<![CDATA[Bexley Brewing Company - Blog]]>Tue, 04 Jun 2024 19:28:26 -0700Weebly<![CDATA[Update on some beers]]>Sat, 10 May 2014 19:02:21 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/update-on-some-beers I really wanted to brew this weekend and work on a new recipe. I am very detailed and take lots notes so I can repeat the process and get the same beer every time.  I have had this idea for a new recipe and really wanted to try it out.  I was thinking that this weekend would be the perfect time.  I have been working on the recipe for a little while.  It’s a variation of one I came up with last year, and I really wanted to see how it would turn out. 

I decided to brew early in the morning so I could get other things done later (it is Mother’s Day weekend).  The weather has been bad, rain and thunderstorm.  I was not going to let that stop me, so I went ahead with my plans. When I was about to mill the grain I decided to check my grain mill and somehow the rollers were really out of wack.  It’s a good thing I checked.  

Maybe I should have taken this as a hint that things were going to go wrong. I moved them back into position and began to mill.  I had the grain weighed out in a couple of different paper bags.  First one went well, then I grabbed the second bag and it ripped as I was lifting it up.  I lost about 2 – 3 lbs, and the floor was not clean enough to try and use it anyway.  I did not have any more.  Now I could have stopped and go out to buy more, but for some reason I decided to press on.  I figured I was going to lose a little bit of the alcohol content. 

So I started to mill that bag.  About ½ way through, the grain mill just stopped moving the grain through.  The rollers were turning, but nothing was going through.  I had to scoop the grain out and see.  Nothing, it looked fine.  I dumped the grain back in and same problem.  After trying that whole process again and pushing on the grain it finally started to mill again.  I was getting pretty ticked off at this point.

I started the mash and as I added the grain, I realized that some of the un-milled grain was mixed in with the milled.  It must have been when the grain mill stopped working.

So now, I have a mash going with an unknown amount of grain and I am not sure how much is not milled properly.

I tried to relax and figured I would just push on.  At this point I should have realized that the whole idea of trying this new recipe was shot since I don’t know what I have in the mash tun.  Of course I was not thinking that clearly. 

I was heating the sparge water and then looked back at my recipe.  Somehow I had set it for a batch sparge and not fly sparge, so my grain amounts were off anyway.  I had too much grain for where I originally wanted to end up.  I reduced the sparge water amount a little and pressed on. 

The rest of the process went well.  Somehow I ended up with the SG in the range I wanted, but I am really not sure how.  And I still will have to try this all over again with the recipe, because I really have no idea what I did.  One nice thing about brewing is that if you make a mistake you still get beer, so at least it will be something to drink.  However, no matter how good (or bad) it is, I will never be able to repeat this one. 

After lunch I was thinking I was going to try the last new beer I made.  I have been tweaking my IPA recipe and brewed it last month. I knew it was ready to drink, but had not tried it yet.  This made my day.  It’s prefect, exactly where I wanted it to be!  Great aroma, the flavor is wonderful.   So this recipe is final and I will certainly make it again.

With that I can say the day was a success. ]]><![CDATA[Kegs!]]>Wed, 23 Apr 2014 21:37:29 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/kegs Still working on my business plan!  Even though I do not plan on seeking bank financing, I am really happy that I decided to do a business plan.  It is making me be sure that I have considered all situations.  This should reduce surprises later on.  The drawback is I really want to get started, but I am forcing myself to finish the plan before I do anything else.   Currently I am down to all of the financial projections in the plan.  The start-up costs, revenue projections, P&L projections, etc. 

I had some fun looking at kegs, and was surprised to find that so many different options exist.  Both the new and used keg market appears to be pretty large.  I like the idea of new kegs better than used as they should have a longer life.   The big thing appears to be leasing programs.  Many place offer lease or rent to own offers on kegs.  At first I thought this was going to be a bad deal, where you pay so many times the cost of the keg over a couple of years.  However, as I looked into this I found I was wrong.  The leasing programs appear to be fair deal, and something I might consider. 

What really surprised me was the cost to buy new custom kegs.  It is not much more to have your logo stamped into the side of the keg than to just buy the plain kegs.  Of course it does add up as you buy more kegs, so the total expense is still more.  It is also an extra expense that might not be needed for a new company, but it was still surprising to me.  They do make the kegs look cool, so it is something to consider.  Lots of companies offer printing of the logo on the side of the keg.  That is nice too, but to have the logo stamped into the metal is pretty cool.  Given that, I am a start up I will probably go with the printing. 

I also really liked the plastic keg idea, especially in the 1/6 barrel size.  They are lighter and can come in some cool colors.  If you plan on buying new kegs, you can custom order the tops and sides in different colors.  I am seriously considering this option, but need to do a little more research on how well they hold up and the lifespan of a keg. 

 I need to find some reviews of different manufactures and use that to help me decide.  With so many different suppliers, I think it will make the most sense to get a number of bids and use those to help decide what options to go with. ]]><![CDATA[Cans vs. Bottles Which is Better?]]>Sat, 19 Apr 2014 10:59:13 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/cans-vs-bottles-which-is-betterLike everyone else, I have noticed that more and more beers are sold in cans.  Craft beers in cans seem to be the new fad.  When I was out in Colorado last November, I asked at one bar "what they had in bottles."  The server gave me a very dirty look and said they only have cans.  To me can or bottle was not the point; I just wanted to know what else they had since I had tried all the draft beers.  But this got me thinking, why the switch to cans?  Based on that experience I was guessing it was some type of benefit to the environment.  So I decided to do some research to find out.

As I looked into this, it turns out that breweries have a lot of reasons to switch to cans from bottles.  Cans keep more light out, they are lighter and less expensive to ship than bottles.  For small breweries they are less expensive to buy and they don’t have a separate labeling process.  People can take a can into more places since glass bottles are banned some places.  In addition a number of places listed that it is better to use aluminum because it is less energy to recycle compared to glass. 

Then I found some drawbacks.  OK, really just one.  All the cans have to be lined to prevent the beer from picking up a metallic taste.  The liner is a form of epoxy and contains BPA.  Now, the EPA says that the level of BPA in each can is pretty low and therefore should not be an issue.  But BPA is linked to cancer and other diseases.  To me, this seems like a pretty big drawback.  Maybe the energy savings offset this?

So, I decided to look into the energy use and recycling of cans and bottles.  It was very easy to find out that it is much more energy efficient to recycle aluminum than to create new aluminum from bauxite.  It takes 5% of the energy to recycle it as to create new.  So that’s a great benefit!  However, I also found out that only 30% of aluminum is recycled.   Mining new bauxite to create aluminum destroys rain forests and uses a lot of energy.  But I guess saving on 30% is better than nothing. 

I wanted to compare that to bottles.  In research, I found that Bottles contain no BPA, except for the liner in the cap.  A much lower amount than in the can, but still some BPA so that is not the best news.  

On the energy side, it is again a different story.  To recycle glass bottles, it uses 50% less energy than to create new.  So Aluminum is a 95% reduction and glass is only a 50% reduction.  Glass has a 80% recycle rate compared to aluminum’s 30%.  This was all great information, but I had no idea what the numbers added up to.  80%, 30%, 50% of what?!

I needed to find out how much actual energy is needed to create each one.  After doing some research, I found that it takes (on average) 79,000 watt hours to create 1 kg of aluminum cans today and 5800 watt hours to make 1 kg of glass beer bottles.  That is a big difference!  Then I remembered that a can weighs a lot less than a bottle.  After you account for the difference in weight of each one can takes 1119 watt hours to create and one beer bottle takes 1154 watt hours to create.  So a can saves 35 watt hours.  That is 119 btus, or about 1/10 of a cent at current energy prices.  That is not a big difference per can/ bottle.  You figure on some waste and that these are averages and they basically use the same amount of energy. 

After all of that, it appears that the real difference comes down to saving the brewery some money on shipping.  Once you factor in the BPA, I am not sure it is really worth the little bit of energy savings.  I am sure others will disagree, but I think I prefer to stick with bottles. 

]]><![CDATA[Brewing Equipment]]>Fri, 18 Apr 2014 16:04:47 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/brewing-equipmentI am slipping and not posting here as often as I had planned.  I guess I have been too busy and need to set aside time to work on this. 

As I have been researching costs to start up a brewery, I have spent some time looking at brewing equipment.  At a high level the equipment is no different than home brewing, it is just larger.  However, like home brewing, I found a lot of different suppliers and different types of equipment. 

One great resource I have found is Pro Brewer (www.probrewer.com).  They have a lot of links to other sites and great tips on what to look into when selecting equipment.  Another resource is the Brewers Association (www.brewersassociation.org).  

With such a large number of different suppliers, I will be able to pick the size system I want and also have some options down the road for expansion or any equipment upgrades. 

I have also taken advantage of numerous message boards to get reviews and opinions of the different suppliers.  That has become a great source to find out details about build and shipping times as well as quality of equipment.  It is much better than trial and error.

Right now, I do not want to mention any particular supplier or brand of equipment.  That will come later once I actually place an order.    ]]><![CDATA[Busy week]]>Sun, 13 Apr 2014 12:42:13 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/busy-week
What a busy week, its been awhile since I made a post.  Not sure if anyone noticed, but I thought I would get a quick post in now.
I have been finalizing my business plan this past week.  I found a great resouce, Score.org.   They have lots of great resources for small businesses.  I have found their templates to be great since they provide a basic template, plus lots of tips on how to do things.  One great feature is that they have nice ideas on how to customize everything to fit the business you want and not just their notion of what a business plan or anything else should look like. 
I did manage to have some good beers this past week. I hope everyone else has been enjoying some beer with this great weather we have been having. 
]]><![CDATA[Equipment Choices]]>Sat, 05 Apr 2014 00:30:13 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/equipment-choices One item I keep going back and forth on is what size equipment I want to go with.  There are many different options to go with; you can find brewing systems in many different sizes from 2 – 20+ barrels (“bbl”).  At this point, I have ruled out anything larger than 15 bbl. 

After size of brewing the next question is what size fermenter.   I could match the fermenter to the brew kettle or I could double it and double brew every brew day.  The latter gives the option of less expense on the brew system, but allows greater output.  However, the drawback is consistently longer brew days (probably 12 hours vs 6.)

For the brewing system, I decided to look at what output I want to do.  Overall my goal is to have fun with this, and keep it manageable.  So I first looked at the 2 – 5 bbl range.  If I brew weekly, that would let me produce between 100 and 250 bbls a year.  This seems pretty good, and is about where I want to be on output.   However, if I move up to a 10 – 15 bbl system, I could brew once a month and hit the same output.   This got me really thinking about operations and what I want to do. 

Some other considerations:

2 – 5 bbl system
-        Brew more often
-        Can brew greater variety of beers over short period of time
-        Lower upfront capital cost
-        More labor from brewing more often
-        If demand is great, would require brewing much more often or upgrading equipment

10 – 15 bbl system
-        Brew less often
-        Larger volume of each beer, but longer to get multiple beers into production
-        Higher upfront capital cost
-        Less time spent brewing each month
-        If demand is great, can easily scale up by brewing more often

To me, the big points are capital and how often I want to brew.  I really want to get a few different types of beers out. 

Currently, I am leaning towards the smaller system with multiple fermenters.  If demand increases, I will step up to a larger fermenter and double batch to increase output.  This option seems to keep the capital cost down, but still allow some scalability.  I also really want to be able to get a few different beers out at the start.  Brewing smaller batches weekly will let me do that and should still leave me time for my day job. 

]]><![CDATA[Additional thoughts]]>Thu, 03 Apr 2014 12:12:52 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/additional-thoughtsSome more thoughts on the brewing license.  

I have not become discouraged at all, but it showed me that I need to be more thoughtful and serious about my plans. 

My original thought was, “can I get a license to be able sell my beer for fun?”  I would be willing to spend a little just be able to sell some beer here and there.  Once you add in the cost and details of a license, you really need to sell a certain amount to break even.  You have rent, utilities, taxes, and insurance in addition to the cost of making the beer.  At that point, it becomes more than just a hobby and turns into a business.  At that point I think you need to make sure it turns a profit (even if it is a small one.)

With that thought, I turned my attention to what it would take to put an actual small business together.  I know I don’t like to take too much risk, but realized that I will have to take some with this idea.  If I am going to do that, I need to make sure that I have done my homework so the risk is manageable.   I also realize that I work slowly due to the potential risk, but I am very grateful to my friends who keep pushing me to move forward.  

]]><![CDATA[Brewing License]]>Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:01:55 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/brewing-licenseBefore I get into where I am in the process, I thought I should review what I have learned about getting a brewing license. 

Going into this I knew that Ohio has some old laws regarding beer, wine, and liquor, but did not know any of the details.  I was happy to discover that Ohio has recently made some changes and now offers a craft beer license for anyone who is going to brew 31 million gallons or less per year.  It is only $1000 per year and I can’t see me exceeding that volume anytime soon!

I was surprised to find that you have to pay the state $50 for each new beer you brew.  This is to register each beer you sell.  Someone who once worked for the Ohio Department of Liquor control told me that this is essentially self-reported and they have no way of really tracking if you have done this or not.  That being said, I guess $50 is a small fee for each new beer and probably worth it in case that guy was wrong. 

Ohio also has a “no tied houses” law.  This means that you can own no more than one of; retail store selling alcohol, bar or restaurant selling alcohol, or manufacturer of alcoholic beverage.  The only exception is a brew pub license where you could brew beer and operate a restaurant together. 

My next surprise was to find out that you need both a federal and state license to brew beer.  This is true even if you are only going to sell within the state.  The State of Ohio will not even process your application until the Federal Government (TTB) has issued you a brewing license.  The good news is that the Federal is free.  The really good news is that the TTB says they are currently processing the applications in an average of 110 days.  That’s almost 4 months.  With your applications you have to have your lease signed (with an agreement showing the landlord knows you are going to brew beer) and a diagram of you equipment set up.  So you need to be all in when you apply.  Then it will be over four months until you can legally start to brew. 

So I figure it will be at least six months from the date of the lease being signed to when I can sell my first beer.  This information slowed me down and made me realize that I need to take a little more time.  So I have spent the past 6 months refining my business plan and researching costs (more on that later).  I want to make sure I have every question answered before I sign a lease, purchase equipment, and fill out the license applications]]><![CDATA[Website is live]]>Sun, 30 Mar 2014 16:35:12 GMThttp://bexleybrewingcompany.com/blog/website-is-liveI have finally given in to the constant urging of my friends and purchased the domain name for Bexley Brewing Company.  I hope this is the first step to producing commercial craft beer.  For now it is just a website, but I will log my process of opening a small craft brewery here. 
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