So, the same old story, homebrewer dreaming about going pro...
Anyhow, I've got some good friends that I brew with that are in the food business. They own a couple of successful establishments and they have gotten the bug to start a brew pub. I've done enough research to determine that starting a micro-brewery (say 3 to 7 bbl) size brewery is going to cost some serious coin and I've advised my friends of that. The last thing I want to do is give them a false sense of how much capital this is going to take.
So, they seem hell bent on going forward with a gastro-pub concept, brewery or not. I'm curious to get your thoughts on the feasibility of starting with a nano-brewery to supplement the guest handles with a lineup of fairly unique, intense, or high gravity beers (think small pours). Say a custom brew sculpture fitted with three 55 gallon Blichmann boiler makers and 42 gallon Blichmann connicals? I know there is a lot more to consider than just these major components to the system, but it seems like even if the economy of scale only allowed a break-even price structure for the on-premise beers it may be worth it to distinguish the establishment from other beer bars and also with consideration to future brewery expansion. The setup would be a hell of a pilot system.
Downsides I see are lacking economy of scale and significant time input associated with brewing. Upsides are relatively minimal startup costs, minimal modifications to the space, and a degree of flexibility/experiementation that may not be feasible with a larger brewing system. Also, in the event that the business didn't work out, I'd be left with one hell of a homebrew system.
Thoughts?