Rules, Regulations and the City of Los Angeles

I love a challenge.  I love working through an already existing system and to exploit it.  I'm really good at it.

I'm a problem solver, so much so that my husband has to preface some conversations with "I'm not looking for a solution." My ability to problem solve along with never taking no for an answer makes for a heady combination when you mix in the City of Los Angeles Planning Department.

Most cringe at the mention of the City of Los Angeles Planning Department and all that it entails.  I was fortunate to be introduced to Mark Bevelaqua of the Restaurant Hospitality Program.  Mark is a case manager that  walks your plans through every department/division/section for approval. No waiting hours in lines or for your number to be called.  Everything is by appointment.  It is an awesome program.

My first meeting (called a predevelopment meeting) was with Mark and the city engineer.  The city engineer looks at the location and determines if the site can be used as desired.  Based on your preliminary plans (mine were hand drawings of the building with my proposed floor plan), the city engineer calculates the parking requirements based on the occupancy use and load which are determined by your preliminary plans.  The city engineer also determines if the structure is fit to house your proposed use (is your building made out of combustible material, will it need fire sprinklers?)  He/she will also want to see that the structure can support the weight of our grain storage on the second floor and the weight of the tanks on the ground level.

I did all my research before the predevelopment meeting.  I knew the zoning requirements for a microbrewery within the city of Los Angeles (M1-2, light manufacturing).  I knew that I could not stray outside of that zoning, so I only looked at buildings that were zoned M1-2.  This is very important.   Can you imagine signing a lease for a building and you didn't do your due diligence, then going to planning to be told you can't have a brewery in your newly leased building?  Stick to your zone and be aware of pitfalls.  A zone approved for a brewery in one city may not be approved another (Culver City does not allow a brewery in light manufacturing).

I researched the Environmental Health department requirements for our tasting room.  Environmental Health has a great Retail Construction Guideline document that lists all the requirements for restaurants and bars.  I also checked out the building code for requirements on parking, explosive dust, waste management, and city code for our conditional use permit (on and off site sale of alcohol).

My preliminary hand drawn plans addressed everything that I could think of.  I came prepared.  I didn't want to waste any one's time.  Last Tuesday, I met with Mark the case manager, the city engineer, three waste management engineers, and a city planning.  I got there at 9:30 AM and left after 6PM. Wednesday, I met with the fire engineer about the explosive dust and required fire separations.  Friday, I met with an Environmental Health Specialist to review our plans for the tasting room.

I took tons of notes and quickly learned that my research only uncovered the first layer of City of Los Angeles building code onion.  Each meeting revealed more layers to maneuver and navigate in order to accomplish our goal.  The help of all the engineers has been instrumental in developing an overall plan that will breeze through plan check.

The best part of the Restaurant Hospitality Program is that the engineers I met with will be the same to sign off on our plan during plan check.  There will be no reinventing the wheel with different plan check engineers.

It's all about who you know...and accepting offers of help.

I'm lucky.  Really, really lucky.  I have a wonderful loving healthy family, a devoted husband that is letting me start this brewery and incredible friends that support me with every beer connection they have (media, industry and drinkers).

While on vacation last week, a dear friend (Thanks Jennifer!) reached out to me about an interview for a national beer blog (SaveOnBeer.com/blog).  It has over 28,000 subscribers (Yikes!) and recently interviewed the great Russian River Brewing Company Brewer/Owner Vinnie Cilurzo.  

SaveOnBeer.com/blog happens to be focusing on Japanese beer this week thus thought it was a good fit to interview Three Weavers and publicize our Umami Beer™. 

Check out the interview here: Save On Beer Interview

With any new business publicity is important.  Free publicity is the best!  Three Weavers is working hard to spread the word about Umami Beer.

So if you have a friend that loves beer, spread the word!  We will be launching a KickStarter Campaign in a few months to fund our tasting room.   We want our supporters to have a say in what goes into the tasting room, since you will be the ones enjoying it.

Playing with the Big Boys!

Right after you decide to open up a brewery, you start fantasizing about the brewhouse.   There are so many options, it's like a home brewer in an hops store that has every single hop.  You want everything.  But as you plan how to use all those hops, you realize that some hops don't go well with other, some provide more bitter characteristics than others, some are just for aroma.  Selecting becomes quite overwhelming.  You only have so much pocket money to spend.  You don't want to buy something you aren't going to use.

It's the same with a brewhouse.  I have sat on top of quotes since February.  I have read, and reread every opinion on size, number of vessels, even mash tuns vs mash filters.  You name it, I read it.  It's just now that I have made my decision.  It took a long time and it was a long road but well worth the final product.

Brewhouses are measured in barrel (bbl) sizes or in Hectoliters (hl).  A 20 hl system is equivalent to a 17 bbl system.  You will see brewhouse systems in 15 bbl, 25 bbl, 30 bbl, 50 bbl, and on up.  Most new breweries buy the biggest system they can afford.  What is important to grasp at this point is that it's a numbers game.   When you get quotes for systems, you will quickly find that the 20 bbl system is NOT 2/3 the cost of the 30 bbl system.  What?!?  Here's why:  The labor cost to make the 20 bbl tank is very close to the 30 bbl tank.  It's just a little bigger.  The labor cost increases a little.  The increase in cost is mostly attributed to the additional cost of material.   The system difference ends up being about a 15% increase.  But the 15% additional cost will equate into 50% more production length (you can produce 50% more on the 30 bbl system than on the 20 bbl system).   

Another factor to consider is the number of vessels your brewhouse will have.  Many great beers are produced on a two vessel system (mash/lauter tun and Kettle/whirlpool).  By separating the mash and lauter tuns and Kettle and whirlpool, you have a four vessel brewhouse.  It allows back to back brewing in a more efficient timeframe (start a new brew every 3 hours).  The separate mash and lauter tun also allows more complex decoction (for drier German Oktoberfest beers and lagers).

This is just the beginning of all the equipment needed to function as a brewery.  Every brewhouse manufacturer makes their system different from the next.  For Three Weavers, the brewhouse and its manufacturer had to meet the following:

Allows us to grow without growing pains or physical pains.
Allows us the opportunity to offer LA contract brewers a place in LA to brew.
Have excellent track record in their prior systems and customer service.
Have an incredible warranty.
Share our views that employees are family, and treat them so.

Many met the mark, but one stood out.

Three Weavers will be brewing on a 30 bbl 4 vessel system from Prospero.

Why so big?  Every successful brewer that I have asked has told me to go big, at least a 25-30 bbl system.   The reasons are clear, it takes the same amount of time and effort to brew one batch on a 15 bbl system as it does on a 30 bbl system.  But you end up with twice the amount of beer.   These Big Boys are doing it right so I'm following their footprints.

I could go on and on about systems but will end here.  Email me if you have questions.

Three Weavers featured on FoodGPS!

Check out the article featuring Three Weavers!

http://www.foodgps.com/lynne-weaver-three-weavers-brewing/

You will see our most updated logo.  Still working on the fonts but looks pretty good so far.  Thanks Chris Davis!

Will update with another post in a day or two.  So much is going on, it's a bit of a mind bend (but in a good way!)