This whitepaper describes the challenges and possibilities of boat-based (mostly) small scale brewing of beer. It discusses the motivations, open questions, and possible solutions.
Recent events have lead to an increased interest in gardening, self sufficiency, DIY work, and similar from scratch pursuits, beyond the doomsday prepper sub-cultures they often interest. The homebrewing world has always had an interest in being as self contained as possible combined with a very strong DIY ethic. The combination of these factors and a desire to leave life on land behind brings up the possibility of water-born brewing. This could be either ocean, lake, or even river based - depending on the brewers' needs and preference for opened or closed waterways.
For the proposes of this paper we will assume that there are three size scales for brewing. In reality there is much more of a continuum but for simplicity three scales should illustrate things well enough.
Homebrew scale will be considered anything in the maximum of 100 to 200 gallon range per year - this is a legal limit and definition in the United States.
Microbrew is defined as anything larger than homebrew but fewer than 15,000 U.S. barrels in production volume a year. A mircobrew operation is likely to be the most realistic scale for boat-based brewing - allowing for flexibility within the limitations (see below) and maximizing possible profit.
Macrobrew is defined as brewing on what we can consider an industrial scale. It is unlikely that macrobrew can be done on a boat (unless something on the scale of a cruise ship can be obtained). This is not seen as a major loss.
There are several basic requirements for brewing: water, malted grains, yeast, hops and other additions, heat, and temperature controlled space for fermenting. To be Reinheitsgebot compliant, we can further simplify by removing the possibility of adjuncts. There is no Reinheitsgebot compliance issue based on production facility to the authors' knowledge.
Malted grains, yeast, hops and other additions are all easily procured on land and may be stored relatively easily assuming basic refrigeration for some of them. None of this should be significantly different for traditional brewing beyond the added logistics of delivery of ingredients to any mobile brewing operation.
Water is a more complicated situation. There are two uses of water in brewing. The first is simply that beer is composed mostly of water. This means a source of high quality, fresh water is needed. For homebrew size, 5-8 US Gallon batches this can be imported from land without much trouble.
Anything larger than homebrew scale might further complicate importing fresh water for an ocean-based boat brew. With that said, the seemingly limitless fresh water from U.S. Great Lakes offer a tempting alternative (though, with their own set of issues - particularly the rather harsh winters they withstand). It's worth noting that treated water from the Great Lakes (spare Erie) is incredibly desirable for brew operations. This may be solved for through either permanent docking and municipal taps (which may require further treatment depending on the water) or a deal with harbors and marinas to provide water to the boat as part of a seasonable docking or leasing of dock space. While a challenge not typical of a building-based brewery, it is not insurmountable.
The second use of water is as a thermal reservoir, generally to cool the wort very quickly. In this case, brewing on a boat provides several new options as there is an effectively limitless thermal reservoir in the ocean or lake (assuming we are not talking about industrial scale brewing). There may be local enviornmental considerations when docked that would need to be approved and sorted with local departments of natural resources - as even large air conditioning units in buildings are prohibited from dumbing otherwise untainted water back into the enviornment at a higher temperature.
The next major issue is heating the water. To brew, a large amount of
water must be boiling or otherwise heating in a controlled way. This
would most likely have to be done with natural gas heating elements
unless someother source of heating was available on the vessel.
There is also the possibility that electric heating elements
could be employed here as most boats already have powerful electricity
generators for vital operations and systems on the vessel - brewing
would qualify as a vital operation of a brewery boat.
On the heating note, the authors of this paper, while lacking any formal nautical training, are accomplished scroungers and interested in utilizing "wasted" energy. There may be some potential to utilize the "waste" heat generated by the boat's engine room in assisting (not driving) the boiling or mashing process. More research is needed.
Requirements for the vessel itself would be docking, mooring, applicable licensing, (potential) dry docking, fuel, and a crew capable of running a ship should it ever leave its dock.
Finally, the brewery would also require initial capital to purchase the necessary components for operations, including an appropriate boat, and hire employees. The authors of this paper do not yet know which ways a capital raise would be most effective, the target of the raise, or whom they would first approach for such an endeavor. It is worth noting that crowd-funding could very well be a viable option. Communities love owning a piece of business in a given area. Breweries tend to hold a special place in the hearts of locals.
There are a number of challenges this project would face - though this should not mean it is not worthy of study and contemplation.
The authors have outlined their three definitions of brewing scale earlier in this whitepaper. Acquisition costs, profits, and operational budgets may severely limit the viability of smaller microbrewing boats.
Homebrewers would likely not see much of an issue or change to their typical brewing process.
Marco-brewing would require a vessel well-beyond the expertise of the authors. Tankers, cruise ships, or some other blue water merchant ship would likely be needed to properly service their targeted barrel volume(s).
The, likely, most viable boat-brewery would use a smaller-sized merchant ship
or large oceanic tugboat as its brewery. Cursory internet research places a boat
that is appropriate for a brewery between 650,000 - 2,000,000 USD in 2023.
This does not include costs of retrofitting necessary equipment onto the boat.
(Humidity, temperature, and sloshing)
(Grain, hop, and yeast storage)
(Offers the rather niche intersection for brewhouse workers, needing to be sailors and brewers - or a larger workforce needed to fill these roles separately. Something about a chief mouser for the boat as well.)
(It would be worth putting down our business culture requirements in writing to reference. This may include leadership structure, decision making and equity offered to workers.)
Sustainability is often a 10-dollar word used by various organizations in an attempt to atone for any perceived or actual transgression against the environment or community. Sea-sick, or any boat-based brewery attempted by the authors, would commit sustainability with a deadly seriousness for a number of reasons.
As noted by the authors in the introduction, brewers are typically a tinkering bunch with a strong interest in all things self-sustaining. The authors believe that this can, and should, extend to the larger scale operations involved in a brewery - particularly a boat-based brewery.
Most modern sea-worthy vessels combust incredible amounts of fossil fuels. Considering that such a brewery would require a large vessel, the authors are sensitive to the fact that the main power plant of any ship they'd use would likely be diesel electric.
The authors suspect they would be able to help offset any power plant footprint in a few ways while ameliorating waste products.
Firstly, the deck of ship offer wonderful, unobstructed places perfect for solar panels. As solar becomes cheaper, the authors would necessarily include solar as part of any sustainability efforts on the boat. While electric heating elements large enough for the proper operation of a brewery may not be efficient, many other operations within a brewery need access to reliable electricity. Solar on the deck of the brewery could help lower costs and lower reliance on the grid or onboard power plant.
Secondly, the brewing process generates a great deal of bi-products that can be repurposed. It may be possible to add a thermoelectric generator to a brew kettle as a way to help reclaim some of the energy lost to heat itself. Additionally, if in a tidal area, such a boat could utilize small hydroelectric generators to capture the energy of the tide coming in and out. Alternatively, if docked in a river or area with running water, the same sort of generator could be used.
Thirdly, the materials used in beer production themselves are well-equipped for secondary use. Spent grains are perfect for making bread, biscuits, dog treats, or compost. Spent hops can see a second life as compost materials. Yeast cakes have long been used in the production of yeast extract products enjoyed by millions world wide.
The Canning section of this whitepaper will more fully delve into the authors'
plans for wider distribution, but it will adhere to the proposed brewery's
commitment to sustainability.
Most successful breweries offer between 3-5 beers that are available year-round. Our Flagship Series (pardon the pun) should include at least:
- lager, 2) IPA, 3) APA, and 4) stout. This offers a flexible range while limiting the variables of a baseline operation.
Additionally, we should offer 1-2 new beers per season, which leadership can decide what makes the most sense given resources and industry trends.
(As a boat-based brewery, we would need to be authorities on the latest in the industry and how to offer unique experiences to our customers)
(The beer/beverages produced would need to be damn good without calling attention to the boat)
(We need people to initially invest in our idea and leverage their connections to bring this thing to life - then retain those customers)
One of the most profitable ways for a brewery to distribute its product is a taproom. The advantages are quite clear: kegs can be reused, CO2 is abundant, and no middleman can take a cut. The maritime nature of boat-based brewing offers novel taproom potential.
Given size constraints, it is unlikely that such a brewery could host the taproom on the actual brew-boat (or brew-barge). This leaves two options while staying thematically consistent: 1) a separate, docked taproom boat or 2) a more traditional taproom on a wharf or dock of some type. Noting here that "Scuttlebutt" and "The Tender" are just some of the nautical themed names a taproom might adopt.
However, it is possible that boats on the larger end of the authors' scale for a brewery tend to have flat decks (typically reserved for shipping containers) which could easily house a taproom. Furthermore, a boat-based brewery might even consider adding a few shipping containers back to the deck to create a pandemic-ready taproom.
(Canning - for many reasons, any on-boat canning should want to use AL cans as opposed to glass bottles.)
(Kegging)
As with all breweries, distribution would necessarily need to begin on a smaller scale - potentially staying that way through the duration of a given boat-brewery's life. The ability to physically move the brewery, especially directly to ports, does offer a potentially interesting opportunity for wider distribution.
(Add more for marketing this operation)
The authors of this paper offer no legal understanding of (inter)national alcohol regulations, outside of more obvious and commonplace knowledge. Literature outlining maritime brewing, distillation (see below), or any other fermentation processes is lacking.
In addition to this glaring ambiguity, state laws (for US coastal brewing) typically vary for the production, transportation, and consumption of alcohol.
(Possible solutions, or mitigations at least, to that which is outlined in the previous section)
(Largely depends on volume and scale)
(Challenges outlined above, defining limitations as business, volume, and so forth)
Distilling might also provide an interesting area for water-based production. It is important to note that generally speaking, home distilling is not legal in the United States and so this section is for entertainment purposes only. It is unclear to the authors the legality of distilling in international waters.
Much like for brewing, the base ingredients would need to be produced on land. This includes some form of fermentable sugar (potentially a grain) and yeast. All of these mirror the situation for brewing.
The larger concern is running a still on a boat. The motion of a boat might produce problems which may require stabilization of the heating element or still-contents. An overflow of the still onto the heating element must be avoided at all costs.