The biggest plan B of them all: the NHC microbeer business

[DEMPSEY]

Does this thread not give us any ideas??

http://nationalhomebrewclub.com/forum/index.php/topic,1955.0.html

10K is a BIG ask but sure why not ask the "cloud" or is it "crowd"

We first need the paperwork, licenses, ElfnSafety, Food regs, Waste disposal regs etc, Then we need a building and PP for the brewery.

AFAIK: A brewery could be no bigger than my 5 gallon set up!! Unlike distillation there is no minimum or maximum size!

We can start brewing with say a 200L Braumeister set up (10 K or so) ( or even our little HB set ups )

The kit can grow as we expand!

Just to make a comment here on nano brewery's. They are more experimental but are not profitable. http://discussions.probrewer.com/showthread.php?24441-Nanobrewery-The-Lessons-I-ve-Learned
I think myself the idea has merit. One of the areas that members here can cover is producing a good standard of beer. With a lot of Homebrewer's already well trained by virtue of the many styles they have brewed. What is needed to lay out is a good business plan and how the new directors can implement it. Route to market is a common catch phrase you hear.

[Tom]

@ upsidedownA,

allowing members to produce and bottle their homebrew on their own but providing them with a legitimate route to market

To sell homebrew, even through a bonded distributer thing as you suggest, you'll need the HSE to approve your sinks (of which you'll need four times as many as you'll ever use), and so on. I think that sort of setup, the large stainless steel homebrew kit cum microbrewery, is a lot easier in the UK, and only requires some planning applications and a personal license.

[Will_D]

Exactly the point I was trying to make. For a small'ish outlay you can get all the "Tees" crossed and the "Eyes" dotted.

Get all the paper work in place and the basic food hygene requirements stuff in place. After all a dedicated "Handwash Sink" or two and two staff toilets is a hell of a lot cheaper than a 10 HL fermenter or two ( which they don't bother about??)

Get the paper, fit out the brewery (with non brewing equipment) then after ticking all the boxes start brewing small scale.

The justification of this to "Big Brother" is: We are still in the development phase of recipe testing. The big stuff will arrive WHEN we have perfected a beer and conducted the market research. Once you have a pilot brewery with all the compliances the money and labour will flow!!