Anyone aspiring to open a brewery?

[crusader1612]

The first thing I thought of when I read this was "was the last guy in here sanitary?" .. i can see that being a problem

its not. the breweries used are still breweries in their own right. so they have their own head brewer etc.
they're not just breweries that sit around waiting for someone to brew in them.

 

[Mainer]

This is the #1 question I get asked when I tell people I brew. I'll tell you what I tell them:

I don't want to have to brew.
I want to want to brew.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

Maybe after the kid is out of college, but I've done well working in tech, and it'd be more of a semi-retirement project than anything else.

 

[KennyPowers55]

The whole brewing thing is new to me within the past year but I like it. Whether or not I could make it pay the bills is yet to be known. As of right now, the job I went to school for is funding my new found hobby and I am ok with that. There certainly won't be any money falling into my lap ever, so I don't mind playing it safe for now. SWMBO and I like to discuss it, so I am not ruling it out just yet.

 

[foam_top]

I'd work for a brewery but no way in hell would I own one. Just like restaurants, breweries distribute a consumable product. It's also a recreational drug. That's two layers of regulations and legal jargon I don't want to be responsible for. Maybe I'd own a homebrew shop, but it's not a dream of mine.

 

[madscientist451]

I've thought about it, made equipment lists, done all kinds of calculations, visited lots off breweries big and small, took notes of what I liked and didn't like, worked up a food menu and taplist, but so far I have basically decided its not going to work for me.
I've had a business before, suffered through the dot com bust and the then the recession of 2006-2008 put me out of business. I've still got some debt I'm paying from my failure. If I was younger, I would do it, but at this point, I have a steady job with benefits and I really can't afford another business going under. I enjoy home brewing, but also a lot of other things that I do, and I know really well how running a business can completely consume you.

 

[Murphys_Law]

I'll keep it a hobby until I can figure out a way to make 10 grand a month making 5 gallon BIAB batches on my back porch!

 

[Sbe2]

I'm an airlock sniffer...

And here I thought I was the only one...haha

 

[okiedog]

I am looking to work with an existing restaurant or pub to take over one of their taps. This way there is no liquor license to worry about (they have one) and if I brew on premises that should lighten the regulatory load also. I would rather brew at home though, less travel and I can multitask during the mash boil.
I see this as a smaller/cheaper step to going commercial, and I can still brew a wide range of styles instead of being locked into a handful of recipes like most breweries. Can start with my 40 liter system and if it goes well, 100 liters maybe?

That sounds like a great idea on how to get started. It might make things easier with local regulations and requirements, but I would think you'd still have to deal with most, if not all of the Fed and TTB stuff.

 

[drksky]

That sounds like a great idea on how to get started. It might make things easier with local regulations and requirements, but I would think you'd still have to deal with most, if not all of the Fed and TTB stuff.

Yep. Regardless of whether they have a liquor license, that is not a brewery license, which is an entirely different kind of animal.

 

[Sadu]

That sounds like a great idea on how to get started. It might make things easier with local regulations and requirements, but I would think you'd still have to deal with most, if not all of the Fed and TTB stuff.

I'm in New Zealand so the regs are different. I'm not kidding myself that it will be regulartion free, but more that there will be a softer path than opening a full brewery.

The biggest problem is that the regs are unreadable to mortal humans so I'll probably need to pay a lawyer to actually find out what is required and see if I can map out a viable plan.

There's not a lot of margin in it though even in the best case scenario. NZD$280 seems to be the going rate for a 50 liter keg as I understand it (what the pub pays the brewer) and that rate is somewhat fixed whether it's a blonde ale or an heavy IPA. A NZ dollar is about 1.5x a US dollar.

My ingredient costs would be NZD$62 for a Centennial blonde ranging up to NZD$130 for a a generous hoppy pale ale. This is buying base malt by the sack, repitching yeast, and meeting the free shipping threshold, brewing on gas. About as cheap as you can get without going electric and getting wholesale ingredients.

I think the only way people do well is to brew large batches, but then you are up for massive capital outlay and the interest / cost of capital eats into that margin and finding customers becomes the core issue.

All ideas at this stage. But the desire to make awesome beer and take it to the world is strong. I'd just like an option that doesn't require mortgaging the house and going all-in to compete in a saturated market with some very big fish.

 

[crusader1612]

I'm in New Zealand so the regs are different. I'm not kidding myself that it will be regulartion free, but more that there will be a softer path than opening a full brewery.

The biggest problem is that the regs are unreadable to mortal humans so I'll probably need to pay a lawyer to actually find out what is required and see if I can map out a viable plan.

There's not a lot of margin in it though even in the best case scenario. NZD$280 seems to be the going rate for a 50 liter keg as I understand it (what the pub pays the brewer) and that rate is somewhat fixed whether it's a blonde ale or an heavy IPA. A NZ dollar is about 1.5x a US dollar.

My ingredient costs would be NZD$62 for a Centennial blonde ranging up to NZD$130 for a a generous hoppy pale ale. This is buying base malt by the sack, repitching yeast, and meeting the free shipping threshold, brewing on gas. About as cheap as you can get without going electric and getting wholesale ingredients.

I think the only way people do well is to brew large batches, but then you are up for massive capital outlay and the interest / cost of capital eats into that margin and finding customers becomes the core issue.

All ideas at this stage. But the desire to make awesome beer and take it to the world is strong. I'd just like an option that doesn't require mortgaging the house and going all-in to compete in a saturated market with some very big fish.

Sadu, have a chat with Craftwork in Oamaru. they'rerunning 50/100 litre brew kits. its defintely not a full tiem job if you go the smaller route.
its a big reasons why guys like behemoth are cotnract only. its easier, faster and there no outlay of purchasing equipment etc.

if you brew yourself, and sell you'll need a CCA licensed area at the very least. plus the regulations about havingthat area. (it needs to be separate from your Homebrewing area)
then your equipment cost on top, plus grains hops water yeast etc.
electricity, gas and so on.
it becomes a labor of love rather than anything else.
Its the only reason I haven't gone commercial yet. alots of hassle (im keen to brew and release some interesting beers outside of the saturated hops market.)

 

[jbunton]

I think I found my operating location today so now all the real work begins!!!

 

[Dangeruss]

I'm still on the fence off the fence, what deflects me is being responsible for your employees livelihood (insurance, getting a good paycheck, balance of life). I had a friend that was a brewery owner & got out. He was working his ass off and getting nothing in return. He is still working in the brewery industry but is getting paid in one week that he was suppose to get paid in two weeks at his brewery.

 

[brewcat]

I'm still on the fence off the fence, what deflects me is being responsible for your employees livelihood (insurance, getting a good paycheck, balance of life). I had a friend that was a brewery owner & got out. He was working his ass off and getting nothing in return. He is still working in the brewery industry but is getting paid in one week that he was suppose to get paid in two weeks at his brewery.

That's the name of the game if you're a business owner. There is always something that needs done. Don't go into business if you like 40 hour work weeks and vacations.

 

[javert]

I sort of want it, but the part I definitely don't like it's the one about producing the exact same beer over and over again with no further changes in the recipe.

The fun of homebrewing is to experiment, to keep creating new flavors and variants that don't taste like anything you have brewed before or keep doing small incremental changes in the quest of the perfect beer. I could easily feel like using unrefined cane sugar for the priming in the next batch to see how the taste varies, whether it is better, worse or just different. It is easy to imagine the bazillion hurdles that would face on production beer, from the quest for a supplier and the impact on the marginal profit to customer's acceptance that may "like it how it has always been" even if it was worse before. The thrill of trying new recipes, process variants and the excitement of tasting something new... all that would be replaced for losing sleep because maybe X factor may had been different and god forbid the beer tastes 1 % different than the previous batches.

Tough call. Hard to say no to the profits but may feel like selling your soul to the devil.

 

[Zamial]

I do not own the brewery work at. I am a full time brewer and have been for 4 years now.

Just so you know there is 7 new breweries opening every day in teh USA. The shelves are filled with craft beer unlike I have ever seen before. You have 1 chance to get a perfect product to a customer and if you fail they are done with you forever!

You will also have to work long 10+ hour days in wicked enviorments. Cleaning and sanitizing chemicals get nasty when you get covered in them. I have been soaked head to toe in hot Sodium Hydroxide aka lye more than twice.

The pay is ****e. I can make more at a factory with better benifits I am 100% sure.

The upside is I get free beer (within reason) and people are happy to see me/talk to me. Unlike a thankless IT helpdesk job.

Can you lift 120lbs off the floor? That is what a full 1/2 bbl weighs. I move them all the time by hand. If you can't move a 1/2bbl you may as well let the dream die...

I am happy I am a brewer but I do VERY little homebrewing anymore. The plumber's pipes leak and the cobbler needs shoes aka the fastest way to kill a hobby you love is to turn it into your primary job.

I am happy I am a brewer but there are better ways to make money...

I wish those with the dream the best of luck you will need that and a LOT more.

 

[Morrey]

I have become friends with the gent I buy my supplies from in Charlotte, NC. Most of his sales are Internet based, but his warehouse does have walk in traffic.

He has been in the brew supply business 30 years. He said just last week that there are tons of new breweries opening in Charlotte every year, and the vast majority of these now turned pros were home brewers he sold to for years....now they are the ones opening these micro breweries.

By his comment, it seems a logical step to move from home brewer to commercial brewer. Just takes bigger toys to play with.

 

[KarmaCitra]

I'm putting together the plans now to see what it would entail. Here in Georgia, the laws are archaic and we as a state are 48th per capita in terms of the number of breweries. It's a challenge, but I also see it as an opportunity once the laws change (which they're in the process of changing now). I've been told that the paperwork and regulatory flaming hoops are enough to keep someone away from it, but I really enjoy seeing people enjoy my beers and I would love to see that on a bigger scale.