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Brew Pub

S

SAHomeBrew

I am very much in the works of starting a brew pub. My concerns are these:

1. On a recent trip to nashville I stopped in at Blackstone, The crowd was very festive and the place was busy. Beer outsold mixed drinks about 8 to 1... but to me the beer was bland at best, very common taste, nothing distinctive, but was selling?

2. I am looking at two locations in my home town of San Antonio, rent at one is $3000 quiet area, but very supportive to the idea. Location 2 is on the Riverwalk and almost $10000 in rent. On the Riverwalk, I will get business just because of where I am, but I am hoping for a local place, not touristy.

3. Number 2 stems from number 1, I already have my styles of beer planned, taste tested to as many people as I could, and results are VERY positive. But I am basing a very big expense (about $50k for equip. just to start) on the taste buds of my friends.

To sum it up, I was very disappointed in a place that is a brewpub making very generic tasting beer. This could be just the area of the country I was in (Nashville) compared to where I live. A couple of the patrons there said the same thing, but they were there... I also understand about not "scaring" peolple with strong taste and such. (I do plan on having "mainstream" tasting beer)

To me, a brewpub should have it's own taste, not a taste like Budwieser, and Miller. Blackstones Pale Ale tasted like a dark Miller Lite. They have won many awards for their beers, and I was suprised by the taste.

Just curious to opinions out there.

Thanks
Brewpub Hopeful
 
I don't own a brewpub and haven't helped open one, there's the disclaimer.

Unfortunately bland beer sells.  The success of that brewpub is because it sells what most consumers want to drink.  Testing recipes on good beer drinking friends slants your results, I'm afraid.
The brewpub that opened here in Duluth, MN years ago started slow, with about two of their own on tap, a few micros and then a macro or two.  That way they could tweak both the beer and the menu.  As they felt comfortable with the system and consumer base, the phased out the micros and macros and serve their own on all but one tap.  (out of 12 if I recall)
Start slow would be my advice, with an almost mainstream drinkable... almost, ya know?  Don't start with a scotch ale or stout and expect accolades! ;)
Location is secondary to good beer for me and my fellow good beer drinkers.  I'll go out of my way to get to a place that has good beer.  If you end up on the riverwalk I'd think you might end up having to have much more mainstream beers on hand for the tourists...

There's my $0.02, take it or leave it, just thoughts is all.
I want to wish you an incredibly huge good luck with this adventure!
 
I think there is room for variety, but I would be willing to bet that a light ale or lager will outsell the Stout at most small breweries.

However, many places help promote the variety by offering sampler plates with a small glass of six or so different beers.  Most people are willing to experiment but you will always have a sizable percentage who are comfortable with the American standard lager.

Location does really matter - I'm sure the River Walk generates a tremendous amount of walk in foot traffic - justifying in part the large rent.

I recommend you do as much research as possible.   Liquor licenses are very expensive, as is rent, brewing license, equipment, etc...so the more you know the better chance you will have of making a profit!

Let us know how it goes - you are living our dream!

Brad
 
I don't know much about the beer scene in SA, I believe there is another brew pub in your area called Blue Star. I'm curious what that's like.

I've only visited SA once. While I enjoyed the Riverwalk, I found almost everything I ate and drank there disappointing. I fear you will have to dumb down your product to satisfy the overhead. You might be freer to do what you want, and more importantly, to differentiate yourself from the competition in the smaller location.

You might find it more encouraging to visit a town with lots of brewpubs, like the Boston area. Here we've got a range, from chain pubs in high-traffic locations that serve horribly mediocre beer, to little tucked-away places that serve fantastic beer. Both ends of the range can keep their tables full and customers happy. The question is what will make you happy.

Best of luck in whatever you choose to do. If you offer up a nice bitter on cask, I might even come check it out!

 
Blue Star is the other brew pub in SA, and I visit about once a week, Joey, the master brewer, is a really nice guy, though a little tight lipped about his recipes  :p .  Blue Star is very nice place, upper scale a bit, it's in the "art" district. I would really like to see a pool table or two  ;D . I plan on going more the nieghborhood bar and grill way.

The license for the brew pub and to be able to sell, you need 2 ? for consumson on-site as well as to go is less than $1000.

The property cost/availablity on the River Walk is proving to be to much of a hasle to find.

Thanks for the input so far.  :D
 
I'm going to say the opposite -- brew with pride and brew good beer with character. There are plenty of places that serve dummied-down beer, we don't need any more. Look at what Dogfish Head, Anchor, Sierra Nevada, Rogue, Stone, and other places like that are doing. I'm not saying you shouldn't have a lighter beer (both color and flavor), but make it something that you are proud of, something that you would drink at home if you were still homebrewing.

I'm thinking of doing something similar here in Japan, but on a very small scale. What beers would I start out with? Definitely an IPA. There are very few breweries here that even make one, let alone make a good one. Next would be something big and bold, in the tradition of Arrogant Bastard. No one here is doing that on a consistent basis. Third might be something really different, like a Saison. Again, very few places here even attempt something like that (maybe for good reason  ;)), so I think it would be worth giving it a shot. If I have room for a fourth beer right from the start, it will be either a pale ale (I'm experimenting now with a Saaz pale ale that I'm hopeful about) or an amber-style ale or an American brown ale.

So, look what's not available in your area, look what you can brew and feel proud of, and go from there. Have guest micros on tap -- no problem with that, as long as they're well made and full of character. But stay away from the macro brews.
 
...Have guest micros on tap -- no problem with that, as long as they're well made and full of character. But stay away from the macro brews.

You know, come to think of it, I may be very wrong about the Brewhouse having a macro on tap in the begining... I was a bit younger then.
Good luck!
 
SA, you might also have the same "sales because of where you are" if you were to put your place close to one of the bases.  Given the number of them to pick from there and the fact that guys like to drink beer and bases are loaded with guys (young, single, beer-drinking guys) you could make rent that way too.  I wouldn't pay 3 times more to be on the Riverwalk, even with the tourist traffic...most tourists are finicky and will tend to stay with what they've seen before (i.e. chain restaurants).

Good luck with whatever you decide!  :)
 
Since it's been over 6 years, I'm very interested to learn if SA's brew pub ever got off the ground..

 
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