Decisions, decisions...Microbrewing post

Well, a few weeks have passed since I last posted about my intentions to starting trying to brew my own beer with Dave...the last post was basicaly just an overview into the things he and I need to start thinking about before we begin this process. Since then, I have begun brewing my first beer (with the help of the Mr. Beer brewing kit, but brewing none the less).




Having done some research, I think that at this point in our lives, the best thing for Dave and I to focus on is getting a brewpub up and started before we could even imagine having the financial stability to focus solely on brewing. For those that are unaware of the differences, a brewpub is is basically a smaller brewery that also sells food. Everything that I have been reading tends to point out the fact that it is much easier to make money selling food than it is trying to convince people that your brand new type of beer is better than the normal beers they are used to buying (i.e. those huge brewing companies that make up about 90% of the market). I am not upset about this fact, especially since I think that Dave and I have the combined knowledge and business saavy to make something like this work to our advantage.

The stumbling block in my mind is mostly financial...Like I have said, I think that Dave and I are smart enough to run a business, and determined enough to make a unique varieties of beers. I am really unsure of how to even begin to figure out how much capital we will need to amass before we can start. The guy who created Tijuana Flats started with a $20,000...this seems a good spot to start thinking. In my mind, the yet unnamed brewpub would be half bar, half restaurant...I like the idea of a large bar with maybe 10 small tables filling in the rest of the area:

-Rent
-Equipment
-Insurance
-Ingredents (both food and beer)
-Salaries (employees and, ideally, Dave and I could manage to make some money too).


This isn't something I plan on jumping into tomorrow, so I have plenty of time to figure out all my expenses and save up some money (hopefully getting a loan for a brewpub would be easier than it seems getting one for brewery).

The other thing I have been tossing around in my head is location...Dave and I spoke about setting up shop in a college town, but I wonder if there is a demand for a higher priced mircobrew in a land where Natural Light is King? Perhaps we would fair better establishing ourselves in a downtown automosphere or a wealthier part of town? All things to think about while I am experimenting with brews and saving money to get everything started...