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Designing a meadery (floorplan)

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thorsday

NewBee
Registered Member
Mar 28, 2013
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I'm a long time homebrewer looking to start up a small-scale (~5000 gallons in the first year) meadery.

I've developed a business plan and trudged through most of the legal documents and issues, but there is one thing I can't seem to find any information on: what are the legal requirements for the facility itself?

I don't own any suitable property, so I'll be renting. Which brings up the following questions:
What zoning does a meadery fall under. Commercial? Industrial? Does it even matter?
What type of facilities are required for the building? I'm assuming it requires an alarm system, temperature control, water/power, sufficient drainage, and possibly a water treatment system. Am I missing anything? And how much drainage is typically necessary?
Aside from fermentation vessels, aging vessels, and a bottling/labeling area, are there any mandatory requirements for equipment?

Feel free to offer any other tips, but I'm mostly looking for pointers on the design of the meadery itself (or possibly even a sample floorplan that I could adapt to fit my needs).

And thanks in advance to anyone who can help out!
 
Honey storage room ~78*F
Fermentation room 55-72*F (each tank can have its own temp controll but if the room is around the right temp it helps)
Aging room 55-60*F for barrels and stainless tanks
Cellaring room 55*F for holding bottles before release
Ferment 1 week
Age 6 weeks
Cellar 2 weeks
3 months from must to pakages bottle, for average mead, some may need longer.
This is just an idea, I have no experience, but this is how I would do it.
 
I am currently living on the northern end of Delaware, so we'll either be starting up there (we'd be the first in the state, I believe), southeast PA, or middle Delaware depending on where the most appropriate facilities are found. Distribution laws are equally Draconian in either state, but I've gotten them figured out.

And we're planning on just making the mead there. I know a few restaurants that'd be happy to host tastings, and I figure I'll leaving the cooking to the experts.

Even if noone knows the answers exactly, is there a specific place I should be looking? Do I just go to the chamber of commerce for each county and ask them, or would it be somewhere else?
 
I don't know specifically, but one place you could ask would be at a winery local to the location you are looking at, since I think all states consider mead wine for the purpose of production.
 
I would also looking into visiting other meaderies, wineries and breweries in the area, and while they are talking about your standard malt barley hops or honey water yeast. You'll be looking at how they use their space, so when you're looking for a building you can come up with some solutions for potential space problems.
 
I'd suggest contacting your states alcohol control board/dept. They'll be the main body governing the rules in your state. They'll dictate how you would be licensed. Then, contact the city or county you are in (depending whether you live in the city limits, or unincorporated areas). They'll be the ones that dictate zoning laws. Even city/county is different. In my area (Sacramento, CA), the way the nearby county's and cities handle zoning is VERY different. And we're in "wine country" . Research the zoning first to see where its easiest and cheapest to locate.

Also, just my $0.02, 5000 gallons in your first year is VERY aggressive. Most of the meaderies I've spoken with describe finding a market for the product as the most difficult part. If your business plan is dependent on this volume, really do you homework first to make sure this is realistic in your area.
 
Have to say I'm curious to know who this is, because we know a good chunk of the meadmakers in DE through our brew club and thought we were the only one in planning here in DE.
 
Guinlilly said:
Have to say I'm curious to know who this is, because we know a good chunk of the meadmakers in DE through our brew club and thought we were the only one in planning here in DE.
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I don't think we've ever met. Actually, I didn't even know there was a brew club in DE. I'm a recent UD grad, and I home-brewed throughout most of college (got into it through winemaking). I started considering the idea of running a meadery after all my friends had told me how great the stuff I made was and started asking to buy it off me. After I graduated, I worked as an engineer for awhile, but I really hated my job. So after getting through most of the research and developing a broad enough portfolio of mead that I can make with good consistency, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.

I'm fairly new to the online mead community though, but I'd love to chat or even swap notes.
 
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thorsday said:
I don't think we've ever met. Actually, I didn't even know there was a brew club in DE. I'm a recent UD grad, and I home-brewed throughout most of college (got into it through winemaking). I started considering the idea of running a meadery after all my friends had told me how great the stuff I made was and started asking to buy it off me. After I graduated, I worked as an engineer for awhile, but I really hated my job. So after getting through most of the research and developing a broad enough portfolio of mead that I can make with good consistency, I decided to throw my hat in the ring.

I'm fairly new to the online mead community though, but I'd love to chat or even swap notes.
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We have some pretty strong brew clubs here in DE. Slower Lower has DUH (Delmarva United Brew Club) founded by Sam Calagione and Doug Griffith at the DFH pub. One of our members, Ronnie Price, is the NHA president. Up north there is a group but I can't seem to find their name right now but they come down to our meetings frequently.
 
When you do come up with your floor plan, and the other information you're looking for I would love to hear...I'm in the infant stages of planning a meadery in southern Oregon and am just beginning my research into all the various issues involved...:)
 
I was also planning on starting a commercial meadery and I was wondering if anyone knew people who owned a commercial meadery. It would be a major help to know how much they sold in their first year, what size bottles they have, if they have/would be open to a distributorship, and what advertizing they did.
 
Undead said:
I was also planning on starting a commercial meadery and I was wondering if anyone knew people who owned a commercial meadery. It would be a major help to know how much they sold in their first year, what size bottles they have, if they have/would be open to a distributorship, and what advertizing they did.
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If you search deeper through the forums, you can find the answers to most of those questions.

In some states, (Delaware included), you have to go through a distributor.
And I've found out that in Delaware, the zoning laws range anywhere from conditional use under commercial property to Heavy Industrial, based on county/city. (Agricultural is possible if you own a farm, but most people don't).

I've still not had much luck on finding out if the state requires anything specific in terms of health/environmental regulations. Still looking for a good place to rent in the meantime.
 
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