Design and construction update

Although we obviously had a break over Christmas, design and construction is moving forward.  Roof repairs (which I tweeted about two weeks ago) continue, though I think that some wet weather has slowed them down.

The last few meetings with the architects & engineer have been dedicated to all the final details before bidding and construction starts in earnest. I have never built or renovated a building before and the number of decisions to make is excruciating. Fortunately, the team at Powell is well organized and extremely helpful in working through everything.

I spent three hours last Thursday going over the final layout and finish details, which is everything from placing the fermentation tanks down to how wide I want the counter-tops to be. (In the northwest corner & 30 inches, please.) One thing that we discussed at length was the design of the tap room, how to finish the ceiling and walls, and how to handle lighting.

The picture below is a rendering of one proposed design, looking from the brewery/street entrance to the bar. This might be a little heavy on wood, but it has the feel that I'm going for. Forgive the picture quality and water stain on the right, this is a scan of a printout that I took with me.

I'm also excited to post an architectural drawing of the brewery below. Main Street is to the right and 9th Street is at the top of this drawing. One of the recent changes that I think is pretty exciting is the addition of tables & bar-top seating open to the actual brewery.

We have another review scheduled this week, hopefully to nail down the remaining details and get the heavy construction started.

Third tasting was a success

The new logo...slick!

Per yesterday's tweet, I was pouring beers at Fat Bottom's third public offering (the first two were parties hosted by friends). The event was an open house hosted by the architect & contractor working on the brewery, Powell Design Studio.

Around 50 people showed up over the course of the evening and it was fun to meet folks, talk up the brewery and hear what they thought of the beer. I also got to unveil the final black-and-white version of the new logo, delivered just a day earlier. The designers are working on the color version now.

On tap were test batches of wheat ale, a sweet stout and a coffee porter. (I do need to figure out some better names for these brews.) Most people had the wheat, as the lightest beer, but architect and east-sider Manley was going nuts over the porter and making sure everyone tried it. The beer got lots of compliments and nobody spit it out, so that's good.

Thank you to Steve Powell and everyone at PDS for hosting and letting me share the beery love!

Starting the TTB Process

As you might imagine, alcohol production is a highly regulated industry in the United States. Breweries must go through a multi-month process with the Feds before beginning operations including background checks, inspections and a variety of tax registrations.

I started that process today, using the new Permits Online website provided by the Tax and Trade Bureau. "Sweet," I thought, imagining how easy it would be to use this brand new web application and thinking how much faster the process would be over filling out paper forms.

Yeah, right.

I don't doubt that they spent millions creating a clunky and pretty basic site that would embarrass most web developers. And only the Federal Government, in this day and age, would create a web application that only works on Internet Explorer. (Ever heard of JQuery? Scriptaculous? MooTools? They make cross-browser development easy and they're all free!)

My least favorite "feature": When you resume an application (which actually is a nice feature...start now, finish later), you must resubmit every page that you've completed so far, without any ability to navigate forward or back in the process. And the applications are long...some are 10 pages or more.

</rant>

To their credit, it does appear that the submissions work once you get past the browser issues and I'm sure the site will streamline the existing application & registration process. I guess we will confirm that once I am (or am not) brewing next spring.

PS- Dear TTB, please don't hold up my application for beer-making and tax-paying. I still love you, even if your web app is busted.

Brewery Preview

A month later, I finally have photos of the space.

View Larger Map

I announced on Twitter (but not here) that Fat Bottom Brewing will open up at 900 Main Street in East Nashville, in part of the old Fluffo/Capitol City Mattress factory.

The space that I've leased is the corner at 9th Street and Main, with the blue awning and small windows, about 5,500 square feet total. It sounds like a lot, but we are going to be packing it in pretty tight. I might have gotten away with a little less space, but not by much.

I've been working with Powell Design & Construction Studios, which has been great. They have worked on other brewery projects, are involved in design and build-out of other tenant spaces in the building, and are based in East Nashville. The team has great ideas for layout and have really helped me think about how the space will be used.

A few things like roof repairs are moving forward and we're close to putting the rest of the work out to bid. Before we begin clean up and construction, I wanted to quickly show what the building looks like today. The place looks like a mess in these photos (and it is), but you'll just have to imagine.

Tap room and courtyard

To the right is a shot from inside the tap room, looking from where the bar will be towards the eventual courtyard, which still has a roof over it.


To the left is the walkway looking from the tap room towards the brewery itself.

I should probably explain that the layout of this building is split across the middle with an old brick wall which that arched doorway goes through.

The whole Fluffo factory was an amalgam of buildings that went up over time. I have leased two (connected) structures in the oldest part of the complex. The brewery will be in the original building on the site, at the corner of 9th and Main. Packaging, storage, and the tap room will be in the next building back along 9th. I neglected to take any shots of the packaging and storage area, but it is just a big empty space.

The brewery

Finally, here are a few shots in the brewery itself. The first is looking toward Main Street while standing in front of the archway shown below.

The second is from the front doors on Main looking to the back of the building. Obviously all the walls and wires hanging down will go away.

Finally, this is a photo of a doorway in the brewery that will be opened up. This shot is looking toward 9th Street while standing next to the interior dividing wall mentioned above. This is an old building with a lot of architectural details that have been covered up over the years, which I want to restore where possible.

Note the brick archway (structural!) and the window to the right, which I'm also planning to replace. The window was just faced with brick on the outside...they didn't even bother taking out most of the glass!

The other cool thing in this photo, which I hadn't ever seen before, are the tile blocks that were used to the right of the archway. They're square blocks made of terra cotta (or something similar) that were used to build up the wall like we would use cinder blocks today. A lot of the walls in here were constructed like that and we will expose and keep as many as possible.

Once we've finished layout and the construction drawings are complete, I'll post a diagram of how it all fits together.

I'm bad with the updates

Baby P. Yes, I was reading
The Plague to her.

Sorry for going radio silent over the last few months here, on the twitter, etc.  I've been busy, but not always with the brewery planning. Upon leaving Qualifacts I spent some time getting the house in order, playing with baby Parker, and perfecting my beer and bread recipes.

For the brewery, I've spent time meeting other brewers (and proto-brewers like me), getting the money together, looking at a TON of buildings for lease, choosing equipment, checking references, etc. I've got accounting and CRM systems in place, graphic design in the works and did a BBQ and beer tasting party last weekend with friends and former co-workers.

Today I finally ordered the equipment and I'm wishing I had done it two months ago instead of waiting. I'm getting a 15 barrel steam brewhouse (465 gallons of delicious beer per batch) from Premier Stainless in San Diego.  I looked at a number of companies, got quotes, and checked with their customers. I only heard and read good things about Premier and their price was right.  We'll have four fermentation tanks to start and one finishing tank, which is more than enough to get things off the ground.

The only thing that is frustrating is the lead time on getting everything delivered...folks are telling me that a year ago it took 12 weeks to delivery and it is twice that now.  Apparently there are a lot of start-ups out there this fall, putting heavy demand on manufacturers and the used equipment market.  And then, once everything is delivered and hooked up, I still have to wait for the Feds to give me permission to operate which could take months. My planned April opening is looking pretty unlikely right now.

Ambiguous interior shot.
Doesn't look like much, yet.

In other news, I've got a (great) location lined up. I don't want to announce anything yet, as the lease has not been signed, but everything is negotiated and I expect to sign in the next day or two.  The architect has been through and done preliminary drawings and we will file for building permits in the next 30 days.

Think happy thoughts for the next 9 months: we'll have a beer garden, sausage, cheese, olives, pickled vegetables and fresh bread. And beer, lots of beer.

I'm getting pretty excited.

Update from the field

First off, I've already missed my goal of posting here at least once per week. Unfortunately, there is not too much news, but here is what I know:

Black Abbey + Fat Bottom Collide

I had dinner (and beers, obviously) with Carl, Mike and John from Black Abbey, another start-up brewery here in Nashville. I was the one who showed up late – sorry guys. They are nice people and good drinking buddies and I walked away with new insight and information about the industry and brewing as a business. Thanks!

I've been trying to get in touch with the various established and proto-breweries in town, with mixed results. Everyone I've talked to is friendly and open, sometimes it's just hard to find contact information. Next up is the ladies from Jackalope, who I'm meeting next week (and excited to do so).

The Search is On

The major activity from the last few weeks has been finding space to open up in. Being in the core of the city is important to me, so I have been focused on the Germantown, East Nashville, and SoBro neighborhoods.

I've looked at a dozen locations so far, most of which are good prospects, but I haven't found "the One" yet. My goal was to have a lease signed by Labor Day, which might still happen but is a stretch at this point. Once a lease is signed though, I'll be free to order equipment and I will be shouting it from the rooftops.

And that's all I've got for now.

This isn't a zero-sum game

When you start looking, there are a lot of Nashville breweries and pubs in planning or production, to say nothing of the national craft beer scene.  Most people would throw in the towel, as it looks like there is way too much competition.

That's not the way I see it. I think that building a craft scene and appreciation of great beers will benefit all of us. Our respective sales are not a zero-sum game.  I don't think that a pint Yazoo sells is a pint that I (will) miss out on. Every sale that any of us makes is one that Budweiser & Miller/Coors lost.

Craft beer, as popular as it is, still only represents less than 5% of sales in the United States, and that is split among almost 1,800 different breweries and brewpubs. That tells me there is still tremendous opportunity to change minds and drinking habits, and an opportunity to create a sustainable business.

That is what I'm basing Fat Bottom Brewing on...the chance to convert another beer drinker to a better product.

Fat Bottom Business - This is going to happen.

For years, I have been that guy who keeps talking about this great idea: I'm gonna go make beer, everyone will love it, etc., but never did anything about it.  I've been itching to start my own company, but I couldn't take the plunge.  A few weeks ago, that changed.

I was talking with a friend, who had a friend, who had a warehouse that "some new brewery" was checking out. I came home that night, told my wife about it, and got that sick feeling in my chest when you know that you've really screwed something up. For two years I've talked about brewing as a business and I was always regretful that I hadn't done it. Hearing that somebody else was starting was the kick in the ass I needed. I don't want to be sitting at home two years from now, talking about a missed opportunity and wishing I had done something back in 2011.

The roller-coaster

I can't put it off any longer. I pulled out my business plan from two years ago and revised, refined, and updated it for 2011. I made my financial model better, I made my sales plan more realistic, and settled on a name from my list of about 150 options. I slept on it for a few weeks, got advice, and tried to figure out why I shouldn't do this.

Should I walk away from a secure job at a great company? Could I lose a lot of money? Will I be a disappointment? There are a lot of good reasons for not doing this, but I'll only be disappointed if I don't.

I made the decision, got funding together, incorporated, and turned my resignation. Today I told the 80 people I work with that, after 8 years with the same company, it was time for me to move on. I expected feelings of disappointment and betrayal and got a round of applause instead. (Thank you.)

This is a start-up in a high-risk, tough, competitive, you-probably-won't-make-it industry, but one that I want to be a part of. I'm passionate about beer (great beer!) and that's why I am doing this. I LOVE beer and I want to make somebody else love it, too. I'm not under any illusions that I will get to brew all day and make money. Like any business, this is an exercise in sales, marketing, and operations. I want to take my shot, risk failure and know that I at least tried.

Tonight I am happy. No doubt there are difficult times ahead and days where nothing goes my way. Fat Bottom Brewing may crash and burn or it may be wildly successful, but I won't be in the same place two years from now, wishing I had started when I had the opportunity.

Say hello to Fat Bottom Brewing.