I have had a longstanding love affair with beer and brewing, to put it mildly. This infatuation began roughly 10 years ago and has slowly progressed until it reached, what my wife Betsy would affectionately term, an "obsession." My travels through England, Belgium, Germany,the Czech Republic as well as the US allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of brewing traditions of the world. Wouldn't it be great if I could bring this knowledge back to my local community and produce a unique version of these rustic beers?
After a lot of thought, discussion and a few sleepless nights it was decided that I would pursue my dream. Isn't that what America is all about? For those of you just interested in the beers, brewing process and philosophy, you may want to skip to part 2! For those of you who want some insight into the evolution of a business, read on.
Brewing ain't easy
Guess what? It turns out that trying to start a new manufacturing business in a highly regulated, post credit meltdown environment isn't as easy as you would think. Although the craft beer market is really growing well right now, it's not as if there are bankers with buckets of money poised behind every corner. So how do you go about opening a new brewery? The first avenue we explored was to rent a commercial space, do a buildout and purchase a whole bunch of shiny stainless steel equipment. This idea was greeted with great approval by our contractors, real estate agent, equipment dealers and the other sundry professionals who would be making a tidy sum off of this new venture. The only minor issue with this plan was an enormous lack of funding to complete the project. Fortunately this concept was shelved before it really got off the ground.
After a short mourning period for my Willy Wonka-style brewery funhouse, complete with flowing river of stout, it was time for a new plan. (We will call this "Plan B") Plan B involved using a garage located on my property as the brewery facility. This garage was not enormous but had high ceilings, plenty of power and, oh by-the-way, I already owned it. The only downside was that it needed plumbing, but after a consultation with a plumber I was assured that it wouldn't be an issue. (See previous comments re: contractors) The best part is that my property is zoned for industrial use, an exciting fact which we learned when we bought the property. For those of you not familiar with the voodoo magic of zoning regulations this means that we are allowed to house an auto body shop, factory, brewery, etc. Sounds like a slam-dunk, right?
Not so fast
After doing some research into the feasibility of brewing in my garage I decided to consult with my town's building inspector. For those of you who have never dealt with a building department in your town what you may not know is that these departments hold a lot of power. It is their job to enforce building codes, zoning regulations and general law and order. This would be my first step in approving my new brewing location.
While the building inspector himself was extremely helpful, it turns out that there was some confusion regarding the actual zoning of my property. Despite what the zoning map said, despite what my deed said, despite what my real estate agent said, despite what the closing attorney had said, I would have to apply to the zoning board of appeals to determine whether or not I could use my garage for an industrial purpose.
No problem! Fill out a bunch of forms, get some documents from the registry of deeds, provide blueprints and plot plans. This is stuff I am getting used to. Maybe it is a good idea to hire a lawyer to help with my application to the board of appeals. Remember the closing attorney? He seemed like a great candidate to help out with this little project, and after consulting with him it seemed almost impossible that I wouldn't be granted the variance. So I left the lawyer's office with my head held high, whistling a happy tune and picturing my beers bubbling away snug in their new home.
After a few days, I had heard nothing. Days turned into a week. I called the lawyer's office. He was on vacation, but would be back before the filing deadline. Another week. Another phone call. There was some research being done to clarify a couple of issues. Finally we spoke on the phone. Apparently my inquiry had uncovered a serious error in the zoning maps for my neighborhood. It turns out that my house is zoned for industrial purposes, but my garage is in a residential zoning area. Huh? Plan B was dead in the water. But I had provided a valuable civic service with my time, money and research to expose an issue with the local zoning maps.
What now?
My brewery plans were on hold and I was trying to figure out where to turn next. My latest inspiration turned out to come from an unlikely source, my friend Scott Green sent me an email about a beer-themed reality show that would be shooting in the Boston area soon. After several interviews, photo shoots, and enlisting Chris Dornbach as my partner we were on the show!
For those that didn't see it, the show was called "History on Tap" and was shot at the Harpoon Brewery and locations around Boston (and my back yard). It aired on the History Channel in December. Our task was to brew a Pilgrim-style beer that would compete against another team's beer. Members of the public would choose the winner and that beer would be brewed by Harpoon. We brewed a brown ale with sage, smoked malt and aged it on oak. Our beer won the competition and we brewed a version of it with Harpoon in the fall of 2010.
Unfortunately the show only aired once and was cut down to a half-hour. I could write a whole new chapter about the makings of a reality show, but I will save that for another day. The bottom line is that the show gave me the confidence and the motivation to work on a new plan for the brewery. If anyone is interested in the show or trying the beer, let me know!
Enter the Cody
One of the folks that I have met in the brewing industry who has been the most helpful and supportive just happens to have a brewery right down the street from me, Sean Cody of Cody Brewing Company. After regaling him with my tales of woe, he offered up an extremely generous solution to my problem. He had some extra space and needed some help around his brewery, why didn't I bring in my equipment and brew out of his facility? This simple idea ended up being the perfect fit for what I was trying to do.
In government-speak this is called an "alternating proprietorship" and allowed my to bypass some of the legal hurdles required for having my own brewing space. All of this work culminated in my submission of a package to the TTB, the federal agency which licenses breweries, in March of 2011.
What's on the Horizon?
There is still a lot of work to be done to get the brewery up and running. We are shooting to have the big kickoff event for Riverwalk Brewing on July 1, 2011 at the Amesbury Brewfest! In the meantime, please follow our progress at our facebook page and let us know if you have any questions or comments.
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