The last couple of months I have been brewing all grain beers in small batches, mostly 2.5 gallons. I find this process easier. Although the brew day is not really shortened compared to a day brewing 5 gallons, several aspects of the brew day are easier. For one thing, there is less of everything: less water, less grain, less hops. That means that for less than $15 I can make a decent 5% beer on a weekend. It also means everything is easier to move, heat, and cool.
I like this easier process because it allows me to brew more often. I've brewed almost every weekend for the last six weeks or so. Typically I'll set up my equipment in the kitchen on Friday night, and start the strike water heating at about 8:00 am, and by noon I'm cleaning everything up. I've made two batches of an ESB, two Imperial Stouts, an IPA, and an English bitter. In the next month I'll be able to taste most of these and see how I'm doing.
Along with my increased interest in homebrewing, I've started thinking about the possibility of opening a nano-brewery. Although that is a trendy idea in the craft brewing world, it's also very appealing for someone like me with 1) no experience and 2) no money. For a small investment, I could open a very small (think one barrel) brewery that sells to walk-in customers and fills growlers maybe two or three days a week. I'd start with two or three beers, all in the English tradition, and sell growlers for the walk in / walk out folks. Also I'm considering the possibility of brewing on order; that is, letting interested folks with a recipe or beer idea have them brewed on our system. In this way the brewery would be intensely local and feel like a true shared experience. We could do this maybe once a month. This is all still in concept mode.
My biggest concern is my lack of experience brewing. While I've been homebrewing for about 7 years, I've only just gotten more serious about it in the last two or three and I still have a lot to learn. With all that said, though, I think it takes more than expertise to open a brewery. Mostly it takes balls; the willingness to give it a shot and deal with it if it fails. I've been so long in trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up that I think I'm ready to take a shot on something of interest.
For the system, I was thinking a one barrel (31 gallon) custom system built using Blichmann pots (55 gallon) and pumps to do the transfers. I'd have someone local weld the structure together based on a useful design. Initially I think I'd gas-fire the kettles. Long term I'd rather have an electric brewery run at least partially on solar power, but those dreams will have to wait for the future. As for fermenters, it would be nice to have at least three, so that it would be simple to rotate two year-round brews constantly, and have one fermenter available for seasonal / customer brews. I think I'd maintain a ten gallon system as well for experiments and some custom / seasonal brews (think big beers).
The whole general idea is a pub concept. While I love to cook and love to eat, and would love to have the pub be a restaurant also, I think the weekend pub idea is a great place to start and test the market. Find out whether people like the beer, and get the word out about filling growlers. In my experience living in different places, having a place you can go and get a growler filled is awesome, and the experience breeds repeat visits. And if you can sit and have a pint with a few folks while the growler is filling, so much the better.
This is all in concept still, and, I think, at least two years out. But I'm seriously thinking about how to get it done. In the meantime: brew, brew, brew!
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