Crowdfunding for brewery startup?

[deeve007]

Hey brewers!

A mate of mine is in the process of putting together his plan for starting up a small commercial brewery, and he's looking at potentially launching a crowdfunding campaign to fund part of it... initial idea is they would be "pre-buying" beer, possibly some merch and the like... etc.

Anyone seen this work effectively, or have ideas / tips / comments about this?
Would you contribute to crowdfunding for a small brewery startup?
If so, would promise of future beer be enough, or would you want something else offered perhaps?

 

[Qhrumphf]

Crowd funding seems to be useful as *part* of the initial capital, but unless it's a *very* small operation hopefully your friend has more substantial funding routes.

They'll also want to make sure the "pre-buying beer" is legal under the jurisdiction in question. Alcohol laws can be very arbitrary and strange depending on where you live.

That said, merch packages, "mug club" memberships, join-a-brew-day, or with high value donations something like helping design/name your own beer. I've seen places use all of em.

Just difficult to get enough from crowdfunding alone. Bank loans and/or investors.

 

[deeve007]

Definitely not all or most funding this way, more to cover operational costs for 12 months than material costs.

Join-a-brew-day is one definitely good idea, especially as the brewery will be located in a "destination place" in a semi-rural wine region, AND the brewery will have boutique accommodation so this can be a brewing & wine tour weekend including accommodation.

And obviously merch stuff is the easier/cheaper end of things.

I also like the idea of possibly helping to create a recipe and the beer is named after you in some way.

 

[FatDragon]

I've seen a few such projects on Kickstarter, and I don't think they ever offer beer as a backer reward. My guess is that it's not legal to do so. Maybe they could get around that by making the reward something like "Mug Club" membership, but my guess is that if the "Mug Club" includes free beer, it's still not legal. It's also possible, however, that the lack of offers like this in the projects I've seen is due to Kickstarter bylaws and has nothing to do with actual laws.

 

[treacheroustexan]

Take a look at this kickstarter for ideas: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brewgentlemen/the-brew-gentlemen-beer-co

The Brew Gentlemen right outside of Pittsburgh. I backed them knowing nothing about them, and I frequently drive to PA just to go there now (I live a few hours away in Ohio).

 

[Qhrumphf]

As alcohol production and sale is so inconsistently but intensely regulated, the more can be offered that isn't directly beer, the less lawyers have to get involved and the better off everyone is.

 

[deeve007]

As alcohol production and sale is so inconsistently but intensely regulated, the more can be offered that isn't directly beer, the less lawyers have to get involved and the better off everyone is.

We may have a little more latitude being Australia not the US, though obviously he will need to investigate more in thia area...

 

[deeve007]

Another idea from someone: 10% discount for a certain timeframe (1 year, 5 years maybe), larger for higher backers ...etc. Idea was lifetime discount, but maybe a time limit is safer...?