Not to revive an old thread, but just thought I'd provide an update. I've been away from the AHA forum for the better part of 9 months (ish?) so I'm sure there's a proverbial crap ton that I've missed in the discussion. I penned our lease in January, constructed the brewhouse and tap room for about 6 months (we're still not finished with a number of improvements on the "wish list") and opened our doors to the public July 20th, 2013. It's been the most physical, mental, emotional, stress-filled challenge of my life --- and it's been awesome!
The bad - it's pretty much as difficult as everyone warns you... even more so when you're self-financed and you get the opportunity to watch the pot of money drain on stupid stuff -- like replacing virtually every vital component of your 20 year old walk-in cooler compressor over the course of 3 weeks.
But, persevering has its rewards: 1 "day off" since January 1st and averaging four hours of sleep a night has a funny way of paying off (besides losing almost 20 pounds -- probably from the stress ;-) ):
![](http://www.greatamericanbeerfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/gabf2013_pr.jpg)
Cheers to the AHA forum, the great advice from the boys at KROC, the amazing community that is craft brewing, and the number of folks who've seen a lot around here and have taken the time to impart the wisdom.
Cheers -
Kyle
Wiley Roots Brewing.