Any good books on Starting a Brewery?

[Bigmoose44]

I searched Amazon and they only had one. It was not rated very well by others who had read it so can anyone help me find a good book?

Thanks,
Bruce

 

[riverfrontbrewer]

This is a good one for an overview of all aspects of opening a brewery

http://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Associations-Guide-Starting-Brewery/product-reviews/0937381896


Have not read Sam's book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470050454/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[Teromous]

Here's one to look at which deals with brewing laws and process

 

[shanecb]

The Brewers Association website has a few good books for sale on the subject.

 

[Sigafoos]

Also Beer School, about the Brooklyn Brewery. I need t'get my hands on some of them.

 

[TheWeeb]

Brewing Up Business was one of the sources of my inspiration. I have Beer School on the way along with another resturant management book.

The best source of information that I have found, however, is the Probrewer website:
www.probrewer.com

Great resources, forum, people willing to help and share knowledge.

 

[Baja_Brewer]

This is a good one for an overview of all aspects of opening a brewery

http://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Associations-Guide-Starting-Brewery/product-reviews/0937381896


Have not read Sam's book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470050454/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Beer school is fantastic. Love it, well written. I've tried reading Brewing up a Business several times and cannot get past a few chapters. Sam needs to get over himself and deliver information in a helpful manor (FWIW I may be the only one I've ever known that feels this way, others rave about his book(s?) YMMV)

I highly recommend beer school, I've read it at least three times. Also, the afore mentioned probrewer forum is a wealth of knowledge.

 

[gxm]

Sam needs to get over himself and deliver information in a helpful manor (FWIW I may be the only one I've ever known that feels this way, others rave about his book(s?) YMMV)

Nope. I've only experienced Sam through the documentary "Beer Wars". He may brew awesome beers, but his personal style annoys me. I wouldn't read a book by him.

 

[TheWeeb]

Nope. I've only experienced Sam through the documentary "Beer Wars". He may brew awesome beers, but his personal style annoys me. I wouldn't read a book by him.

. . . to each his or her own, but from my perspective it was - is - one of the best books I have read, in or out of the brewing business. Plus, who can deny a foreward by Michael Jackson himself?

 

[beerjunky828]

This is a good one for an overview of all aspects of opening a brewery

http://www.amazon.com/Brewers-Associations-Guide-Starting-Brewery/product-reviews/0937381896


Have not read Sam's book:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0470050454/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Sam's book is more of a general entrepreneurship book. His references are all beer ref's but it's not going to help you open a brewery from the ground up. It doesn't give detailed information about capacity or efficiency or equipment but I found that is applicable across the board if you just want to run a business. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it in a sense of leisurely reading it.

 

[Brewmoor]

I am not so sure I would consult either of the those two books for opening up a brewery. They are great for inspiration but as far as knowledge on actually getting setup they fall short.

You will just need to do a lot of researching. Read through the TTB website. That was very helpful. Get a book on forming LLC's. You will get good direction on setting up the tax structure and banking information. I found a lot of helpful stuff on HBT and Pro Brewer for actual brewery operational ideas.

Go see a local brewpub if there is one near by. The owner and brew master of a local pub in the town I work has been super helpful.

Another place you will want to go is your town government. Talk with the town planners. They may get excited about your project and offer up lots of help. Our local town offices have been great helping us figure out zoning and building rules. You will want to get friendly with them anyway. You will be a part of the local business community and getting involved goes a long way for leniency when it comes to your business. Our town really want us to open so they are classifying us as a tavern which is "use by right" in the downtown area. They do not want to stall us with a special use permit. The town has been really great so far.

 

[RedGlass]

I've tried reading Brewing up a Business several times and cannot get past a few chapters. Sam needs to get over himself and deliver information in a helpful manor (FWIW I may be the only one I've ever known that feels this way, others rave about his book(s?) YMMV)

I completely agree. He just recites a bunch of entrepreneurial platitudes without really getting into Dogfish at any depth. I tend to like Sam's media personality (sure he's got a giant ego, but he's trying to grow his business and he makes great beer so I can't really fault him), but that book was pretty bad.