Nanobrewery

A “nanobrewery” (or “nano brewery”) is smaller than a “microbrewery.” A nanobrewery can brew, at most, four barrels of beer at a time.
 
The term “nano brewery” has been cited in print since at least 2001.
     
 
Wikipedia: Microbrewery
Nanobrewery
A nanobrewery is type of very small brewery operation, often culturally defined by a less than 4 US beer barrels (470 L) brew system. They are acknowledged by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), and are fully licensed and regulated breweries. Nanobreweries are often on task to grow into microbreweries or brewpubs. There are quite a few breweries and brewpubs that could have been described at one point in their history as nanobreweries, had the term been invented. One example is Dogfish Head, from Milton, Delaware. Sam Calagione started the company as a brewpub on a 10-US-gallon (38 L) Sabco brew system in 1995. As of 2010, it produced 75,000 US beer barrels (8,800,000 L) annually.
 
A list of nanobreweries is kept current by Hess Brewing Co., a nanobrewery from San Diego, California. As of December 2012, it lists 93 nano breweries operating in the United States and 51 in the planning stage.
         
Brews & Views Bulletin Board Service
Brent Campbell
Posted on Saturday, May 19, 2001 - 03:18 pm
One finished Nano Brewery. Well in reality they are never finished.
 
Google Books
Mountain Bike America: Arizona
An atlas of Arizona’s greatest off-road bicycle rides
By Paul Beakley  
Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press
2002
Pg. 209:
The bed and breakfast itself features two bedrooms, two hot tubs, satellite TV, great food, even a very small microbrewery (a nanobrewery?).
 
19 September 2004, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), Cumberland Brews’ dining fare is a worthy match for its beers” by Susan Reigler, Scene, pg. S6:
The smallest of the microbreweries, practically a “nanobrewery,” is Cumberland Brews.
     
Daily Press
24 October 2004, Daily Press (Hampton Roads, VA),  “HOW TO BE A BEER SNOB Series: The Art of Snobbery” by Prue Salasky, Life, pg. G1:
Hugh Burns describes his 8-year-old Williamsburg Brewing Co. as a “nano-brewery” producing 1500-1700 barrels a year of primarily American-style ale; that is he favors American hops and American malt.
 
ABQ Journal (Albuquerque, NM)
Thursday, February 3, 2005
Los Alamos Couple’s ‘Nanobrewery’ Bursting at Seams
By Mike Easterling
Of the Journal
UNA CERVEZA MAS: It’s probably no coincidence that when a pair of Los Alamos National Laboratory employees started their own commercial brewing operation in August, they chose to do it in a way that reflected the microscopic nature of much of the work that goes on at the lab.
   
“We give new meaning to ‘microbrewery,’ ‘’ Jim Barker said.
     
“We call it ‘nanobrewery,’ ‘’ Loretta Barker added.
 
TimeOut New York
The rise of the nanobrewery
Move over, micros. Nanobreweries—-scrappy, hyperlocal beer makers that produce fewer than three barrels at a time—-are storming NYC taps.
By Joshua M. Bernstein Tue Feb 15 2011
 
OCLC WorldCat record
Nanobrewery U.S.A. : a chronicle of the American nanobrewery craft beer phenomena
Author: Dan Woodske
Publisher: Lexington, Ky. : Dan Woodske, ©2012.
Edition/Format: Book : English
 
OCLC WorldCat record
How to own and operate a nano-brewery
Author: Dan Woodski
Publisher: North Charlotte, SC : CreateSpace, ©2012.
Edition/Format: Book : English
Summary: Dan Woodske is the owner and operator of his own nanobrewery, Beaver Brewing Company in Beaver Falls Pennsylvania. Starting as an avid homebrewer he wondered why there wasn’t a brewery within an hour drive of his home…that’s when he decided to take his passion for brewing to the pro level. This book describes everything you need from buying brewery equipment, marketing your beer, licensing, running your brewing, and finding that perfect space. The process of opening a brewery can seem daunting, but in under 100 pages you will find brewing good beer is the hard part, the rest seems easy once it is all laid out for you. You want details on the licensing process? You want to learn how to sell your beer? You want real life examples on how a nanobrewery works and how it can be profitable? Then buy this book. Don’t spend $10,000 on a consultant, spend $15 and get info from someone that actually owns and operates a nano-brewery…and does it successfully
 
New York (NY) Times
Breweries Not Too Big for Their Barrels
By CLAY RISEN
Published: July 16, 2013
(...)
Nanos are the garage bands of the craft-beer world: basically souped-up home-brewing operations whose owners have decided to go commercial, but still hold tight to a do-it-yourself ethic. Working out of garages or small industrial spaces, they make a few small batches at a time, which they sell in kegs to local bars or to growler-bearing customers out their front doors.
 
shoestring operations whose few employees often work day jobs elsewhere, nanobreweries can rarely guarantee consistent supplies. But in some ways that is part of their appeal, underlining the handmade, artisanal nature of their beers.
(...)
Nanobrewing is an outgrowth of a nationwide upsurge in home brewing, said Gary Glass, the director of the American Homebrewers Association, where membership has grown 20 percent a year since 2005. In New York City, the number of home-brewing clubs has risen to 10 today, from 2 in 2001.