My 5 Year Plan to Start a Craft Brewery

I've decided to start a craft brewery somewhere in Rochester, NY (location TBD). Here's my 5 Year Plan to Start a Craft Brewery:

I think a 5 year plan requires a number of goals and deadlines and such, so I'm going to do my best to lay that out here and probably along the way I'll end up revising it many times...
Anyway, here are some long term goals I want to accomplish:

1) Enlist the help of several friends as partners, co-workers and/or advocates. 

My friends Tim and Matt would be my ideal partners. Tim is an innate people person and would be a great "face of the brewery". He knows a lot of people in the Rochester, NY area and has the perseverance to go after anything he is truly passionate about. Matt has been a beer connoisseur longer than I have and is an engineer. I would rely heavily on him with construction of beer production equipment and he would be the scientific mind behind creating awesome brews. Me? I'd hopefully be the creative mind behind the awesome brews! But, there's a long way to go from here if I want to meet that goal. For co-workers, I already know one of the friendliest most lovable guys around, Sean, who would be my tasting and bar manager. My bro, Aaron would be a perfect advocate for a craft brewery. He is a hop fanatic (lately) and musician in a couple of bands and would spread the word of our products wherever his talents have taken him already.
Ultimately I hope to encourage the right people to jump on board with me, they can start learning the trade a bit and their talents and mine can take this idea to the next level.

2) Find a location.

If you don't have a great location, forget about it. 10 years ago a lonely little place called Rohrbach's Brewing Company only survived in the middle of nowhere Chili because it was practically the only craft brewery in Rochester (plus it has excellent brews!). Walking traffic in Rochester is important. But, people will go the distance for good brews too. I don't know if I necessarily want to start a microbrewery restaurant first either or just a bar where I can brew and have tastings at. One thing at a time. I'd love for food and beer to come together some day though.

3) Start home brewing.

Check. Well, I've bought a kit with just two 6.5 gallon pails and my first recipe, a porter. Now I've got to simply pump out some brews and see what I can learn. I hope to brew my first batch this week and I'll definitely know let you know how it goes.

4) Get a job/internship/apprenticeship at a brewery with someone who knows what they are doing.

Basically, I need to learn the trade. I hope to go to some local breweries and beg them to follow around a brew team and learn as much as I can about ingredients, brewing methods and equipment as possible. This will probably not be easy, but maybe if I nag someone enough they'll give in!

5) Taste and study.

Half the battle of creating excellent brews is knowing what you are doing. I plan to taste some of the best brews available over the next 5 years, start a tasting club, and take in as much knowledge about brewing and beers as I can.

6) Come up with a name.

Every good company needs a stellar name. This one will not be the exception. Lots of brainstorming required.

I think that is all for now. Just big goals that I plan on picking apart and reorganizing as time goes on. You the reader will be front and central to all I learn here on this blog and can cheer me along whether I succeed or fail. Wait, no, failure is not an option. Oh, one last necessary goal: find a job in the meantime. Did I mention I went to school for music ed and horn performance and have no current job besides substitute teaching? Yeah, it sucks. But, what else should I do than find something I am passionate about and pursue it?

My name is David and I plan on starting a craft brewery in Rochester, NY in 5 years. Look for me then.