Factotum Brewhouse

My first thought was - "that sounds neat." Then I read more details and thought it sounded like a horrible idea.
If you were interested in something like this, there are probably a lot better and cheaper ways to go about brewing a larger/retail batch.
Still, it's always hard to tell what will take off.

 

Very interesting niche concept, but holy price tag!! I sure hope you go home with a couple kegs rather than just a pat on the back. And what if your recipe ideas are abominations, do they still brew it because you have the dough? Lots of questions here...

When I lived elsewhere there was a local homebrew shop that had a similar concept. You scheduled a time, paid for the session/ingredients and the staff stepped you through how to brew on your own. I never thought it would be a lucrative idea since there are way cheaper options for homebrewing but boy was I wrong. I think it'll definitely have it's place but I feel like it'll attract more of your make-a-wish/brewer-for-a-day crowd rather than the serious "competition entering" homebrewer crowd, but I could be very wrong. Especially if I was a homebrewer thinking about going pro, I wouldn't be sharing my playbook.

 

I also see it as a horrible idea for two reasons: The first has already been said. Why would a homebrewer with a good recipe do this in the first place? The second is why, as a consumer, would I want to drink here? No staples I know are going to be there and good each time, no consistent quality, no name-recognition. The only way I could see this working is if the beer was insanely cheap (as it should be).

I love trying other peoples homebrew and do it all the time. Would I pay for it? Hell no. That's ridiculous.

 

This is about the funniest thing I've heard all week, and I'm completely in.

 

If we're going to make the biggest mistake ever, that could be as simple as a Czech Pilsner using tons of summit and extra late simcoe hops. Nothing like butter crossed with salty onions and cat pee.

 

I'm a little confused how they can even claim to "own a recipe." Is that even possible?

 

Recipes are worthless.

Here's Superpower.
975# 2-Row
40# Crystal 30L
36# Munich II
33# Wheat
17.44# Citra
16.12# Amarillo
15.4# Simcoe
1.51# Chinook
WLP001

Go nuts.

 

Dauss is a boss

 

I wish a lot more home brewers who want to open a brewery would go there and brew on a larger system. Just because you can make a great 5 gallon batch doesn't mean that recipe can translate to a barrel. It would let guys dial in recipes on a bigger system before shelling out a bunch of $$$ for actual equipment and renting space. If you are an aspiring brewery owner you could go there and make some stellar batches and get some name recognition going for yourself. I like the idea. If it saves places from having bad home brew for their brewery opening then I am all for it.

 

that recipe is far from worthless

 

I've got a golden ticket.... I've got a golden twinkle in my eye....

Oh wait... no brewing equipment, weights, times, or anything?!?

But I do have $400.....

best of luck to them, but idk how many people will line up to sell their recipes.

 

Great point. But would have been more salient 5 years ago. Not that there aren't more aspiring brewers, but I think the capacity (in Denver area) is ceiling-ing. And who wants to pay to drink a brewer's "dialing in"? Well, I guess people are doing it now

I like the concept, but the biz model seems astringent. Pay to brew, pay to drink, lose "recipe"---but that doesn't sound too big of a deal. And only open 3 days a week? Hope the best, but I have doubts

 

Big mistake! Everyone get ready for Powell014's Superpowerest IPA on tap soon at Factotum.

 

I don't see it as selling a recipe, but as a chance to have a brew-day on a big system. It doesn't seem so bad to me. Try going to Avery and tell them you want to brew in their brewhouse. I doubt it will happen. Most homebrewers will probably have to enter a lot of comps to win a pro-am, and between the entry fees and cost of ingredients, I bet it will add up to more than $400. I wouldn't imagine they'd have three homebrewers a week lining up to brew, but maybe once a month someone would want to do it.

Recipes really aren't that special, so i don't see giving one up as a big deal.

 

I think they were by Stomp Them Grapes, which was close to CS, and has since closed.