Progress Thread: Craft Brewery Startup

[Atown512]

Well I am back in the US from my poker adventures in Canada and Costa Rica. Things are really getting started with the brewery I posted about a few months ago. I haven't had too much time to post on here, but I have been keeping a journal of what's been going on. I plan on organizing it into a blog when I have a little more content, but for now I will make a quick list of what we've accomplished so far:

• Finished a complete business plan.
• Received quotes from the three major equipment suppliers. We are 95% sure we have our supplier chosen. Current ETA is 4-5 months.
• Acquired additional 20% investor to cover our decision to double capacity. The quotes we received showed we could double capacity for 33% more on equipment, and only 10% more when factoring PP&E.
• Building plans are 95% completed. Almost prepared to begin construction, just waiting on permits. Should be later this week or next week.
• Ordered and received "pilot" brewery system for testing recipes.
• Completed two test batches...So far so good :cheers:
• Formed two LLCs: one LLC will own PP&E. The second LLC will rent everything from the first. (I have a meeting this Thursday for a second opinion on this organization)
• We have chosen a brewery name. (Which I will share a little later when I am sure our name is protected)
• Changed one of our LLC names to the brewery name we wanted for brand name protection.
• Developed company logo, waiting on finishing touches.
• Posted a job listing for website design.

I will post more updates as things move along. Feel free to ask any questions, and if anyone is around Houston area, I'd be more than happy to share in the "product testing" :smx6:

Here is a pic of our pilot system:

 

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[DennisD]

What are your next steps?

 

[Atown512]

What are your next steps?

The highest priority right now is getting the building started. If everything goes to plan, we should be ready to start later this week. Once we have all the permits and construction begins, we can go ahead and order the equipment.

In the meantime:
- I need to complete two more test batches this week.
- Receive final company logo design
- Finish setting up the Facebook and Twitter pages, as well as find a freelancer to design my website.
- I will be meeting with the investors to finalize and sign our operating agreement.
- Meet with attorney to confirm the LLC arrangement is correct

 

[Likwid24]

Nice Work. I've always wanted to start my own craft brewery. At one point, I was thinking of doing that instead of my paint brush cover. Can't wait to see your progress. Good Luck!

 

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[McWonderful]

First of all, I love trying new beer! Do you plan on starting off with different types of beer or do you plan on sticking with one proprietary blend? My friends always talk about starting a bar/brewery and they sort of got me interested in the idea (of course when I bring up the process of a start-up I don't get much feedback). Seeing the process outlined here is definitely inspirational so keep up the work and good luck!

 

[Atown512]

First of all, I love trying new beer! Do you plan on starting off with different types of beer or do you plan on sticking with one proprietary blend?

Thanks everyone! So far the plan is to start with four different types ranging from light to dark in color. We expect our lightest beer to sell the most, but will make sure and include the next three most
popular styles with our initial releases. We will also be releasing a special beer for each season that will not be part of our main product line.

 

[snowbank]

Nice work. Cool to hear about the progress.

Shoot me your email. I have a friend in Austin who has gotten into the beer biz recently as well and seems like you are both at similar points- I'll get you guys in touch.

 

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[Ãœbertreffen]

SPEED for you, Atown! Keep up the good work. I look forward to your updates.

Shoot me your email. I have a friend in Austin who has gotten into the beer biz recently as well and seems like you are both at similar points- I'll get you guys in touch.

SPEED+ to you too, sir. It's great to see the community come together to help one another.

In addition, Atown, I have a contact in the DFW area who operates a liquor store. If it can be of benefit, you're more than welcome to PM me.



- Devin

 

[Atown512]

Shoot me your email. I have a friend in Austin who has gotten into the beer biz recently as well and seems like you are both at similar points- I'll get you guys in touch.

PM sent.

In addition, Atown, I have a contact in the DFW area who operates a liquor store. If it can be of benefit, you're more than welcome to PM me.

Thanks Devin! It's awesome to have so many people willing to help out. I am still learning about the distribution part of the business, but I know we are definitely planning on selling to the DFW area soon. We will be focusing mostly on the Houston area at first, then Austin and Dallas. I'll shoot you a PM when we get a little closer to having a finished product.

 

[Ãœbertreffen]

Thanks Devin! It's awesome to have so many people willing to help out. I am still learning about the distribution part of the business, but I know we are definitely planning on selling to the DFW area soon. We will be focusing mostly on the Houston area at first, then Austin and Dallas. I'll shoot you a PM when we get a little closer to having a finished product.

You're welcome! I'll check in from time to time on your updates. Keep up the good work!


- Devin

 

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[Atown512]

Update:
Things are going a little slower than expected. We are having trouble with our engineer getting the permits for our building. We should be back up to speed by Monday. In the last two weeks, we have accomplished:

• Finalized equipment layout (finally) and started putting finishing touches on cosmetics of building.
• Received final logo design including extra graphics from designer.
• Found independent suppliers for glycol chilling equipment. Everyone seems very willing to help with a brewery startup. Expected savings of $5k...Proof that putting in some of your own research can certainly save money!
• Received quotes for promotional merchandise
• Completed two additional test batches. Still have some tweaking to do on our Porter recipe.
• Established relationship with local art show. We will be supplying craft beer for their events starting in February.

 

[lookingahead]

Will be awesome to watch this move along, can't wait to see some product rolling out. Will there be online sales once everything gets rolling? Even though I'm not in the Dallas area, I'd LOVE to offer tasting

 

[DennisD]

Is it bad form that I'm considering offering free services in exchange for beer? lol

 

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[Atown512]

Is it bad form that I'm considering offering free services in exchange for beer? lol

Actually, it is way more appropriate than you may think! The Egyptians used beer as a form of currency to pay slaves, tradesmen, priests, and public officials.

Just in case anyone is interested, there is a very interesting documentary that ran on Discovery Channel last year called: How Beer Saved The World. There are three episodes, the first two are much more interesting than the third. I think you can watch the full episodes on Youtube. Here is a link to the first one: How Beer Saved the World (HD) - YouTube

 

[TheJonno]

This is also something I've thought about doing. I plan on getting into some home brewing next year. Also, I love a good Porter, I look forward to trying it sometime.

 

[DennisD]

This is from the HARO (Help A Reporter Out) request I just received. I'd respond to this with a REALLY catchy headline ASAP. They're bound to get hundreds of people. Make sure you leave a valid twitter, email, and phone number. Make it as easy as possible for them to interview you.

4) Summary: Beer Brewers & Industry Professionals Needed!

Name: Jennn Fusion Save On Brew Beer Blog
Category: Business and Finance

Email: query-2p7p@helpareporter.net

Media Outlet: Save On Brew Beer Blog

Deadline: 7:00 PM EST - 4 January

Query:

Hello. I'm the chief writer for the Save On Brew blog, read by
over 25,000 beer enthusiasts. We are looking for industry
professionals to participate in an interview (via email) about
"the people behind the beer industry."

Requirements:

Please shoot me an email to Jennnfusion@gmail.com with your
name, credentials & contact info. I'll be in touch shortly!

 

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[Atown512]

Update:

Things have been going slow the past few weeks, but now we're back moving again! We finally got the building permits from the engineer, and I have now taken a brewery tour of all our local competitors. The good news is that all of the brewery tours have been PACKED with customers, and the craft beer scene seems to keep picking up momentum. The bad news is that I am learning how difficult it can be to work with investors. This whole opportunity would not be possible without them, so I have to remember that no matter how difficult they can be, I must stay grateful and I can NEVER lose my cool.

Over the last two weeks we've accomplished:

• Received building permits from engineer
• Completed 1 additional test batch. We may have had our first bad batch, but I will only know when we taste it. This would mean a complete waste of 8 hours of my time issed:
• Took our investors on a brewery tour and everyone is even more enthusiastic. Our location will allow more options for entertaining guests.

Now the only thing holding us back is the details of a partnership agreement. Everyone is on board, but we still have to iron out the specifics for operations. We have two investors ready to go and one who needs a little more convincing, but is still enthusiastic. This is the only thing holding up the equipment order, and I WILL have this figured out by the end of this week!

 

[Atown512]

Update:

It's been over a month since my last update, and not much was accomplished up until about a week ago. Since then we have met with our attorney to straighten out the partnership agreement and overall organization of the company. Everyone is now happy with the PA, and we have made some changes to the organization.

We now have three entities:

1. Limited partnership: This partnership will hold 99% of the assets including the land, building, and equipment.
2. LLC for assets: This entity will hold 1% of the assets...The explanation for this entity was not explained to me very well, so I'm still not sure what the exact purpose is. I know it is for liability protection, and another layer of defense for the assets.
3. Brewery LLC: This entity will conduct all of the operations, and lease the building and equipment from the asset company.

The biggest accomplishment this week was putting down the 25% deposit to order the equipment (about $56k) This has effectively lit a fire under our asses, as we now have about 5 months to get everything ready. I have a picture of our architect's draw-up for what our building will look like. We are going for a contemporary industrial hangar-like style.


Now we need to begin working on acquiring the licenses to produce and distribute. This will surely be the most annoying part of the process, and I will spare you all the details of this grueling part. Now that I have acquired the facebook and twitter pages, and our attorney confirmed our name is protected, I can reveal our brewery name: B-52 Brewing Co.

 

[CEBenz]

Very cool. Eventually, I'd like to have a craft distillery. But this is cool. Love the logos.

 

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[Atown512]

Very cool. Eventually, I'd like to have a craft distillery. But this is cool. Love the logos.

Thanks! We are planning to add a small craft distillery to the brewery some time in the next year. The ultimate plan is to focus on beer, but have small batches of craft spirits and wine to complement a high quality image and hopefully yield higher prices for all of our products.

 

[lacarrye]

Congratulations!! Atown.

 

[Atown512]

Hey guys!

A lot of stuff has been going on in my life lately, and I know it's been a long time since I've posted an update...so here it is. I wanted to take some time off of posting, and wait until I had a lot more value to put into my posts. Things have been going very quickly with the brewery lately so I may leave a few things out, but here is a list of the highlights that we've accomplished since my last post:

• Completed our first fully bottled and packaged sample 6-packs
• Received our first order of custom pint glasses
• Building structure has been completed...We still have a TON of equipment to install, including all of the necessary plumbing.
• PA has been signed....I now own 20% of B-52 Brewing Co.
• Federal and state licenses have been approved
• Majority of equipment has been shipped. It's crossing the Pacific as we speak....should be here mid-July.
• Confirmed 3 of our first 4 beer recipes
• Participated in our first tasting event at a very high end country club (Carlton Woods in The Woodlands)

Over the next few weeks, we will:

• Decide on brand names for first 4 beers...we have 2 nailed down, but I can't reveal them just yet
• Find and hire a more reliable graphics designer to develop graphics for our website, merchandise, and packaging
• Produce and decide on our 4th recipe. We are going for something funky with this one...possibly a "Ghost Pepper Stout"
• Receive brewhouse and cellar tanks from China sometime in the middle of July. Installation should be complete 2 weeks after delivery.
• Find a bottling line. This has been the most difficult piece of equipment to decide on. There are very few used options, and finding a line that has both versatility and speed has been a huge challenge. We're finding out first hand why experienced brewers tell you to brew in a bath tub and save all your money for packaging equipment.
• Design and order merchandise (T-shirts, hats, glasses, etc.)
• Finish website and add e-store to sell merch online.

We should be ready for our first production brew by the end of July. We have a consultant coming in for the first week of operations to look over our processes and make recommendations. I'll post some more pictures later today, but in the meantime you can check us out on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/B52Brewing

 

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[ZDS]

As an Austin resident, I'm looking forward to it! Let me know when I can buy some!

 

[Steele Concept]

Good stuff man! I used to home brew for ~4 years and worked part time at a local brewery while going to grad school. Local craft beers are the best. Brewing is a lot of work and even more cleaning... The bottling line we had was an old soda bottling line built in the 50's imported from Germany. Packaging materials can be quite expensive.

For the longest time I had a solid stout recipe and wanted to have my beer contract brewed and branded. I found out there is plenty of good stouts out there and I began to get into another similar industry, hehe.

Best of luck to you in your venture.

 

[Atown512]

As an Austin resident, I'm looking forward to it! Let me know when I can buy some!

We should have our first beers available at the end of September. We're still looking for a bottling line, so we will be keg only for a few months and probably won't have anything in Austin for a little while. If you're ever in Houston though, let me know and I'll show you around the brewery!

For the longest time I had a solid stout recipe and wanted to have my beer contract brewed and branded. I found out there is plenty of good stouts out there and I began to get into another similar industry, hehe.

Best of luck to you in your venture.

Thanks! We have been around the craft beer scene for more than 10 years now, and I definitely know what you mean. There are a ton of great beers out there, and a lot of the new breweries are doing the same things. We have a few tricks up our sleeves to stand out, and a lot of what I'm working on came from the advice of Kung Fu Steve.

BTW Steele...how are things going with your waterpipe?

 

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[Atown512]

As promised, here are a few pics:

Our pint glass with the first pour of our Pilsner:



The facility:



Our first order of kegs...500 more on the way!

 

[jon.a]

A little speed for doing something and the update

 

[GuestUser8117]

What an awesome thread. Didn't see it until now. Talk about action taking man. Speed + to you. Good luck with your business!

 

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[Steele Concept]

BTW Steele...how are things going with your waterpipe?

Going good, I gave another company (transformer tubes) exclusive rights to manufacture and produce my product. The engineer Evan over there tweaked the design and we are getting it down to $200 MSRP. We worked out a nice deal and I get commissions on any of their or my product I sell. It is a little money while I pursue my new venture ...

Your logo looks badass, especially on that pint. That is nice you have some innovation tricks up your sleeve, so many styles have been done so many times that a lot of stuff tastes alike in the industry. Look forward to see what is coming.

 

[Atown512]

Update:

So our equipment has finally arrived! I will post more pictures when I have a chance to upload them all. We have a consultant flying down tomorrow afternoon to assist with the installation. It should take us about two weeks before we will be able to brew our first batch.




Other than the installation, over the next few weeks I will need to:

• Setup supplier accounts
• Find and buy warehouse equipment
• Find a forklift
• Order materials for first batches
• Begin process for changing our license from Manufacturer's to a Brewpub license (More on that later)
• Create our brewery merchandise products
• Finish the website including an e-store

BTW: In addition to our merchandise, we plan to sell tickets to our tastings online. What e-commerce plugins for wordpress do you guys recommend for a small e-store?