standing on a chair... serving samples over the tap box)

 

[revelation]

We were invited to the American Craft Beer Fest this past weekend and had a blast. To the half dozen or so of you guys who stopped by to say hi, thanks for stopping! The even was a ton of fun for us and it was cool to cool to catch up with some HBT'rs.

Here are two pics...

It was cool to meet you after reading this thread. Finally got to try your beers without a drive down to Norton. I'm glad to have met you in person.

FYI - I work for Clown Shoes doing these fests. This was a good one. Busy and a lot of good "cheer".

 

[Bulls Beers]

We were invited to the American Craft Beer Fest this past weekend and had a blast. To the half dozen or so of you guys who stopped by to say hi, thanks for stopping! The even was a ton of fun for us and it was cool to cool to catch up with some HBT'rs.

Here are two pics...

Hey Bri, did you go through all of your kegs? How long did it take?

 

[mattd2]

Another one

Dude, what was at the stall to the left of you guys? You guys look busy as and they are standing there staring at all you punters! Good job!

 

[Cape Brewing]

Hey Bri, did you go through all of your kegs? How long did it take?

Hey Bri.... No... we didn't remotely go through all of our kegs and that wasn't because we weren't busy, we simply brought WAYYYYYYY more than any brewery went through. We had no idea what to expect and erred on the side of caution, to say the least. The nice thing is we now have a pile of kegs in stock... although we got an order for 8 yesterday so that'll make a dent.

We DID go through 17 1/6th kegs... which... when you're pouring 2 oz. pours, we thought was pretty good.

 

[Cape Brewing]

Dude, what was at the stall to the left of you guys? You guys look busy as and they are standing there staring at all you punters! Good job!

Haha... NO!! That booth was actually empty.

I think there was only two empty booths in the whole place and they were both to our left when you were facing us.

That woman standing there is my partners wife who was just taking a break for a second.


That's funny... it does kinda look like that though.

 

[JeepDiver]

How are you getting enough airflow indoors for all those burners? If I had to build a brewery indoors I would almost certainly go electric.

And after the electric bill to heat 1 or 7 or 10 bbl batches several times for a month, you would go broke