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...

Micro brewing post #1

So, as previously stated, Dave and I are venturing into the world of micro brews...I will be chronicling some of our ideas and stepping points here. I think I will probably leave out some of the finer points until we get them in a more concrete form, but we are already coming up with some great ideas for some very unique flavors of beer that might be perfect as a niche brew that hasn't been filled yet.





I guess the first thing we both need to learn how to do is actually "brew" beer...Dave and I both are going to start buy experimenting with some smaller DIY kits to get the feel of the process of brewing before transitioning into anything bigger. I have also ordered some books on the matter to try to learn from others who have been in the same boat that we are in: a desire to learn with little actual experience in creating. Here are the books I will (hopefully) have delivered to me tomorrow:

- Brewers Association's Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery
- Beer: Tap into the Art and Science of Brewing
- Designing Great Beers: The Ultimate Guide to Brewing Classic Beer Styles

I chose these book because I figured it was a nice variety of the things I am looking into at the moment: Start a brewery, Learning to make beer, and designing my own. I am eagerly looking forward into diving into my research, and I know that Dave is eager as well. For the most part, I feel we have a pretty firm grasp on a lot of the "business" aspects to running a business, so learning this part of the process will help me realize if this is something that could be a reality in the future, or perhaps a hobby that I enjoy for myself (or both ideally).

I'll be back with regular reviews in the very near future...my current diet doesn't really allow me much wiggle room for having beer, but this is something that I am making room for by cutting calories out of my day to make up for the beer. Look for more nutritional information in the summary part of my reviews as well. Lastly, stay tuned for a unique review on Sunday, as I will be presenting my first public beer tasting on Saturday evening! I will be sure to hound Jess to take some nice photos of me in my element!