Going Pro Advice

[Brichards700]

Hey guys, Ive been a long time follower of the BN but I've gotten away from listening regularly and chiming in on the forums here for the last year or two. Super busy with my kids and stuff. But I'm on the cusp of starting a 7bbl brewery in Ishpeming, MI (way up in the dead center of the U.P.) and I'm itching to get back and representing the BN as its been too long. I always know I can get valuable input on almost anything from you guys. Just wanted to voice a few of my concerns here with this new endeavor and see what everyones thoughts were.

The plan is to open a 7bbl brewery in an old historic hotel in the downtown area with an existing pub area that has a great English pub feel to it already. Its on the state list of historic places so there there arent many options as far as renovations you can make. I already like the feel it has anyway. We plan to buy 6 single wall Brite/Serving tanks that we will keep in a walk-in. I plan to have 8-10 tap handles so we can keg off of the brite tank when we need to make room for new beers. We are hoping we can sell at least 7bbls a week to hit around 400bbls a year for the first year with about 15% growth for the next 3 years. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around how many fermenters we should pick up. Michigan is probably going to be able to self distribute within the next year if you brew under 1000bbls a year so I was thinking that we should buy three 7bbl fermenters and one 15bbl fermenter for beer that we would want to sell at the brewery and for a 7bbl batch to be bottled in 22oz bottles or kegged for tap accounts. I also have concerns of having a walk in cooler keeping all of the beer at the same temp. Im drinking a 3.5% ABV Dark English Mild that I brewed a 5gal batch of and it tastes great once it is warmed up but when served cold, it is flavorless. Would it be worth it to buy jacketed brites so I can keep a warmer walk-in and individually cool each beer with the jackets? Is that going to make it a complete nightmare to poor beer with minimal profit loss?

Anyway, glad to be getting back on the BN Army bandwagon.
BN4LIFE

[Mylo]

Good luck, brotha. REPRESENT!

[mattman688]

Overall, I would just serve all the beers at the same temp. Just because a beer tastes better once its warmed, it appears that most consumers still want "cold beer." A true beer geek would understand and is willing to warm a pint with their hands to let the beer warm up. Plus if you keg off for local tap accounts you probably want to replicate the industry standard temp range so your beer appears to be consistent. But hey, who are we to say... Its your beer and you want to show it off in its best light! I would do the same.
Congrats on starting your own gig. My dream would be starting up my own place, but i still work for a great brewery making great beer so that's all it matters.

[BDawg]

Good Luck!

[Mills]

Let's talk. adam@crankersbrewery.com

Mills

[Brichards700]

Let's talk. adam@crankersbrewery.com

Mills

for sure. I've been pushing your beer at the store I manage up in Marquette. You guys are doing a nice job! You available after 5:30 or so on week nights?

[Mills]

Sounds good, and thanks!

Mills

[LordUlrich]

First, Congratulations and best of luck.

The best advice I can give is keep it simple. You will have lots of things to keep track of, and keep working. Adding extra jackets adds one more thing which can break. You could also compensate at the bar by having cold glasses for beer styles that serve better cold. I know not the best option but simple and at least where I used to brew people really liked the frosty glass. Those who knew a bit more about beer would ask for a room temp glass for things like stout.

As to the number of fermenters it depends on how long you intend to keep the beer in the fermenter. If you brew one batch a week, and keep it in the fermenter for 3 weeks, you need 3 fermenters, with no room for expansion. If you do lagers or big beers you need more fermenters, as they take longer before you move them to the bright tank.

I am sure others have better advice, my tenure as a pro brewers was not terribly long, so ignore what you like.

Good Luck!