Whats your bier worth?

So Ive been doing a lot more reading on here then the SWMBO likes me too. But I dont think I have ran across a page that talks about what we think our bier is worth if we went pro. (I know every one has thought about going pro at one point or another).
Im still new to the art of brewing and believe im getting the hang of it though. But living over in Germany and being able to go grab a half liter for ~$1.50 and it tastes great, I have decided if I ever go pro I want to keep my prices as low as possible. Granted I dont know all the price on the taxes that I would have to pay for but, I have one recipe that I really like and would make a staple at my brewery and aim to sell for 2.00 a half liter. I'll post a picture of it a little later my last batch is still bottle conditioning.

So lets hear it. Whats are they worth to you?

Happy brewing

It's worth whatever someone would pay for it.

There are microbrews that sell for $6/6pack. There's a local brewery here, Surly, only 4 years old, that started from a homebrewer that currently sells 4 pks of 16 oz cans for $10-20, (and their Abrasive Ale is so fricking good that I gladly shell out 20 bucks for a 4 pack). They have NO problems selling for such a high price, and in fact are expanding too fast for their own good. They've had to pull back distribution until they can build a bigger brewery.

When I don't have homebrew I buy my beer for $4-7 per 22oz. bomber. I typically get 25+ bombers out of a batch, so that makes each 5 gal batch of homebrew worth $100-$175, of course my homebrew tastes better than beer I can buy, so the real answer is 'priceless'.

To do this as a business, really takes much more analysis. Breweries aren't just pulling a price out of their hat. In most cases, the cost of the beer sold is derived from the actual cost of production (including such things as depreciation of equipment, funding additional capital expansion, goods, wages, taxes, property, interest on loans, etc.), marketing, distribution, retailing, and a reasonable markup for all the players. Then market forces come into play.

You will not be able to compete pricewise with the big boys because they already have funded infrastructure in place.

On a homebrew scale, if I don't ammortize in the cost of my equipment, I can certainly make any German style beer much cheaper than I can buy it. So what its worth to me is irrelevant to what I might sell a beer for as a commercial venture.

In my brewpub it'll be $6 per glass happy hour pricing and $7 for other times. Specialty brews (seasonal) will vary in pricing based upon cost of special ingredients.

At least that's what I dream about all day long instead of getting my work done...

I know the price on our bier depends on taxes/production cost/materials etc. And I realize in order to make a profit and have a living it would have to be higher, but if I could then I would shot for 2.00 to sell it, (not trying to say its cheap bier) But I hate paying such high prices for good bier. I like the German's way of doing an setting the price of sale depending on style of bier. Helping make great bier more affordable

Well if I was brewing on a 7 bbl system at a brewpub, $5 a beer would give me over an 80% profit margin on even the most complex grain bills, seems about right to me.

I haven't lived in Germany for 20 years, but I don't remember any pricing based on the style of beer. I'm pretty sure, back then, an Alt cost me the same as a Pils, but the Alt glass was smaller. Although I wasn't paying that much attention to the price, it was just another tick mark on my deckel.

I'd be interested to hear how it is there now.

I think your goal is quite noble. With local brewpubs selling at $4 or more a glass, somewhere around $2 for a good beer would bring me back more often. Just don't know how feasible that goal is.

Guden said:

Well if I was brewing on a 7 bbl system at a brewpub, $5 a beer would give me over an 80% profit margin on even the most complex grain bills, seems about right to me.

Click to expand...

How do you figure 80% profit? You will have invested hundreds of thousands in equipment, tenant improvements, and licensing. You will have several thousand dollars a month in property lease and thousands more in employee costs and other ongoing expenses. Most of these type ventures don't turn a profit for the first three years.

Wow 2 questions that get co mingled here.. but I think Hex had the gist of it.... question 1, how much would it cost - for most the prices are in the .70-$1 range fro about 355ml (12 oz) so figure maybe 1 - $1.5 for home brew - others with better numbers could really refine that, but since a simple SMaSH could be donefor less than a barleywine....

2nd question what is it worth.. as Hex said 'Priceless' ... it is also a quesiton of what can you sell it for? $2/ 500ml (16.9oz or pint+) is a bit more than it would cost me to make it, but none of my time into it.so I'm ahead there - assuming I want to go out and drink. (drinking at home = no driving later )

And my price of 1-1.5 is based on using malt extract bought at size, not at buying a 55drum of 2 row and making several bbl's of beer from that. (economies of scale and all) If I were selling it? I'd go at least the x2 my make price and then still expect to not break even. Here in the states, you'd probably have to go in at that $4+ range for the beer to make money.

BierHerr- They applied the purity law about in 2005 which also had laws on pricing of the bier. Just found that out looking into the pricing laws. Germany is amazing, the bier is going to be sorely missed when i move back to the states in Sept. Im trying to mimic two different biers before I leave so I can still have that taste of Germany...kruezberg and Fraziskaner hefe.

It would honestly depend on so many factors. The market would pretty much dictate the price. That's in many ways out of your control. You could of course try some marketing strategies that could boost demand, but ultimately the demand of the market will not be up to you. Things you could control would be the cost elements of production. What kind of initial investment you made, and how your operating cost are could be controlled a lot easier than demand. So, at a given selling price, you would have to try to adjust the overall efficiency of your business to make a certain profit.

Also, the price would greatly vary depending on whether it was a brewpub or distribution. In a brewpub you might be able to get away with selling one pint for $5-6, but in a liquor store that same beer might only sell for $7 for a 6-pack. Additionally, different locations would have different levels of acceptance for certain prices. For example, I live in Las Vegas where everything alcohol related is resonably priced in local grocery stores and liquor stores, but extremely overpriced in bars and nightclubs. The same pint sold in a bar in Boise, ID for $4 would probably be $8 at a bar on the Las Vegas Strip.

I think this thread brings into perspective nicely how hard it would be to get up and running. The initial cash needed for everything is huge and the profit is small and will take years to have the equipment all paid off and the profit rolling in.

How many people will be seated comfortably in the place it is being sold? If most people drink 1-2 pints an hour, assuming you are always at max cap, with a profit margin of $1 or $2 a pint, You may make more money dancing on poles...

Also, were is this place located? Downtown or a similar district? There are bars everywhere and lots of them are empty or near empty because folks can not afford to go out as much.

What happens when you get a "bad batch" or an "infected batch"? because really that would hurt so much, that 1 bad batch may be your undoing...

I wish anyone that really wants to do this for a living the best of luck...