Going Pro?

Just wondering if anyone has taken the big leap and started brewing commercially...

The homebrew and microbrew revolution seems to be in full swing, and looks (at least to a naive homebrewer like me) to be a potential to window to success for someone looking to start their own business. All thoughts/opinions/experiences welcome.

Been working on it for almost three years.

I own SlapShot Brewing in Chicago. We are releasing our first beers in a little over two weeks. We've got a 4000sq ft building with a 3.5bbl system and 7bbl fermenters, our taproom will open early 2014. My advice would be, get a bunch of money, then find more money. Breweries are expensive, even on a small scale. We are fortunate to have paid for everything in cash and carry zero debt. This will help us dramatically since our liabilities are very low compared to others that took on 200k+ in debt to get started.

I know quite a few that have gone pro, either by becoming employed at breweries or started their own nano or microbreweries. Brewtopia started with a taproom, while setting up his own brewhouse. It's an older thread, but a great read! https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/naked-city-brewing-has-location-61611/

One of my favorite stories is here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/dont-try-home-parts-1-2-3-a-11412/ and the end: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/dont-try-home-part-4-a-20962/

There are many others! Several have started small breweries and nano breweries. It's hard work, and takes a lot of cash but those who have a passion to do it seem to find a way.

Excellent reads Frau

Thanks for all the great advice... and sorry for the late reply om this.