Rebirth 08: Equipment God

Chapter 201 Are you feeding the hippopotamus?
In front of the police station, Wu Yue silently turned to look at the driver.

"Isn't this my address?"

The driver observed Wu Yue's expression and thought to himself, "I'll give you a chance."

If he senses even the slightest bit of guilt, he'll honk the horn, get out of the car, and lock the doors in one fell swoop.

Fortunately, there was nothing there, so they continued forward: "Excuse me, I might have misheard you, where was it again?"

Wu Yue pointed to the restaurant 200 meters ahead.

The taxi drove for a while, then stopped again.

"152, give me 150 and I'll proceed."

After setting up the "Vacant" sign, Wu Yue waited for the invoice to be printed, and then tore it off before the driver could even pull it away.

He said expressionlessly, "I'll give you a chance. This watch is well-adjusted. What generation of technology is it?"

"you!"

"Stop yelling, think it over before you speak. There's a sign on your passenger seat that says '500 yuan reward for reporting.' Name your price now."

"I"

A few minutes later, when Zhai Da arrived, Wu Yue was holding a strange object in his hand, which looked like a small gadget torn from some device, still connected with a wire.

"what is this?"

Wu Yue shook his head: "I don't know either. My driver was tampering with the meter. I tricked him. I asked him to give me the tool he used, and he gave me this. I guess he thought I was an expert."

There is also 1000 yuan.

To show off one's skills in front of Guan Yu is to talk about dirt. Bah! It's about shady dealings.

It's not necessarily true that I'm more cunning.
Xu Xuejun glanced at it and said, "This is a 'little motor' for tampering with the meter, used to modify the fare meter."

Zhai Da said speechlessly, "That's really unethical. The fare from the airport to the city is already full, and they still want to tamper with the meter."

Wu Yue: "How much do you charge?"

"177."

Wu Yue: "Um, it's nothing. Let's go inside and eat."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The arrival of Xu Xuejun and Song Wu signifies the official launch of the craft beer project.

The previous month was mainly spent waiting for the prototype equipment to be shipped overseas, but the overall progress was not slow. In addition to the site being fully prepared, Wu Yue had also prepared some potential customers.

As for how quickly brewing can begin, that depends on how long it takes Xu Xuejun to start production.

On Monday afternoon, Zhai Da asked for leave from one class. His tutor, Jiang Xiaobai, didn't ask why, and probably won't ask again.

Zhai Da, meanwhile, brought his computer to the back gate of Harbin Institute of Technology.

Urban planning and development always leave some areas behind, and this neighborhood near the back gate is one of them, so old that it's not even as good as Sanmao in Dongyang.

Although the Harbin Institute of Technology campus is just across the "Shengmajia Gou" (a local name for a village), the area is surrounded by a river on one side and elevated roads on the other two sides, forming a small triangle that seems to have been forgotten by the city.

The majority of residents in the community are retired elderly people, and a small number are students from Harbin Institute of Technology who want to rent a place with their boyfriends or girlfriends without any shame or recklessness. It's not surprising that they choose this place because of their limited budget.

All I need is a mattress.

Along the only relatively good cement road in the river, there is now a beer bar that looks quite decent. It has only a dozen or so seats, a bar counter, a liquor cabinet, bar stools, and floor-to-ceiling windows. When you push open the door, a brass bell will ring, and there are some nostalgic old objects placed in various corners.

If you come at night, the warm yellow lights will probably create a unique atmosphere on the outskirts of this old neighborhood, even more so than the bars in the bustling city streets.

Although it looks very classy, ​​it is actually quite small, less than 40 square meters, so it didn't cost much. Its main purpose is to make the 400-square-meter craft brewery in the back look like it's not a pure "factory".

To reiterate, craft beer is a workshop-level food processing business that can be operated with a catering license. It was a new thing in 08, and the current management regulations are not much different from those for "sweet rice balls in fermented rice wine" and "sour plum drink." However, everything has its limits.

With over thirty craft brewing machines, it visually resembles a factory; adding a showroom can make things seem more legitimate.

We operate with a front store and a back factory – an innovative business model!
By the way, the name of this craft beer bar is "Misty Tavern".

At that time, Wu Yue asked Zhai Da what name he wanted to give, and Zhai Da said that it was just for show anyway, and told him to think of whatever name he wanted.

After the name was finalized, Zhai Da asked why. Wu Yue said that there was fog on the day he came up with the name, and he felt that it had a kind of lonely and sophisticated feel, perfect for having a drink.

He later learned that it wasn't fog, but smog caused by the recent heating system being turned on.

The side of the "Mist Tavern" was a roller shutter door that resembled a garage entrance. The interior was quite large, but there was no decoration; it was simply clean and tidy. The door was wide open, and Zhai Da walked straight in.

A three-tank craft brewing machine sat alone in the middle of the open space, where Xu Xuejun and Song Wu had been studying it for the entire morning.

One of them knew about the equipment, and the other knew about brewing. Working together, they quickly figured out the function of each component.

“The saccharification tank, heating tank, and fermentation tank can be completed in a few hours, but the fermentation tank takes 7 days. If you ask me, a ratio of 1:10 would be fine. Having one of each type of tank is very inefficient.” Song Wu explained, “Small bars don’t have that much demand. The optimal flavor of craft beer is only available for 7-10 days. Usually, shops use a 1:3 ratio, but Brother Yue said that the prototype is mainly for research purposes, so there’s no need to buy an identical fermentation tank.”

Xu Xuejun nodded and said to Zhai Da, "I've pretty much figured it out. Excluding the techniques related to brewing, there's really no secret. I won't break the prototype. I'll just take a look at a few parts and then put it back together for you."

Zhai Da had no objection: "I bought it specifically for you to mess around with. It doesn't matter if you break it, as long as you figure it out."

"No way, 30 won't do. This is just cheap stainless steel. Foreigners make money too easily."

Zhai Da pulled out his computer and said, "List your equipment and material requirements here, and Wu Yue will arrange the procurement as soon as possible. By the way, leave all the precision instruments to me. Harbin Institute of Technology has everything; I'll get them for you there."

This workshop-level tool can be easily manipulated by a CNC machining center.

Xu Xuejun said nonchalantly, "It's just that transporting them around is troublesome, otherwise I could do it in my workshop. I understand what you mean. We'll do the big work here, and you can make the small parts that can't be bought, right? Your skills haven't fallen behind, have they?"

"Just kidding, I'm super brave."

Next, Zhai Da and Xu Xuejun took the lead. Both were experts with clear thinking and quickly finalized the preliminary plan, including what to purchase, what Zhai Da would do, and the procedures.

In terms of overall size and specifications, Zhai Da and Xu Xuejun do not intend to completely replicate it, so they have a lot of freedom, as long as the overall design is reasonable.

Standing to the side, Song Wu felt something was off. Could craft brewing equipment be made so easily?
Anyway, it seemed pretty outrageous to him, a liberal arts student.

Sigh. I was so stupid back then to go to Germany to study humanities, or even orthopedics!

Seemingly sensing Song Wu's disbelief, Wu Yue chuckled and said, "Don't worry, Uncle Xu and your brother Da are both capable, especially Zhai Da, even at Harbin Institute of Technology."

After thinking it over, Wu Yue added, "Harbin Institute of Technology is a place where many talented people reside."

"Among all the freshmen, he's the most awesome!"

Song Wu blinked. Wasn't the area too small?
The group worked until late at night, and the cost of one piece of equipment was estimated to be around 3 to 5 yuan. If enough were manufactured, the cost could be lower.

This is one-tenth of the prototype device.

The project is being launched in all aspects. In addition to the equipment, we also need to equip ourselves with manpower. Xu Xuejun needs a few strong laborers with some mechanical skills, even those who are car mechanics.

A person needs to be clever and have a good personality, or at least one of these qualities. Because if the old man isn't clever, he'll scold him, and if he has a bad personality, he might turn around and hit the old man.

Wu Yue had thought of this long ago and had already pre-screened several job seekers, letting Old Man Xu choose for himself. Other positions also need to be filled gradually.

Finally, Zhai Da and Wu Yue checked the accounts.

Since there is currently no craft beer available on the market, it is an extremely scarce commodity. Pricing power depends solely on the affordability of individual bars, nightclubs, and restaurants, and consumers are very willing to accept its premium.

Wu Yue has been conducting research for a month, and finally set the price of the basic model at 16 yuan per liter, which is two 500ml cups or three 330ml cups.

The shop owners make a lot of money; tripling the price is the norm, and giving customers a 500ml cup for 25 yuan is the norm. If it's a mid-to-high-end shop or a nightclub, they can charge an extra premium.

In the future, there will be higher quality wines, and the prices will be higher.

And the cost of this thing is very low.
Because Zhai Da and his team operate on a large scale compared to a single store, their gross profit margin is around 80%. If that's not clear enough, to put it another way, it's a profit margin of 400%.

The biggest single cost component of this product is the malt, which, excluding special flavors, currently costs just over two yuan per kilogram.
The remaining costs of water, electricity, hops, and yeast, when distributed among each liter of liquor, are not measured in "yuan" (yuan), but in "fen" (fen) and "jiao" (jiao).

Zhai Da glanced at the table and thought to himself, "No wonder the liquor business has always been rife with intricacies; according to Mr. Marx's famous saying..."
If there is a 300% profit, capital will dare to trample on all human laws.

And they have 400%.
How do I get to the gallows?
Okay, this is the gross profit, without taking into account miscellaneous factors, but it's still quite impressive.

Initially, Zhai Da was persuaded by Wu Yue to start this project because he believed that craft beer would definitely become popular in the future, and at least he wouldn't lose money.
Of course, how much money you make depends on the scale of the operation.

"How much do you think the sales volume can reach?"

Wu Yue opened a small notebook and said, "I've been to a few places and had some good conversations. I've even paid deposits for a few particularly opportunistic ones. To be conservative, I estimate the initial supply will be around 2000 liters."

Zhai Da pondered for a moment: "It's a bit little, but it's okay. We'll take our time with sales."

"2000 liters per day."

"What the hell?! Are you feeding a hippopotamus?"

Wu Yue showed Zhai Da his notebook: "A 100-square-meter bar consumes about 100-500 glasses of beer a day, depending on how well the business is. Any less and it will go out of business."

"Remember 'open bar'? 80% of the beer they drink there is craft beer. They drink over 100 liters a night. The bartender told me that their equipment can't keep up with the demand. Some of the beer isn't even craft beer. The customers who drink too much late at night are getting inferior beer. They're practically churning out the lees. They're even considering buying from us."

"In short, there are more than 30 shops of all sizes that have expressed interest. Among them, there is a nightclub with particularly high demand. Even if only one-third of them can be secured, it will still be this number. Moreover, it is currently the off-season. Summer is when things get really intense. With seven or eight people at a table, they can consume dozens of liters in one night. If you compare that, do you still think 2000 liters a day is too much?"

"My idea is that next spring and summer, with the peak season and the expansion of sales channels, the demand may even reach tens of thousands of liters per day."

"Then we definitely can't supply it; the production pressure is too great."

This isn't just feeding beer to hippos anymore; they've soaked them until they're hard.
"It's alright. Let's take our time with production."

In conclusion, the future looks promising, but the reality is harsh.

For at least a considerable period of time, there is no need to worry about sales; the only concern is whether production can keep up.

(End of this chapter)