Hapa’s Brewing Company cleared a large hurdle a few weeks back when our Conditional Use Permit was approved by the city of San Jose. However, opening a brewery is a series of hurdles so the CUP celebration was short lived and we were back to work. Getting the green light from the city means we can start on the following items:
- Apply for our federal Brewer’s Notice with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB)
- Apply for our state Brewery License with the California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC)
- Submit our building plans to the City Building Department
- Submit an application to the State Board of Equalization
- Order equipment
So, where are we on each of these steps?
- This process was actually started a couple months ago. We didn’t need the CUP to apply for our Brewer’s Notice and because there is a long processing time we figured why not get started. After quite a bit of paperwork and several rounds of comments from our TTB specialist, it appears we’re moving on to final approval.
- We also started this before getting the CUP however, the ABC wanted to see the final CUP approval before processing our application. We’ve sent that in along with the rest of the paperwork. Our license cannot be issued until we’re 30 days out from opening.
- We’ve hired a general contractor who will oversee all aspects of our buildout. This includes plans drawn by an architect and structural engineer. These are the plans that will be submitted to the city Building Department so we can get our building permit. Our meeting with the city is scheduled for April 25th.
- In this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes. Submitted.
- We’ve been working with our equipment manufacturer for months on our custom built 15 barrel brew system. We couldn’t place the order until the CUP was finalized or risk being stuck with equipment and no place to put it. We’ve approved the equipment drawings and paid the downpayment. In a few months we’ll have a shiny new brew system!
