I realize you’re just in the “brainstorming” mode right now so I don’t want to shoot down any ideas prematurely, but…
at some point you need to look at the impact that the overhead has on some of these ideas.
IMO,running a kitchen or restaurant is high cost, high risk.
You may want to just get an industrial-type building (lower rent and larger space) and just focus on brewing, putting it into kegs, and distributing it to regional bars as well as having your own “taproom” right there at the brewery. Someone else can partner with you to supply the food to the patrons (but they take the risk and the time, not you) for the first few years. You can always expand and add your own restaurant later.
I also agree with the 7 bbl to 15 bbl start size. You may still want to have the pilot brewery 15-30 gallons for test batches, then scale up to the 7 bbl-15 bbl for production.
How would you suggest I handle distribution? Bottles are certainly easier and while requiring a lot more effort, require much less $$$ for equipment, but kegs are easier to fill, clean and ship.
We just buy stickers (3x5 in) from an online print shop. It’s time-consuming to apply them, but for low production volumes it’s cheaper than a labeling machine. Of course, you may need to get someone to do the graphics, but that’s a one-time expense.
Honestly, I don’t know–since we’re talking about France.
In the USA, it depends on the distributorship laws of the state in which you’re doing business.
You may find it more or less restrictive there in France.
I would also get the facts about bottling. Without the data in front of me, I don’t think it is cheaper as there’s more supplies (bottles, crowns, labels, bottle carriers, etc.) and handling issues with bottles than kegs.
Phil you already have a lucrative profession that allows you to indulge in your pursuits. Is this to be a money making operation on the side?
I don’t have much to add except $115k is pretty cheap for a property of that nature, at least in the States. I could see it as having potential for a retirement business, where one could be on premises most of the time brewing or at least keeping a beady eye on affairs.
Then for food I’d do just a couple of simple dishes so badass the place be known for it besides the beer. Like buffalo wings or meat-pies.
And how about brewing off premises? The apparent laxity of the regulations is very attractive to an American businessman…
Euge, yeah, basically. One thing I’d like to do is continue consulting, but do it from the brewery/restaurant/whatever I end up doing. If I hire an employee or two, we can use the area as an office and basically brew and code during the same day. There’s nothing like that in the US or Europe as far as I know, and I think it’d be pretty durn neat. The open source community has a saying, “free as in beer, free as in speech” and if we make our own beer… Well you see where it’s going.
Also I think I have a problem where I do one thing for a bit, and then get tired of it and want to experience something new. I’ve been doing coding for nearly 7 years now, so maybe it’s just the ‘seven year itch’ of jobs.
This is a very real thing. The average adult in the developed world changes careers every 7 years. I’ve been coding/designing databases for 12 years now and keep wanting to do something else but it’s hard to walk away from the paycheck. I say if you can afford it and it’s what you want to do, do it! Starting with just the brewing and useing others to distribute sounds like a great idea, and a tap room could be really good to, I imagine, without the expense of government licensure the profit margin on selling your own beer by the pint would be pretty large.
