Contract brewing

[St. Jon's Wort]

A few homebrewer friends and myself have been discussing and researching the idea of opening a microbrewery for just about a year now. We have just recently been toying with the idea of possibly contract brewing our beer at first to help save on costs and for us to be able to get our product out there before we begin really working investors and banks for the massive amount of start-up capital needed to open our microbrewery.

Does anyone on here know any established micro or craft brewers who began by contracting their brew? So far we've been able to come up with only one (Terrapin Beer Co).

 

[Rundownhouse]

FX Matt in NY.

EDIT: To clarify, I meant FX Matt does a ton of contract brewing for lots of places.

 

[Sigafoos]

Sam Adams
Brooklyn
Dogfish Head (pretty sure)
Shmaltz/Coney Island (still contracts everything)
21st Amendment (still contract some)
Half Acre (smaller, in Chicago, but they were good beers)

So, you know, nobody big.

 

[vacax]

Mikkeller is all contract brewed

 

[Airborneguy]

Not Dogfishhead, they have a very large brewing facility. Brooklyn and Sam are sort of half contract brewers.

 

[Ringmaster]

.. what is contract brewing?

 

[red96jeep]

def not contract dogfish, they were the only brewery in the state when they opened! Hook and Ladder of silver spring MD also does only contract brewing

 

[chask31]

I know that Brooklyn contracted their brewing out when they started. I believe SouthHampton contracts some out as well since their beer says brewed in Saratoga Springs.

 

[Airborneguy]

Southampton is a brew pub and they contracted out when they realized their beer was so popular. If you go to the pub, everything you will drink is brewed on site.

 

[TheBroonery]

While I was dining at Phillips Seafood the other day I noticed that Clipper City (currently changing their name to Heavy Seas) brews their House Ale. I visited the Clipper City Brewery in Baltimore a month or so ago.. pretty sweet!

 

[motobrewer]

Harbor City Brewing out of Port Washington, WI is all currently contract brewed

 

[samc]

Pete's Wicked.

As a side note, if I know that a beer is contract brewed I usually don't buy it. I like things that are produced directly by the ownership who take full responsibility for what they are serving me.

 

[MikeRLynch]

Pete's Wicked.

As a side note, if I know that a beer is contract brewed I usually don't buy it. I like things that are produced directly by the ownership who take full responsibility for what they are serving me.

This is not entirely true. There are several "beer companies" out there that are owned by people who know nothing about brewing, or very little, and leave recipe formulation and the actual job of brewing to the contract brewery. You can usually tell which these are by tasting the beers, which are more often than not sub-par.

Then there are brewers who simply don't have enough money to start with their own equipment. These people then essentially "rent out" a brewery, brew their own beer, and then sell it under their own label. Technically, this is still contract brewing, due to the fact that it's being produced on another brewery's system. Pretty Things in MA has an outstanding line of unique beers, but it's produced entirely by contact. The brewer, Dan Paquette oversees and personally brews each batch, but uses (I think) Pioneer Brewing Company's system.

 

[chask31]

I wouldnt boycott contract brewed beers. Its a great way to start a brewery without spending too much money off the bat on equipment. I would love to get started that way if not just buying all the equipment!

 

[SteveM]

Yards was using Lion Brewing in Scranton until recently while they upgraded their own facility. The beer did not suffer for it.

 

[Beerrific]

I wouldnt boycott contract brewed beers. Its a great way to start a brewery without spending too much money off the bat on equipment. I would love to get started that way if not just buying all the equipment!

Exactly. Let's be honest. No bank is going to give you the cash to start a brewery. Unless you have rich relatives or a multi-million dollar house to mortgage it is about your only choice to do a run on a full-scale production brewery. The other option is the brewpub, but depending on the state and how you feel about running a restaurant, it is just not an option.

Not buying a beer b/c it is contract brewed is just plain goofy (IMO). Most companies that contract brew take full responsibility for their beer and stand behind it just as much as if they owned the equipment. Some even do the actual brewing (take a look at rotating proprietorships).

 

[chask31]

Yeah, if my current employment situation doesnt work out as planned, I may go the way of using a contract brewery with a small test brewery setup at a rented warehouse.

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

It's mutually beneficial for both brewers. The microbrewer getting beer produced on a quality system, and the larger brewer gets to maximize the capacity of their systems and generate additional revenue.