putting your brewery in a shed

[Beerdude]

Hi Guys

I'm not sure this is the right section to put my topic in but I couldn't find the right place to do so.

I've been home brewing for a while in the kitchen now and have been thinking of upgrading. And I would like to sell my bottles. I know there is loads of red tape involved in trying to sell your bottles, but long term I'd like to upgrade to a proper brewery so I might as well get used to it.

For the time being I would like to start a 200 l brewery in a shed in my garden. I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this; from a brewing point of view but also from an admin (planning permission, ...) point of view.

If I wouldn't want to sell my beers, I know I wouldn't need a planning application for brewing in the shed, but the whole 'wanting to sell' thing changes a few things; apparently I need a planning permission for erecting a dwelling and then a planning application for a change of use to a commercial brewery.

I would love to hear from people who have been or are in similar situations.

I'm in St Albans, Herts.

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

Right where to start with this one:-

1) you don't necessarily need planning permission unless this is a sizable shed or you are in a conservation area. Different councils have different ideas with this, I was going to convert the garage at home but decided against it
2) you deffo need a food safety certificate..
3) you will need permission from your buildings insurers
4) you will need to register as a brewery with HMRC and do monthly returns
5) you will probably need permission from the local water provider for supply and for effluence
6) think it through carefully. You will be creating a lot of spent malt and hops that need to be removed, if you are brewing 200 litres on a regular basis, you will be using 25kg of dry malt per brew at least an probably a kilo of hops, when wet these are heavy
7) how do you get on with your neighbours?? you will be creating a few smells, and you will be attracting a few fruit flys no matter what you do.
8) if you brewed 200 litres, that is approx. 400 bottles, where are you going to store all of these per brew whist they condition up?
9) on the subject of storage, buying malt in bulk is a good idea but this tends to be delivered by a lorry on a pallet at 1 tonne at a time, that is 40 bags...where are you going to put it that it is not going to attract the odd rat a tat tat!! You could buy from Fawcetts, their minimum order is 10 bags a go but still takes up a lot of space...Also bear in mind that if you are brewing, you deffo do not want your malt in the same area as a steamy pot...

For the above reasons I decided that brewing from the garage with a 2.5 Bbl kit was not a good idea so now am using the garage to store my big kit whilst I get it all built...I intend to shove a 5Bbl in a unit somewhere local. I have just built the fermenter, just the HLT, Copper and cask washer to go

 

[Beerdude]

Thank you for that.
We are in a conservation area indeed and we will start talking to our neighbours in the coming weeks. I don't think we need planning permission for putting up the shed, because it's within the limits, but I do think we need planning permission to use it as a brewery...
We did consider starting on a bigger scale (6bbl) from the start but the financial risk was to big to just go and jump for that. The cost of kegs and casks was just frightening...
I think we'll still be ordering our grains from the home-brew shops. They are able to supply the right quantities per brew so we won't have to struggle with high inventory. It also makes us flexible in choosing our suppliers.
We've been reading though the microbrewers handbook (recommended!), it had lots of useful information.

 

[Dronfieldbrewer]

Buying malt is one of your biggest outgoings. It makes sense to get the best that you can and afford.

 

[Fil]

With my 100l set up in the shed, after upgrading from a 23-5l patio set up, smells, fruit fly's and other nuisances are nothing compared to the result of digging over a small compost heap so as long as your steam vent isnt inches away from and pointing at the neighbours laundry drying on their line you shouldnt have any probs..

for a private set up its just power water and drainage/waste removal that are the initial hurdles.

good luck and keep us updated with the project as u progress.

 

[mixale]

I thought that Bobs Brewery was being produced in a "home based" setup.
Apparently not. He's now using the 4brl kit at The Farmers Boy.

I'm only in Hemel and selling bottled beer from my 70lt system.

 

[Beerdude]

I thought that Bobs Brewery was being produced in a "home based" setup.
Apparently not. He's now using the 4brl kit at The Farmers Boy.

I'm only in Hemel and selling bottled beer from my 70lt system.

I though he was brewing in the shed in the back of the pub, I wonder how he can fit a 4 BBL setup in there.
How easy do you find it to sell locally?
Are you brewing in a shed or in your home?
Thanks.

 

[yoyomet]

It maybe that not all conservation areas are the same but you can't even point a garden wall or trim a tree without planning permission where I live. You might get away with a shed (via planning permission) for private use of the household and if it can't be seen from public areas but I think it will be very difficult to operate a business from the shed in a conservation area. Most importantly the only people that can advise you are the local planning officers and it will only be advice - nothing is certain until the planning application goes through. Sorry this is a bit negative.

 

[Beerdude]

I called the planning guys last week and I can put up a showed up to 10 square meter without a problem, it's just using it as a brewery that might raise some questions.

 

[mixale]

I though he was brewing in the shed in the back of the pub, I wonder how he can fit a 4 BBL setup in there.
How easy do you find it to sell locally?
Are you brewing in a shed or in your home?
Thanks.

Brewing in a detached garage at the side of the house without any neighbours on that side so that's a bonus.

Mostly selling via work colleagues. I don't have any local outlets yet, only started last year. But looking to try and sell into the Bottle Shop etc in St Albans.