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Category: Blog

CASE STUDY – Bristol Distilling Co

Posted on by James Lewis

Bristol Distillery choose Ninkasi Tanks

Founded in early 2017 Bristol Distilling Co was created with the intention to set itself apart from an industry bloated with ‘on-topic’ acronyms and hyperbole created by a team of marketers in fancy offices. Bristol Distilling Co wanted to show from the drinks it creates, to the way it thinks and how it expresses itself – they were a different type of company.

In 2018 the distillery was borne using a 500L copper pot still custom built for the business in Nebraska. The first gin ‘77’ was bottled in May 2018 and was quickly awarded in the International Wine and Sprits competition, followed up by another award in the same competition in 2020 for the 77 Black, a cold brew coffee and vanilla liqueur.

Refusing to accept conventional wisdom that large retailer listings can only come after years of slow and painful growth, the business now has contracts with Europe’s largest grocer.

With the business continuing to support and grow locally as well as through retail, expansion and strategy became more and more prevalent to the business leaders. The directors of the company wanted to bring more of the production in house, however recognised that growing the business through traditional methods was both capital intensive and slow.

So Bristol Distilling Co. reached out to Ninkasi rentals, and started to rent Fermentation Tanks to allow for their kegged Gin and Tonic to be blended under their expert tutelage.

From then it has been a match made in heaven with Ninkasi able to provide the equipment and support which allows Bristol Distilling Co. the room to grow organically without the worry of capital being tied up in assets which don’t drive a return.

What Bristol Distilling Say:

“Excellent service from the team at Ninkasi. They were able to understand our needs, support us through the decision-making process, no hard sell, no hassle, just an honest company trying to help another. When the tank arrived they had it installed where we wanted it, no mess, no fuss – just great service – and then when we noticed a small leak on one of the valves, they were down the next day and sorted everything out. We judge businesses on the way they are after a sale not before it, and Ninkasi have been great to us. We are also a small company with big ambitions and I think that entrepreneurial attitude and willingness to support and help your customers shines through everything that Ninkasi does – all, in all, very very happy to recommend them and their service to anyone out there that is thinking of tanks for their business.”

Jake Black – Director – Bristol Distilling Co.

“As Jake says the guys at Ninkasi have just been great, they always respond when you ask a question and when we needed support during the Covid pandemic, they didn’t hesitate. They are easy to talk if you have a question on invoicing or something similar – but to be honest the best thing about them is that you don’t even know that they are there. They don’t constantly email you or push like other companies, they just sit in the background, and if we need them, they are always there to help.”

Clare Neath – Director – Bristol Distilling Co.

 

 

Pilot Brew Kit – Our Thoughts

Posted on by James Lewis

We asked George (our resident brewer), why he choose the Sabco pilot Kit to work with.

This is what he had to say:

“The Ninkasi Pilot kit is a fusion of Sabco’s excellent BrewMagic, and Ninkasi’s knowledge of the UK craft brewing sector. Here are some of my favourite things about the equipment;

  1. The brewhouse is built upon a series of ¾” Tri clamp stainless pipes. Consigning poor-quality hoses to a thing of the past.
  2. The Brewmagic pilot kit can be run on different power feed inputs, making it a suitable for a wide range of breweries.
  3. The built-in heat exchanger allows you to re-use your hot water for your next brew. So it allows you to complete multiple brews back to back.
  4. The whole system is controlled by a handy touch screen.
  5. You can manage the heat and pump on each vessel, and easily set the controller to manage recipe times. This gives you the flexibility to brew how you brew, whether that’s step mashing through the RIMS system, hitting the perfect strike and sparge temperature or getting the perfect rolling boil.
  6. This gives you true repeatability whether your prototyping new styles or recreating a winning formula.
  7. Ninkasi have added flexibility to the system, allowing wort to circulate through the mash resulting in a good vorlauf.
  8. By adding a back plate and places for your brewing equipment to be stored, Ninkasi have made the brewers life slightly easier.

When I’ve brewed on the kit I have found it to be very user friendly. I enjoy the control that I get, and the fact that everything I need is easily accessible. My favourite thing about brewing on this kit is the temperature control elements, this is a game changer for pilot breweries.

Would I have one? Hell yes! But you’ll have to find me room to store it!”

So there you have it straight from our brewer himself, what the Pilot Kit is, what it does…. and importantly, why he likes it.

Keeeeeeeep brewing

The Ninaksi Team

Case Study – Big Smoke Brew Co.

Posted on by Theo

Big Smoke Brew Co are a true Craft brewery, founded in the back of a pub (The Antelope) in Surbiton. Rich and James had the vision and belief to create something extraordinary, but needed additional capacity to continue to grow the business, this is their story;

Firstly, Rich and James needed a Head Brewer, Nick was literally stopped on the tarmac before boarding a flight back to New Zealand (think any good Rom/Com), and the rest of the team soon followed. Together they all started creating not only amazing beers but a loyal and dedicated customer base – growth followed swiftly and sizeably.

To meet demand the team at Big Smoke decided to contract brew two of their beers, however they knew that what they really wanted was a bigger brewery. In December 2018 they took delivery of a new 30HL kit, increasing capacity four-fold, and allowing them to bring all of the control and functionality back in house. Importantly for the team at Big Smoke, it enabled much more control of the process and they were able to achieve greater consistency across their range.

Big Smoke soon found themselves in the enviable position whereby they had grown exponentially in a short space of time and were running out of capacity again for their core range. Recognising the quality control, they had when they brewed the beer inhouse, they needed to find a solution which increased capacity, while at the same time protecting their cash flow and capital reserves.

They spoke to Ninkasi, who agreed to purchase Uni Tanks for them and install them into their brewery. Big Smoke agreed to rent the tanks while they decided their next growth phase.  The team at Big Smoke loved the Ninkasi experience, not only was the service professional but they could brew into the vessels within 24hrs from completed delivery.

Watch the video below to hear their thoughts on working with Ninkasi

 

Hiring a Tank can be Cheaper than Purchase!

Posted on by Theo

Crazy statement! How can hiring a product possibly generate more long-term value for your company than the cost of buying it outright?

Well…… the reality is that most breweries look at a tank purchase as the cost of the tank itself, and completely ignore all of the sundry costs associated with actually getting the tank from the manufacturer to their business and also the cost of the install.

Typically, if buying from China (considered the cheapest option), there is the shipping cost, import taxes, pressure certificates, UK destination delivery, unloading of the container on site and the positioning of the tank in the brewery – as well as the valves and adaptors which, of course, are needed to operate the tank. On a typical 40hl tank this will add anywhere between 45-60% on to the initial “cost” of the tank.

Yes, having multiple tanks delivered in one go will obviously affect that percentage but the principle is still valid – “tank cost” is only a fraction of the true cost of having a new tank installed.

Compare the above with the Ninkasi Rental option.

Ninkasi reduces the import costs by always buying in bulk which not only benefits the shipping rates as container space utilisation is always maximised, but also allows the negotiation of preferential rates across all the other aspects of the ancillary costs. As this is Ninkasi’s main activity all unloading, delivery and positioning is carried out in house rather than incurring a secondary cost – all of which means that Ninkasi pricing reflects the savings it makes and pass these directly onto its customers.

Great you think, but it’s still a Ninkasi tank, and “I want to own it”.

My first thought is why? A businesses value is seldom in its asset base as this is always a depreciating factor. Particularly with Breweries, business value is always in the revenue generation, branding and growth potential i.e.  it’s the marketing and sales presence which is attractive to a buyer. I can’t think of a brewery that has been sold at a multiple of its brewery plant value, it’s always a multiple of revenue/profit, the value of the brew plant often does not even factor in the calculation.

However, in the UK we just like to own things – it’s in our nature and heritage – so if a brewery wants to own the tank no problem, and it will still cost less to do it through Ninkasi! Why not harness Ninkasi buying power and technical expertise, use our ability to remove costly barriers and we will happily work with clients to enable ownership in the future.

Still not sure? OK, well what if Ninkasi were able to sweeten the deal? One of the main benefits of using Ninaksi is the flexibility; if a brewery buys a tank – that’s the tank it has. If beer volumes increase and capacity is reached more quickly than forecast, the only option is to buy another tank. Not with Ninaksi, on just a call Ninkasi will swap a customer’s hired tank out for a larger one, it’s a very quick and simple process, often done in just one week.

Have you also considered, when a brewery buys a tank the impact on the business is always negative to cash flow immediately, and with a  wait of 4 months (or more) for the tank to arrive (compared to from 1 week with Ninkasi), the brewery is having to pay out between £25-£30k per tank without any revenue being generated to cover all the additional costs to deliver and install. None of that happens with Ninaksi as we smooth all the cash flow concerns. Initial payments are minimal with customers hire costs largely in line with tank usage/cash generation.

So, the brewery can keep £25k in the business and still have a tank generating an extra £10k per month revenue (based on 40hl). Therefore instead of having cash flow challenges, it is cash buoyant and can use this money to facilitate further higher margin ventures  e.g. increase tap room scale, invest in direct/additional marketing, employ a new sales manager that will take the business on to the next level etc.

Very simply, with Ninkasi the £25k tank now costs a brewery £260pcm, giving all the benefits detailed above, and leaving the option open to take ownership in the future for less than if the brewery had funded it through traditional asset finance.

Ninaksi was created to support the brewing community. We are passionate about the industry and as a small business have over 65years experience within the trade. If you would like to understand more about how hiring a tank can be cheaper than purchase, please get in touch, we look forward to hearing from you and supporting your business.

Our New MD

Posted on by admin

The team at NINKASI Rentals & Finance has just got bigger with the addition of James Lewis, previously at ECasks. James joins the team in the role of Managing Director as the company continues to grow its unique FV Rental product.

James says “I am thrilled to be joining NINKASI during this period of exciting growth and become part of its continued success. I am most looking forward to working alongside such a driven and dedicated team to continue to provide excellent service to the brewing community, as well as developing new product offerings.”

NINKASI Rentals & Finance is continuing to grow with more tanks being rented out than ever before. Peter Godwin advises “our FV hire concept is proving so popular that we have struggled to get time to develop all the other ideas we have. James joining us is a positive start to what we expect to be an exciting next 12 months”.

How to Spend Crowdfunding Capital

Posted on by admin

This is a personal view from a bloke who has reached the magic six zero, worked in Corporate Banking, then started a few businesses and had a bit of success. It doesn’t make me an expert but it gives me “opinions”.

Crowdfunding has been a phenomenal success in raising capital for young and growing breweries, even start up ones. Loads of money raised for not much equity given away, and massive business valuations as a result. And who’s to say those are wrong with a number of brewery sales having been completed in recent years at telephone number figures.

But, how to spend all that crowdfunding cash raised? Yes, of course, a bigger brewery is required and that is accompanied by a move in premises. But, in reality, with sensible business planning and use of traditional finance products, a certain amount of that is already possible. Using equity instead of debt just reduces the interest cost and therefore the overhead. That makes the brewery more profitable but doesn’t, in itself, add to the enterprise value.

No, in my opinion, the best use of capital raised is to fuel growth. For that a business requires a clear market strategy, a coherent product range, branding that appeals to the target market, and a committed team of people with the skills and determination to deliver. You may notice that none of these are things you can go to a funder and get a loan against – they all need to be paid for out of the business resources.

So my view is that breweries need to leverage their fixed assets with borrowing to preserve cash in the business for investment in growth. Rent the property, hire, lease or rent all the plant, machinery and vehicles. Owning the assets does not make a business valuable. In fact, when a brewery is sold it makes just about no difference. Think about it, if a brewery being sold owns it’s building then the building is valued at its current market value. But it’s sales volumes and brands are valued at many multiples of book value so which would you rather be selling?

Look at the recent sale of Fullers for £250m, would it have been £250.5m if they had owned their trucks instead of leased them? But it could have been £200m if their sales level had been £5m lower.

My advice to breweries with Crowdfunding Capital burning a hole in the pocket, don’t repay debt, don’t buy/own assets, invest in people, the brands and the markets and build presence and volume – that’s what will give your investors the biggest return.

When I see that in a Crowdfunding Prospectus it will get my cash.

As I said, just an opinion…….

 

 

A Chilling Solution

Posted on by admin

Chiller Pack

Our chiller packs can be hired on their own as a cooling solution. Our chillers are popular because:

  • We provide a turnkey solution with temperature controls, pipes, valves, and fluids.
  • We deliver and install so no complicated procurement.
  • The equipment we use is top quality, very quiet, and highly efficient with more cooling output than energy input.
  • Gives very precise cooling, essential for modern beer styles.
  • It can be monitored and managed remotely by the brewery.

We also now provide technical support!

Ninkasi is pleased to be able to offer these chillers to fit to your existing tanks at very competitive prices.

Please get in touch for more information.

www.ninkasirentals.co.uk