Yet To Be Named Brewery: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Agenda of Thursday's MOTM

Please add onto the list:

The Beer
Strategy and Good/Evil Alliance
Business Entity Form
Time Line
Health Insurance
Brainstorming Names

Let me know what you'd like to cover. :) See you tomorrow night.

Some questions I have for the next meeting and down the road:

What products will we carry?
How much of each will be produced?
How will it be produced?
>bottling days/ kegging days
> equipment
> labor
> organization and responsibilities
What products or services are we offering in the future?
What advantages do we have?
>skillz
> technology
> quality control?

Monday, June 29, 2009

Using Social Media

How do you guys feel about having forums and picture publishing on the site? Would people be interested? Maybe if we had a homebrew shop it would make more sense.

Google Wave would be good to use for interoffice communication when it comes out. (and D&D!)

Name Brainstorm

Toro, Hayday, Manana, Bitch in Heat, Mestengo, Doomsday, Indy, Lionshead, Ravenshead, Brillant, Bowman, Archer, Dead Monkey :(, Dubloons, 10 Forward, Double Down, Skuttle Butt, Fool's Mate, Kings Indian, Rook and Bishop, Backward Pawn, Bare King, Lost Rooke, Fool's Gambit, King's Gambit, Poop Deck, Queenside, Oro, Vallejo de Oro, Blackstone, Hands, Mason

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Microbrewery Buisiness Plan

So here is a buisiness plan for a microbrew in MI from 1995. It was a while ago, but hey, at least it's a good template to look at to figure where we could go from here. So just to make sure, we are having the meeting this Thursday at 7:00pm, yes?

http://www.answers.com/topic/microbrewery-junior-creek-brewing-company

2nd Street Brewery

Marcus and I went to 2nd Street Brewery in Santa Fe yesterday. The beer was not so good. I had the kolsch and Marcus had a pale ale that was waaay hoppy. It tasted like a IPA. I wonder what the IPA tasted like!

It looked like a majority of the people there were eating, not really drinking too much. It was about 3:30 or 4pm. I'm sure most of their sales are from food. (which is pretty good, not great, but up to SF standards) It was busy and the large patio area where most of the patron were seated was almost full.

Oh, the employees are rude.

Used equipment and vendors

Some brewing equipment vendors:
NABS (used)
http://www.nabrewing.com/complete/05290910bblcenturybrewsys.shtml

Ager Tank & Equipment (used)
http://ager-tank-equipment.com/details.asp?itemNumber=4542

The Pub Brewing Company (new, used at Marble)
http://www.pubbrewing.com/index.htm

VaFaC (used)
http://www.vafac.com/brewing/index.htm

List of manufactures and specialty products
http://www.beerinfo.com/index.php/pages/brewingequipment.html

Review of 6/27 meeting

Brewery vs Brewpub
60 seats or from 1,000-1,500 sqft
pool table, dart board
bottling and kegs are still king
Leigh Anne needs to contact Matt to find out location of his brewery

Equipment
keep the list growing as it comes up

Green
Did we decide to do the water heater? What is the cost of a standard unit and how much utilities saves can we expect?

Decide on the Brewery name
Keep thinking of names
We decided that we don't quite have it yet.

Divide up the business plan
Look at segments, find something that appeals
Leigh Anne has dibs on: business overview, products and services, industry overview, and marketing strategy.
Robin: Management and Staffing
Marcus: Financial Plan
It looks like a lot of this is going to overlap and we've scratched the surface on lot of it. (i.e. property and utilities assumptions is in the financial plan)

Calendar year vs fiscal year
Fiscal year

Website
Nick is looking into cost
Wait for name to get it up and running

Time and Date of Next Meeting
Thursday, July 2 @ 7pm Robin's House

Business Plan for Kenya

Here is the link.

Now we can run faster than Kenyans and have 400 babies.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Conversion Factors and Definitions

Bbl = Beer Barrel. The standard unit for reporting beer shipments in the USA.

hL = Hectolitre. The standard unit for reporting global beer shipments.

Conversion Factors

1 Bbl = 31 gallons
1 Bbl = 3968 ounces
1 Bbl = 13.778 cases
1 Liter = 0.26418 gallons
1 hL = 0.852 Bbl
1 case = 24 12-oz. beers

Definitions

Taxpaid shipments = domestic beer shipments to 50 states

Tax-free shipments = export shipments to foreign countries and tax-free shipments to US possessions, as well as military bases

Shipments = domestic brewer's taxpaid shipments of beer in US, no-alcohol brews, imports and malternatives

STRs = Sales-to-retailers
C-stores = convenience stores
Supers = supermarkets

Bread Sales

I like your idea, Rob. Bread would be great. We should look into the cost/profit for doing something like that. It may be more profitable to contract that out to a commercial bakery until we know if we can make enough money to cover the cost of the equipment/labor. Pretzels and beer....emmmm.

Location

I was at the old Navarro Cadillac dealership in Santa Fe yesterday. They had pitched floors and drainage built in already. I know Santa Fe wouldn't be were we locate, but knowing they had drainage already installed may help us find a location here.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Meeting Agenda 6/27

Is 12 o'clock a good time? Where should we meet?
As always, Marcus' and my house is available, kid friendly, and far away.

Agenda

Review of 6/20 meeting
Brewery vs Brewpub
Equipment (cost, condition, quality)
Green (biofuel, solar water heater)
Decide on the Brewery name
Divide up the business plan
Calendar year vs fiscal year
Website
Time and Date of Next Meeting

Please add to this agenda whatever you've been working on, would like to discuss, or are planning on working on during the next week.

Did you guys like the worksheet? Should I do that again for the 6/27 meeting?

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Solar Hot Water

Along the lines of being a "green" brewery, and also saving ourselves some money:

http://solarpowerpanels.ws/solar-power/solar-hot-water-system-used-at-portland-brewery

It talks about a brewery in Portland that uses Solar energy to heat their water.
From the research I did at UNM, using solar energy to heat water is waaaayy more efficient than generating electricity with solar panels. Article said the system cost 70k and the owners expect to pay it off in 2-4 years from the energy savings. This was in Portland, if they can make it work there then we can definitely do it here.

Short List of What We Need

>Look into used equipment
>Cost of install
>Cost of equipment
>Repair rate
>Size of unit
>Best brands

solar water heating system
shelves
pallets (heavy grade for shipping beer)
pallet jack
counters
storage
tables
safety mats
desks
chairs
cash register
credit card machine
retail display refrigerator
glasses
chairs/dining tables
dishwasher

bottlewasher
malt silo
mill
purifying system
fermenters
single shell tanks
bottling station
filters
distribution tanks
beer python
secondary regulator
mashing tun
lauter tun
walk-in refrigeration
CO2
keg washer
glycol chiller
augers

Pitched floor with trench drain
moisture resistant covers of electrical outlets

Steam broiler; gas or electric?

Keep on adding, I'm sure there's lot more.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Ethanol from Yeast

I found an article about making ethanol from spent yeast. Sierra Nevada contracted out a company that also sells units for people to make ethanol at home. We might consider purchasing or building one ourselves?

They cost $10K. Here is the link to the E-Fuel Microfuelers.

What we covered in the 6/20 meeting

Summary of 6/20 Meeting

Blog Management:
Contact by email when a new post or comment goes up.
I've done this, but if you aren't receiving the emails let me know.

Homebrew Shop:
We are going to do this as an expansion not from the opening of the brewery.
We may cut into our supplies or do special orders for homebrew organizations like Marble.
We tabled the decision to provide space for homebrew groups until we decide on having a brewpub.

Deciding on a Name:
Waiting for Robin's input

Equipment:
Did a tour of Marble
>granary
>mill room
>chill room
>cooling coils inside fermenting units
>bottling station, 2 or 3x week
>Dr. Farnsworth
>2 brewers, 3 asst.
>tasty malt, yummy (Briess)
>use BSG
>chilled lines to bar
>floor drains

Official Titles:
Operations Manager-Nick
Executive Manager-Marcus
Production Manager-Robin (if Robin thinks this is accurate)
Brewer-Rob
Development Manager- Leigh Anne

Managing Member of Development- Leigh Anne
Managing Member of Operations- Nick
Managing Member of Finance- Marcus
Managing Member of Production- Robin
Managing Member and Brewer- Rob

Supreme Po'bah of all things Finance - What Marcus is putting on his business card

Energy Use:
Solar Panels

Accounting Method:
Accrual
deciding on calendar year or fiscal year

What we need to get to this week to prep for the next meeting:
Time and Date of next meeting
Brewery vs Brewpub
Decide on a Name
Write Up for the Business Plan
Agenda for Next Meeting

(Please edit this article! Add stuff, change stuff, whatever.)
-Leigh Anne

Friday, June 19, 2009

Agenda for Meeting (6/20)

Is there anything you'd like to add to the agenda for the next meeting? I was planning on making a worksheet or a guide to keep us focused for the next meeting.

Let me know what you'd like to cover!

Leigh Anne

Blog management

I have a quick question about managing the blog. Are updates sent out whenever a new blog is posted, or an older blog has a new comment posted?

As it stands right now, I'm just going through all of the posts to check on that kind of thing. I was wondering if there is an easier way.

Phil

I'm still waiting to hear back from Phil about using his equipment and brain.

Nick, any update on the free kegs?

-Rob

Update:

I talked to Phil this morning. He's down with letting us use his equipment and showing us the ropes. We just need to coordinate times with him. Now it's just a matter of getting the supplies.

-Rob

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Gathering the Homebrew Goods

Hey Rob-

Could you bring over your homebrew kit or could I come by and look at it? I don't think I need to see the tubs...they seem like standard 6 or sometimes 8gal food grade. I was curious about the bottle brush and some other things and need to get the manufacturing companies info so I can find distributors.

I can't get you ingredients until we have a business. You'll have to find them on the homebrew market if they are available there. Are you and Nick still planning on making a new kit?

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Possible janitorial supplies:
Common household bleach (unscented)
Iodophor
TSP
Water
Plastic scouring pads
White vinegar

Victor's:
Answer to Victor's on price point:
Grain Hops
Mainstreet "German Wheat" 1.75/pound Cascade 6.96/2oz whole leaf
49.95/10 pound
Victor's "Wheat malt" 1.79/pound Cascade 3.99/1oz plug
Northern Brewer "Pale wheat" 2.25/pound Cascade 2.99/1oz whole leaf
75.99/55lb 28.99/1lb

My main issues with Victor's are:

1. Depending on who you get, they have limited knowledge of brewing and beer at best.

2. They have limited selection on items
- No whole leaf hops, they only offer plugs and pellets. I prefer the whole leaf, as they add an extra layer of filtration.

- Malt extract sold in containers only. You never know how old they are. I am used to Mainstreet, where they had 55 gallon tubs of extract that they cycled through quickly enough that freshness was never an issue.

- Grains/speciality grains, they don't have very many on hand.

First batch:
These numbers are subject to change depending on the capacity of the system being used.

Here are the ingredients needed for the first batch (I decided on an Irish Red):
Grain
9.00 lb Maris Otter
0.75 lb Barley, Flaked
0.50 lb Crystal Malt - 90L
0.30 lb Biscuit Malt
0.10 lb Chocolate - 350L
Hops
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent
Misc
0.91 tsp Irish Moss
Yeast
1 Pkgs Irish Ale (Wyeast 1084)

Other stuff:
Again, I'm sorry about my lack of time. This may be the case for awhile, but I am forgoing a search for a job in hopes that this allows me time to get school and brewery stuff done without putting a major crimp in my time with my children.

As far as the brewery name is concerned, I am going to list my favorites of what has been listed so far:
Bahookie
Occam's Razor
Broken Seal
Wag
Silenus
Electric Razor
Feynman
Aeolist

As far as the beer names are concerned... This, to me, is very personal territory. I don't think a beer should be named until it has been brewed and considered in it's totality. This includes style, why it was made, season it was made in, and any number of variables along the way. I'll stop short of saying it's as personal as a writer naming a piece or a song, but in a very real way it is. At least it always has been for me. I believe if it is up to snuff, then the beer will inspire it's own name.

I have contacted my friend Phil about use of his brewing system and knowledge, I'm just waiting to hear back from him.

-Rob

Purifying System

Robin: How much of the water use that you calculated would need to be purified?
I was wondering what capacity system we would need.

Needed: List of Cleaning Supplies

Another thing I need from Rob is a list of janitorial supplies we will need. I'd like to start looking for local sources if they are available. So far, i have a short list of the distributors in ABQ, but I don't know if we will need special equipment that may have to come from out of state.

-Leigh

Laun-dry
sunwest
Air-gas
Sysco
Shamrock
Blaine industrial supply?
Uniclean?

Might be able to get the bottle cleaners for the homebrew kits at one of these places, may be a special order.

Greening It Up

Robin has had some pretty good ideas in regards to helping us be as green as possible. It would be great to make that a part of the brewery. Good for our image and marketing too.

Here are some ideas discussed at the meeting:
Giving spent wort to farmers for composting
Local hops production?
Cutting the amount of water needed/wasted

Possible solutions in the future:
Solar/Wind energy
carbon off setting
office recycling
bottle recycling
can production
electric forklift?
organic hops/barley

What is feasible? What is cost-effective? What other ideas do you have?

Looks like New Belgian has really got this working!

By Jim Gorman

Published in the March 2007 issue.
The only thing “lite” about the full-bodied beers crafted by New Belgium Brewing is the environmental impact. By reducing the energy, water and waste involved in making its award-winning Fat Tire Amber Ale and other beers, the Fort Collins, Colo.-based brewery is proving that great taste and a clear conscience are both good for business. From hops in to beer out, practically every stage of New Belgium’s brewing process has been designed for greater efficiency. In the brew house, heat typically released as steam preheats incoming water. Temperature sensors automatically open windows to cool the building. Methane gas from an on-site wastewater treatment facility is piped to a generator, which produces enough electricity to cover 10 percent of the brewery’s needs. New Belgium purchases the remainder of its electricity from wind farms, and offsets some of its CO2 emissions by purchasing renewable energy credits on the Chicago Climate Exchange. But according to New Belgium’s sustainability specialist, Nicolas Theisen, there is always room for improvement. “We’re a partner in developing a process to use the carbon dioxide byproduct from fermentation to feed fast-growing algae in silo-shaped bioreactors,” he says. “The oil in the algae can be pressed to make biodiesel, and the rest can go into our waste treatment ponds to make methane.”

Monday, June 15, 2009

Beer Name Ideas

Badlands Rose
Lone Wolf
Feynman
Drifter
Pioneer Pale Ale

The Brewing Network

I've been listening to The Brewing Network. It's a great resource, but the format is kinda time consuming (all audio and about 4hrs each). Available as a podcast. Lots of experts. Even more testoster-talk.

Look into it. There's even a few shows on brewing gadgets that some you should get a kick out of....eeehemm....Nick. :)

The Homebrew Shoppe

We should put together a list of the things we want to sell at the homebrew shop. It looks like we can get a lot of the kit materials for super cheap in bulk.

Northern Brewer has a lot of good things on their shelves (as far as I know!).

FDA plastic buckets can be customized with our logo too.
Bottles should be a snap.
That tubing looks standard.
We might think about doing special caps for the kits, but that seems kinda pointless. Maybe a stock color range so they can select there own.

Here is a list of what comes in a standard kit.

Six gallon fermenting bucket with lid
Six gallon bottling bucket with spigot
Fermentation lock
Siphon tubing
Bottle filler
Bottle brush
AutoSiphon
Bottle capper
144 bottle caps
Hydrometer
8 oz. One-Step Sanitizer
Complete instructions

NEEDED BUT NOT INCLUDED:

Ingredients - try one of our beer kits
A Brew Kettle - any pot 2.5 gallons or greater
Empty Bottles - 48 to 52 pry-off 12-ounce beer bottles.

This looks like it could be rather profitable!
Rob- is Victor's kinda expensive or is their price point average?

-Leigh Anne

I bought a book

One of the highest recommended book of the business side of starting a brewery was written by the owners of Brooklyn Brewery. I got it on Amazon for $4. ($8 with shipping)

I'll pass it around!

Trademark Costs

It'll be about $375 to apply for a trademark. I'm not sure if there are more costs included.
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/qs/ope/fee2009january01_2009may01.htm#tm

Malt!

There are four major malt providers:

Cargill
Great Western
IMC/Archer Daniels Midland Company
Rahr/Brewer's Supply Group

Specialty:
Briess (sold through BSG)

-Leigh Anne

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Price of Hops Expected to Decrease

The Wall Street Journal has an article about the declining price of hops.

This summary was lifted from Monday Night Brewery
“for years, a world-wide glut of hops resulted in prices that were too low for U.S. growers to turn a profit.” So now everybody and their mother is gunning to start a hop farm. Prices for hops have gone up 4-6 times in the past few years, and last year’s price increases resulted in a total value of $169 million, up from $118 million the year before. Sounds good, right? So why not go be a hop farmer? The general consensus is that hop prices will come down substantially over the coming 12-36 months, just about the amount of time it would take to get a legit hop farm up and running.

A related post on the Malt and Hops Shortage from The Brewery Network.

-Leigh

BEER TO DO

In some particular order . . .

PHASE 1:

Pick a name

Decide business entity
Decide accounting method

Get business license

Get federal EIN

Trademark the name

Official Titles

Open bank account

Web-presence

Look into legal services (pre-paid)

Determine operating costs

Determine product price point

Price suppliers and vendors

Deligate parts of business plan

Complete business plan

Join Brewers Association ($195)

Buy the directory

Get manufacturer's license ($3000)

Food Processors license - soft drinks

Brew samples

Equipment to brew from mash on small scale

Design label and brand name

Develop marking plans

Distribution plan

Friday, June 12, 2009

Beer Magazines

List of Trade Organizations

What are other brewers adding to make their beer delicious!

Celebrator Beer News:

Shipyard Brewing from Portland, Maine, sailed in with Sea Dog Wild Blueberry (made with real blueberries) and Pumpkinhead (brewed with nutmeg, allspice and pumpkin pie spice). Both beers’ unique flavors jump right out at you and leave no doubt as to what ingredients you’re tasting.

Delaware’s Dogfish Head’s Founder Sam Calagione was serving his 90-minute IPA, made with a dry hop machine that hops continually throughout the boil resulting in a beer that’s full of hop flavor without being overly bitter. His new hopping machine is called Sofa King Hoppy, a massive air cannon that fires hops into the kettle while allowing the lid to remain closed. Some unique historical reproductions are the Midas Touch Golden Elixir-a cross between a beer, wine and mead, showcasing ingredients that were in the 2,700-year-old drinking vessels found in King Midas’s tomb, made with muscat grapes, saffron and honey; and Chateau Jiahu-inspired by preserved pottery from Northern China dating back to 7,000 BC using rice flakes, barley malt, honey, Muscat grapes, Chrysanthemum flowers and Hawthorne fruit. Dogfish Head recently expanded its brewhouse to a 100 barrel system, bringing its new capacity to 220,000 barrels (41,000 were produced in 2006).

Leave it to Stone Brewing Company to push the limit on how many IBU’s one’s taste buds can handle. The 7.7% abv Ruination IPA weighs in with over 100 IBU’s, and is aptly named, since the human palette can’t actually taste more than 100. The Oaked Arrogant Bastard Ale is yet another out of the ordinary brew, aged with toasted American oak chips.
Some IPA’s worth mentioning that I was fortunate enough to sample are: Saranac Imperial IPA-from its big beer series; Deschuttes Inversion IPA-a true IPA at 7% abv and 85 IBU’s; Victory Hop Devil Ale-made with American whole flower hops; and Rogue I2PA-an Imperial IPA packaged in a black silk-screened ceramic 750 ml bottle.

The craft beer industry continues to be the fastest growing segment in the entire U.S. beverage alcohol industry.

Sam Adams introduced its 8.8% abv Imperial Pilsner, made with Hallertau and Mittelfrueh hops to the tune of 12 pounds per barrel. Compare that to the one pound that’s in a barrel of its Sam Adams Lager. Definitely a showcase for hops, it’s without a doubt the hoppiest brew I’ve ever encountered from Sam Adams. Any hophead worth his buds will want to check it out.

Here's the full article.

Stuff

I have several things to post, so here it goes:

I posted this on Twitter as well, but I won't be able to make the meeting this Saturday due to a change in custodial time. I get the kids at 12 instead of 4.

My school schedule is work heavy so far this semester, so if I fall behind I apologize. Next semester is going to be all over the place time-wise, so I'll do what I can.

I haven't come up with a general outline of the position(s) I see myself filling in the company, but I think I've got dips on Brew master. I don't know that I'm overly comfortable using that exact title, but in the absence of a more comfortable fit, I'll deal.

I am working on a recipe right now for a wheat beer, Germanically known as a Hefeweizen or Heffeweizen. I'll send that to whoever I have an email for.

I had talked a bit at last meeting about an idea I had about focusing on European or even German style beers primarily. If we decide to go down the German path as our main teir of beers, I would like to conform to the Reinheitsgebot. This is the German Beer Purity law that states that the only allowable ingredients in beer are water, barley, and hops (yeast is implied).

Keeping all of this in mind, I have another suggestion for a brewery name:

Occam's Razor Brewery

Essentially, leaving out unnecessary compenents in our case.

I've said what I came to say, now I'm outta here.

-Rob

Business Plan

I started a rough (really rough) draft of the business plan using this website. The username is leighstou password is drinkmybeer.

Most of this I just put down ideas and am going to go back and someone else (Marcus?) can write it. Please feel free to edit it or put notes in.

This is a sample business plan. I like the style of writing in this one much better than the Canadian example. It's a good guideline too.

Monday, June 8, 2009

Brewer's Association Membership

Here is a link the the benefits of joining the BA. It would be really helpful for the business plan, getting insurance, and finding suppliers/distributors.

What do you think?

Saturday, June 6, 2009

American Brewers Guild

ABG has classes and apprenticeships. I see that Chama River is listed as a mentor for their classes. Maybe we can work something out with them or sign Rob up for the distance learning course.

-Leigh Anne

What to get done by the next meeting

Marcus: check on other licensing, qualifiers
Robin: Estimate the utilities costs and total month to month costs
Leigh Anne: market strategy, purchase process and buying criteria, get a directory
Nick: get keg from uncle and field trip to brewery to scope out the scale/equipment
Rob: inquire about the friends equipment/time, begin development on the recipes

Everyone: write up a broad guess about what position you'll fall into when we begin production and a separate synopsis about what qualifies you to be a partner. This is for the business plan.

See you all at 11 o'clock on the 13th!

Google is great!

Here is something that came up when I googled Brewing Co-op: http://www.blackstar.coop/

It looks like it was a homebrew club that grew into a co-op style brewery. They've got a pretty sharp star logo too.

-Rob

Food for thought

Possible name: Broken Seal.

This works as a shirt, even if the name isn't chosed for the brewery:

First you have to understand what it means to break the seal. Go look it up in an urban dictionary or google it if you need to.

Ok, here's the concept, the front of the shirt shows some sort of symbol that represents breaking the seal. This could be opening an envelope with a seal on it, or show a seal (animal) breaking in half. The back of the shirt would have three simple letters: BRB

There's another possible name: BRB

-Rob