Advice to sell home brew??

[rfoster]

Sounds like Colorado is a lot more relaxed on the brewing permits if Golden City Brewery is actually at their home. Maybe they have residential and commercial status?

This leads to my other question, do you need a full brewery permit in your state? Particularly interested in Oregon and Nevada.

 

[DeathBrewer]

Sounds like Colorado is a lot more relaxed on the brewing permits if Golden City Brewery is actually at their home. Maybe they have residential and commercial status?

This leads to my other question, do you need a full brewery permit in your state? Particularly interested in Oregon and Nevada.

If it's anything like Cali, it's possible as long as it is not connected to the house and it is in a neighborhood that is properly zoned.

 

[schreck]

i agree that there is a lot of negativity toward going pro/starting a business whether it be a brewery or brewpub...

i am only 21, have an entrepreneurial mind (minus the business school/education/etc) which i usually put towards running a tiny business doing what i know.

OPENING A BREWERY IS DEFINATELY DOABLE. The trick is to have a NICHE... not just something that sets you apart (the beers you brew), and not just the name (and beer names). I really see the value of location (by me, Captain Lawrence Brewing Co is a PRIME EXAMPLE.... brewing in Westchester County NY, a wealthy area with a lack of any local breweries!). In addition to location is seems that staying true to who you are, what you like to brew and incorporating your quirkiness and ideals into the plan is equally important - something that will shine through and spread like a bug to other people.

I know some microeconomics, specifically the term that always gets mentioned when it comes to breweries - economies of scale. But as people get more and more interested in knowing their farmer and knowing where the food/drinks they are putting into their bodies are coming from (with increasing transparency - "nothing to hide" mentality - polyface farms is a good example, people are also seeking out better beer, a local brewery/pub and to meet the men/women behind the BEER/wine/mead... Smaller is better, local is better.

Believe it or not, smaller local businesses can cut a lot of costs in other areas of the business. They may pay more for grain/hops/bottles/etc when not buying in huge bulk quantities, but they may have access to great water, local farmers who provide ingredients such as hops, eco conscious ideals such as spent grain removal and composting.

BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY. THE COMMUNITY WILL IDENTIFY WITH YOU AND YOUR BREWERY.

Also smaller requires less investment, startup money, need for outside investers etc etc etc. You can always grow to a size that doesnt compromise your mission (or not...). This should give you the chance to spread the word before investing $200k, and not having the demand or publicity/awareness to stay afloat.

Sorry for the little rant... just pouring out some thoughts and ideas, believes etc regarding the topic. Im trying to convince myself that this has to be possible. Especially when there ARE so many microbreweries popping up, and their market share is growing! ...Call me a local-ist ... actually id love to bring back local yokel (making it a positive term)

oh.. but i would like some legislation in favor of craft brewers... that should really alleviate some of the hardships.

 

[ChiN8]

Good read;
I agree that HomeBrewTalk is way to negative about going pro. and if everyone was as negative as they are on the site we would not have any new brewers willing to explore it's wonders.

After reading all 7 pages; many people say you will need 8 or so different brews... which makes NO sense to me. In this case; a small brewer will want to build his business vertically: not horizontally. They will not have the funds to spread their brew world wide but rather find a niche like the previous poster said and build verically.

It would be like In & Out in Cali, Portillos in Illinois, Quacker State Lube in PA, CookOut in North Carolina.... you gotta create a niche.

So with that said, why wouldn't someone build off of one beer? Kind of like Land Shark is trying

 

[mkling]

Good read;
So with that said, why wouldn't someone build off of one beer? Kind of like Land Shark is trying

Land Shark is owned by InBev & Budweiser -- It's not a small beer company building off one beer.

 

[ChiN8]

Land Shark is owned by InBev & Budweiser -- It's not a small beer company building off one beer.

Ok.......
Let's use Shock Top then, before picked up by Michelob. Unique and delicious.

But way to see past the point Mr. Pessimist

 

[schreck]

i ordered a shock top at the local bar... i didnt realize it was ABinBev until now. I saw the tap handle, they happened to be out of Captain Lawrence, so i decided to try it out. Well, i guess their plan worked - acquire beers and create names to appeal to and compete with the craft market. Fool me once....

you have sparked my interest in looking into the history of shock top and other flagship beer companies. im just wondering if their business plan and mission was to be acquired/bought out!... sure it was, if they sought venture capitalists and other investment.

BUT for most of us on here, the point of selling homebrew is to do business art and share our creativity, be a part of the community, own and operate a small business (not all of us), etc. It wouldnt be much fun to offer only 1 beer. I think you would be more successful brewing REALLY interesting brews using unique ingredients, locally sourced ingredients, seasonal ingredients etc, be part of the community, and get people excited about trying something new/wierd/intriguing, that is accessible in terms of taste, style...

you can charge more per 750ml bottle as well. limited release/small batches (which we would all be brewing) will help with the hype factor. a reason for them to buy it or try it, for example... a beer released for fathers day with a recipe influenced by a memory of your dad (dedicated to my dad who always loved putting honey on his toast).

small gives you many advantages. You are spending more in one area (ie. ingredients), but spending less in marketing, advertising, bottling, labeling, labor, rent, (overhead in general), distribution, transportation, etc etc etc. You also get the support of the community!

 

[ChiN8]

i ordered a shock top at the local bar... i didnt realize it was ABinBev until now. I saw the tap handle, they happened to be out of Captain Lawrence, so i decided to try it out. Well, i guess their plan worked - acquire beers and create names to appeal to and compete with the craft market. Fool me once....

you have sparked my interest in looking into the history of shock top and other flagship beer companies. im just wondering if their business plan and mission was to be acquired/bought out!... sure it was, if they sought venture capitalists and other investment.

BUT for most of us on here, the point of selling homebrew is to do business art and share our creativity, be a part of the community, own and operate a small business (not all of us), etc. It wouldnt be much fun to offer only 1 beer. I think you would be more successful brewing REALLY interesting brews using unique ingredients, locally sourced ingredients, seasonal ingredients etc, be part of the community, and get people excited about trying something new/wierd/intriguing, that is accessible in terms of taste, style...

you can charge more per 750ml bottle as well. limited release/small batches (which we would all be brewing) will help with the hype factor. a reason for them to buy it or try it, for example... a beer released for fathers day with a recipe influenced by a memory of your dad (dedicated to my dad who always loved putting honey on his toast).

small gives you many advantages. You are spending more in one area (ie. ingredients), but spending less in marketing, advertising, bottling, labeling, labor, rent, (overhead in general), distribution, transportation, etc etc etc. You also get the support of the community!

Shock Top is one of my favorite brews... and it is QUITE a delicious one at that.

I like your train of thought. It's a shame you weren't so far away, I had a completed business plan approved by a partner for a $850,000 brew pub in Chicago, IL. before a job relocation to North Carolina.

Try reading this book for inspiration; "Brewing Up a Business by Sam Calagione." Sam Calagione is the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, visit their website and you will see how he made his niche. Unique-Craft-Brews.

 

[schreck]

I read "Beer School" front to back on the plane to and from Seattle about 2 months ago. I was hooked! It was really strange to learn that Brooklyn Brewery started with this 1 beer model... ive been calling it a flagship beer(?). Not to mention it was being contract brewed up at FX Matt Brewing Co in Utica, NY (Brooklyn Lager, and eventually all of their brews).. does anyone know which beer IS brewed out of their brooklyn location? Hindy had dabbled in homebrewing, Potter was just an entrepreneur looking to invest in a worthwhile project. They were smart businessmen, but NOT brewers.

Thanks for the book reccomendation, thats the next book on my list. Im about to dive into "The Brewmasters Table" by Garret Oliver.

I've heard some interesting stuff about Sam Calagione from some other craft breweries. Correct me if im wrong, but wasnt he a model before he began bar tending and fell in love with beer! Im starting to realize there are a lot of businessmen turned brewers rather than brewers turned businessmen. Not sure what cat. Sam falls under as i havent stumbled upon much info on him aside from the book ive yet to read, but it seems that Brooklyn Brewery was definitely the case of businessmen turned brewers. Long Trail may be the same way.

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I have also been advised by some of the Breweries i have visited to shy away from a production brewery and focus more on a Brewpub. This was in regards to working for, and starting my own. Hmm, numbers say the opposite, but then again they dont take into account many many factors.

 

[ocluke]

I don't plan on making tons of money or turing it into a big business. All I want is to get my beer into some local pubs that have been asking for it, legally...And again, I don't plan on becoming the next Sam Adams, I just want my beer available outside my home.

This is just a bump to get this thread back on subject to what the original poster was discussing. From the quotes above, it looks like he is not interested in making money or quitting his day job and going pro. He just wants to legally allow homebrew (think still a hobby, not commercially profitable microbrewery) to be sold in a few local pubs that are requesting it.

If anyone has advice from personal experience with legally getting your homebrew on tap at a local brewpub or restaurant, I'm sure everyone would benefit hearing about it.

 

[IXVolt]

There's a local brewpub here in town that features a "homebrewer" every month. The home brewer uses the brewery's equipment. All proceeds go to the brewpub. I've just never been that excited about giving out my recipe's for other people's profit.

 

[ocluke]

There's a local brewpub here in town that features a "homebrewer" every month. The home brewer uses the brewery's equipment. All proceeds go to the brewpub. I've just never been that excited about giving out my recipe's for other people's profit.

Commercial breweries give us their recipes all of the time, even for their highly coveted beer recipes (e.g. Russian River Pliny the Elder) in which they are theoretically losing profit on since we're not paying them any licensing fee to brew it or anything, and people are taking that recipe and developing new versions to brew in commercial settings.

What's wrong with sharing your recipes? Is that not what we do here on this forum and in the craft beer industry in general? I find the open community aspect of the brewing culture to be one of the greatest things about being a homebrewer. I also find it to be something that separates the craft beer industry from the wine or distilled spirits industry. It's much more laid back, open, and collaborative. Instead of suing each other or being tight-lipped about things, brewers collaborate with each other and share their knowledge.

This culture is what moves things forward and creates new, exciting beers. Using the Pliny the Elder example from above, I believe Vinnie's openness about his recipes is one of the major reasons we have so many amazing aromatic hoppy beers today. Breweries take his recipe, tweak it, put their own spin on it, and it is a new expression of the style.

Heck, I would jump at the chance to brew on a commercial setup. There could be a lot of knowledge to be gained from brewing on a bigger system.

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

Sell the bottles and caps, not the beer.

 

[TripleNad]

There is a brewpub in my area that has an event called the "Rat Pad". They have a 10 gal homebrew setup and will let homebrewers come in and brew and then sell it on tap.

• All beer produced on the Rat Pad or any other system is the property of Corner Brewery.

That's how they get away with that. I am sure that the OP is looking to make a little money out of this, not just brew for the experience (sounds like he has a bit of that already).