OK, we all know that we can’t brew on site because of our lease and some other things. But there’s obviously interest in brewing as the event at @uglyknees’s place last month was a success (sorry I missed it Nicole!!!)
So I’ve been thinking. What if there was a place, set up like DMS with community equipment that would allow members to brew on site and ferment either there or at home. Personal use only, so it’s not getting sold and wouldn’t count as a brewery (I think) but more like a community kitchen with professional grade equipment.
In reality, it would probably start in a garage somewhere but the idea (harking back to Ladybird space) would have community equipment and group brews.
I know there are several beer clubs in TX, but I just haven’t found anything well organized in the area… please point me in the right direction if you know something… or lets start a discussion on how one would start something like this.
I would be interested in following this as a potential investment but I’m not really into brewing.
I did a quick search of rentable commercial kitchen spaces and we have a few in town. But I’m imagining what you’re imagining is also a education/social space.
Yes, while I was in Australia last month I met a bunch of the home brew guys in the Gold Club (Gold Coast QLD home brew club). But it turns out half of them were professionals that were in the industry just helping the other home brewers. There was much more pro/am overlap there than any of the clubs I’ve seen here.
My vision would be to have a collaborative space where the big name local brewers could come to interact with the home guys… trade recipes, ideas, and methods. Then eventually set up ‘bandit brews.’ Bandit brews are where the local club gets together and essentially rents the equipment for a day or two at the local brewery to do a 15-50 barrel brew… enough as a minimum viable quantity to take around as commercial beer.
Met the guys at Black Hops brewing (they published a book about their operation) that was pretty inspiring.
This might be outside the scope of what the brewers may want initially, but there are “ghost kitchens” popping up that are like coworking kitchens for businesses like caterers & cake/pie shops, and possibly brewing. They happen to be taking over a lot of abandoned retail spaces. Could be worth keeping in mind Are Ghost Kitchens the Future? - QSR Magazine
Yeah, this is something I can see further down the road. Would be cool to have a 10-15 gal setup somewhere for people to use, and then when they’re ready for 10-15 barrels, we do a collaboration with a local brewery.
