Anyone aspiring to open a brewery?

[dendron8]

I'm curious, do most folks on here home brew to drink themselves/give away, or are there also folks that eventually want to sell for profit?

 

[PADave]

I've thought about it, retiring early and opening up a brewery. Then I think about how brewing would become work and I say nope.

 

[kingmatt]

If you are contemplating it I would suggest you start volunteering (or get a full time job if you can afford it) at a brewery ASAP. You will not only be able to tell if you enjoy the work but will also gain valuable knowledge about brewing on a large scale that you will need later on.

Too many breweries are popping up these days by ambitious homebrewers who haven't put in the work they need to brew quality beer consistently on a commercial scale.

 

[beergolf]

I ruined one hobby by going pro. (furniture building) I will never do that again. I made good money buy eventually got to the point that I lost the passion for it.

I brew for pleasure and do not want to ruin that by making it a carreer.

 

[normonster]

I think about it everyday. I even wrote a business plan to see if it was remotely possible. Suffice to say, you have to sell a hell of a lot of beers to cover rent, depreciation, etc. A LOT. Coupled with the notion of working on weekends and nights it isn't feasible for me. I have beer to drink on weekends and at night.

 

[phendog]

I you want to sell for profit, I interrupt this as being owner and/or managing the operation of a brewery - not being the brewmaster. I believe that the one and the other are apples and oranges. Unless you are thinking about a very small operation, it would be very difficult to effectively and efficiently manage being both brewmaster and the HMFIC.

Home brewers brew for their own beer and it's usually fun. That said, anyone who has home brewed a 10gal or larger batch in a day may say it's work, and I would somewhat agree. I would also venture to say that any position you find yourself in where you own or operate ANY business IS work - brewmaster or not. But, if it's your passion, it can also be fun.

 

[clarkpadgett]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg2u_De8j5o&list[/ame]

 

[oceanic_brew]

I have my sites set on western Newfoundland, Canada right now. Specifically the Corner Brook area.

I love the production aspect of homebrewing, I love having people enjoy my brews and have been in and out of various business ventures since I've been 20.

I'm one of those people who can't help but take something to professional levels if it's possible for me to do so and I thrive off 12-14 HR days of manual labor coupled with the impossible tasks of managing marketing and other business duties simultaneously. It's what makes me tick.

 

[stevedasleeve]

Yes. Then I researched - federal & state regulations are so lengthy and convoluted it sets up a risk that, frankly, wasn't worth it for me. Looked like I'd spend more time on paperwork than brewing up a business, let alone actually brewing... maybe if I was in my 20's and had few other prospects ...

 

[jbunton]

Just bought a setup from a brewery that's upsizing! I'm in the process of going pro lol. I work as a chemical operator by day so I work with allot of similar equiptment and processes and understand the lavour involved. I find the learning curve is steep as when this all gets going there is allot on the line but I am up for the challenge.

Not that it's easy but the beer seems like the easy part or a very small part of it. All the other things are the hard part. Business plan, numbers, metrics, compliance...etc.

The list is endless sometimes I have to RDWAHAHB

 

[xandersaml]

I have my sites set on western Newfoundland, Canada right now. Specifically the Corner Brook area.

I love the production aspect of homebrewing, I love having people enjoy my brews and have been in and out of various business ventures since I've been 20.

I'm one of those people who can't help but take something to professional levels if it's possible for me to do so and I thrive off 12-14 HR days of manual labor coupled with the impossible tasks of managing marketing and other business duties simultaneously. It's what makes me tick.

I'd gladly have a drink (or many) in an establishment you run. Entrepreneurs rock!

 

[AkTom]

Only in my daydreams.

 

[Pantherjon]

Same here...Was thinking about it last night as I was sipping my Zombie Dust clone..Thinking 'damn, I make some f*&king great beer!'..Then thought about all the paperwork to open something as small as I was thinking and said, nah, ain't gonna happen..Would it be cool tho? You betcha!

Read this..I was thinking along the lines of a Micro Nano Brewery continuing doing 5 gallon batches, or maybe that would be a Nano Micro Nano Brewery? Micro Micro Nano Brewery?

 

[theDREWery]

If we could end the puritanical BS belied that alcohol = bad, and that it needs to be regulated and sin taxed... I would gladly suffer the same inspections that any commercial kitchen undergoes, and pay sales/income tax. The regulations are all from teetotalers forcing their beliefs on others; until the discrimination ends, I'm strictly a tax-free homebrewer.

 

[Sadu]

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?

 

[Grinnan5150]

I would only do it if I hit the Powerball and could finance it myself. It's such a risky business and seems to be more headache than it is worth. It's a great hobby but I wouldn't want to go any further than that.

 

[enkamania]

I'm part of a co-op brewery and last summer they brewed my beer. That was enough for me.

 

[myelo]

I plan to open a brewery as soon as I retire from my next career as starting shortstop for the Cubs. I just hope my new wife, Kate Upton, won't mind me working so much.

 

[Redtab78]

I am having major aspirations of doing this. In fact, I have set myself up on a 6 year plan for the financing of one. I am (luckily) active military, and will have enough on my retirement to survive, so my plan is a smaller (4-5bbl) system within my own brewpub. I am also lucky enough to have a wife that has serious ambitions to open a restaurant (again on a small scale) so together we will start a brewpub with "pub food" offered.
starting in the spring, I will be volunteering at a few local pubs to get the experience I will need to brew on the large scale as well as how the business aspect is run...I have sooo many questions, I cant hardly wait!
My inspiration comes from those around me that I share my beers with, the feedback I get about my brews has been phenomenal, and I have taking 1,3 and a 4th place in local events.

 

[bobeer]

I've been down this road several times in the past 5 years. I've been approached by a few small businesses that wanted to start brewing and selling their own beer. Only come to find getting around the red tape is a costly process. There's a local coffee shop here that passed the DOH inspection and just got their on premises ABC license and intends to go all the way until they're brewing and selling they're own beer. They already have a BOP license but space is an issue and they're also a bottle shop so that might affect their ability to become a licensed nano. They've put in a ton of money already to get to where they are in the process so now everything is on hold while they recoup some of that money.

There's also a farmer in town that wants me to brew the beer for a nano he wants to open. He bought a retail space in a little town around here and wants to create a seasonal, spring/summer/fall, brewery for people to come and enjoy. Problem is he has no idea what it takes to open a brewery and what you need to go through to get it all done. He's got the money but he's not very educated about this stuff. So we'll see where that goes too.

If I were to open my own brewery I'd have to do it more than just me. There's no way I'd want to run all aspects of a business when producing the product already takes a ton of time. My wife owns a small business and she never has any free time and her products she buys wholesale...
I think my first step would either be to find someone who has the means to finance and run the business side of things and I just run the brewery with a profit sharing option since I'd be bringing experience and 5+ years of proven recipes. Or, to assemble a team of people I trust and could own a business with and create our own company.
I wish I could just do it all myself but I know that right now, with a 6 month old and a 2.5 year old plus a wife who owns a small business, there's no way I'd have enough time or energy to pull it off.

In the meantime I just continue developing recipes and having fun enjoying my beer. I'll always listen to someone who wants me to commercially brew just in case they can actually pull it off. It would be a great part time gig for some extra spending money but it would have to net me at least 85K a year to do it full time which I know isn't really possible unless you actually own the business.

 

[kh54s10]

Like PADave said:

I've thought about it, retiring early and opening up a brewery. Then I think about how brewing would become work and I say nope.

That, and the fact that it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to start.........

 

[brewcat]

In the meantime I just continue developing recipes and having fun enjoying my beer. I'll always listen to someone who wants me to commercially brew just in case they can actually pull it off. It would be a great part time gig for some extra spending money but it would have to net me at least 85K a year to do it full time which I know isn't really possible unless you actually own the business.

And if you owned the business you wouldn't be doing the brewing.

 

[NadoHawk]

We have 130+ breweries where I live and some have closed already. Not worth it unless I have a killer beer, which I don't.

 

[oujens]

When I first started brewing, I immediately thought one day I would own my own brewery. 5 years later, a lot of breweries have opened and I noticed that it takes a lot of time and commitment. Constant marketing, events, promotion, distribution, equipment maintenance, investment, etc...And for what kind of return? If I was single at my age and wasn't enjoying my job, I might consider it. But with 2 kids and a wife, just not something that I want to do. Financial risk and too much time away from home at this stage in my life. I also don't like the regulation and how the model is setup where other people get a cut of your profits. I'd rather own a business where that money goes to my company instead of middle-men getting a cut.

Being a part of a brewery would be awesome, but I'm not at a point that I want to make it a business. I'd rather keep it fun and a personal escape for the time being.

 

[chudsonvt]

I've considered it. If I ever decide to change careers, I think I would try going the brewpub route since I love food just as much as I love beer. That way the business is not completely leaning on the beer, the batch sizes are reasonable and the ability to offer various styles and experiment can be bit easier.

 

[bobeer]

And if you owned the business you wouldn't be doing the brewing.

Exactly... In a perfect world I'd own the business and come up with new recipes at home for the brewmaster to scale up and brew himself to sell. Haha.

 

[motosapiens]

I like brewing too much to open a brewery. It used to be something I thought about, especially after the tech slowdown following y2k, but I like doing things on my terms, which means giving beer away to my friends instead of trying to sell it to annoying yuppies with the latest phone-app to review it.

 

[crusader1612]

Here in NZ, alot of brewers contract brew, rather than the outlay of buying their own large scale system, the costs in renting or buying a premises etc. their beers are made using an existing breweries system. They pay a levy per litre for the use of systems and fermenters etc.
it means we can get alot more beers out in the market without a brewery every 200 yards.

in the NI there is a larger scale production brewery being built as we speak, which will brew a heap of beer for about 8-10 different breweries (with more coming on board later)
no mundane ness is brewingthe same recipes, and it can mean you keep home brewing as well rather than brewing becoming your job.

 

[dendron8]

Here in NZ, alot of brewers contract brew, rather than the outlay of buying their own large scale system, the costs in renting or buying a premises etc. their beers are made using an existing breweries system. They pay a levy per litre for the use of systems and fermenters etc.
it means we can get alot more beers out in the market without a brewery every 200 yards.

in the NI there is a larger scale production brewery being built as we speak, which will brew a heap of beer for about 8-10 different breweries (with more coming on board later)
no mundane ness is brewingthe same recipes, and it can mean you keep home brewing as well rather than brewing becoming your job.

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

 

[dendron8]

I like brewing too much to open a brewery. It used to be something I thought about, especially after the tech slowdown following y2k, but I like doing things on my terms, which means giving beer away to my friends instead of trying to sell it to annoying yuppies with the latest phone-app to review it.

I read this at work, laughed out loud, and got some funny stares

 

[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.