"Is there anybody out there?" -thats sold homebrew

[Chello]

Yea I was going to comment on this one too, Revvy. Then I realized that I just don't believe it. I don't believe any business owner who was sharp enough to get a business to own in the first place would be so dull witted to risk everything, including their home and freedom, to openly traffic in illegal substances.

If he is that stupid he certainly deserves the world of legal troubles storming his way.

Yup, my thoughts too. But we went there the other night and i saw someone order a liquor drink when they only "have" beer.

So i'm beginning to think it's true.

 

[Gonefishing]

I see a lot of these threads where people are dreaming of making this obsession/ hobby a money making venture by opening a brewery, etc. To date I can't remember seeing a suggestion to open a LHBS. You get to defray your costs, you get to indulge your hobby and to associate non-stop with people of like mind. There are minimal legal hurdles. There are much fewer barriers to entry. The market is far less saturated. The current economy actually favors this move (with naive people thinking they will actually save money brewing their own .)

Actually, this is the route that I've thought I would prefer to take for all the reasons you mentioned, plus it would satisfy my social bent...(that means I love to talk!) I even have an area that could use one.Only thing I don't have? $$$$$

 

[springer]

best way to kill your love of a hobby ... Make it your living.

I love working on Harley's I do engines frames paint the whole 9 yards. I did it for a while after I retired and started to hate it . Now its just a hobby again and it really relaxing just like brewing ..

 

[rico567]

H'm. Fascinating stuff, "billtzk," I had no idea that libertarianism had a revolutionary side. In the meantime, addressing the OP, the first thing I'd do is to review the Federal and Washington State statutes regulating the manufacture and sale of alcohol.

Please note that I'm not telling you not to do this, only to understand the costs and benefits -all of them- before you do. You've worked out some basic economics of producing beer, but the minute you propose to sell any, you're in a whole different world.

Barter or "reciprocal gifts" are possible answers.....but you need to recall the old IRS joke, that the difference between avoidance and evasion is about 7-10 years.

Despite all the theories, there's a reason money exists, and our government, like all others, survives and waxes fat by monopolizing the production of money, and by tapping into its movement.

 

[rico567]

Producing beer and distributing it outside the bounds of the law is very bad in the Federal Prison and humongous fines kind of way. At the very least any beer produced over the Federal and State limits for homebrew is taxable. Once you distribute you are talking prison time. Calling it donations or presents or whatever, might play in the office, but the ATF and IRS will call the spade a spade.

Admitting to it online is tantamount to providing a prewritten confession should you ever rise up on the radar screen.

Telling people online that "you know someone" who does this will only invite the ATF to ask you, under federal subpoena of course, who that person is.

Thanks for this post, "dontman." After reading some of the posts in this thread, I think there are some people out there who don't realize what they're doing when they put material on the Internet. It's like the First Commandment of e-mail: "Don't put anything in an e-mail message that you wouldn't go into the mall and shout aloud in pubic."

 

[camiller]

You would have to make far more than 50 gallon batches to make it pay.
Sorry to be a dream smasher, but it will never happen.

Didn't Dogfish Head brewing start out doing three 12 Gallon batches a day 5 days a week on a sabco system?

Dogfish Head - Company Profile

There is no reason he couldn't start out at 50G batches.

 

[Gordie]

FYI - required viewing...


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEQXwK4JQlY]YouTube - Fresh Brew[/ame]


Gordie.

 

[Grinder12000]

Seriously - don't let those guys dissuade you - they are quitters.

it can be done - seriously! Get the regs and get a license (it's not THAT hard). I know home brewers that have opened microbreweries here in Wisconsin.

ANYBODY that says' it can't be done even with a small 10 gallon system is lazy. Can you make money - maybe maybe not.

For instance - at the moment I'm working with a guy with a tiny little bar - he wants me to brew beer for him - have a tap or two of my own to do with what I wish. I would be the house brew.

Even if I only brew 1 barrel a week - it's fine.

As was told to me by people that did do it the HARD part is just jumping through the hoops with Uncle Sam. It's not about cleanliness or anything like that, it just that they want their cut of the profits.

This is America and there is always a way.

 

[slim chillingsworth]

*message deleted by author*

 

[Desert_Sky]

I plead the fifth

 

[mlanoue]

I gotta track their websites down, but I know there is a place in the UP (Michigan) that makes one half-barrel a week and another place in Iowa that does something on a similar scale. Small can work. I'm sure it's not easy, but I think once they got the hang of it and built up a loyal following things took off.

 

[ballbuster]

Alright let me explain this to people one more time. No business that you can ever invest your savings, time, blood, sweat and tears into is ever easy! If this is what you think you want to do, DO IT!

I started a construction company( underground utilities, earthwork, water, sewer, communications, Etc.)because thats what I knew how to do. Have you priced an excavator, pick ups, water trucks, loaders, or a backhoe lately. If I sold out all my equipment right now I could have enough money to put a beautiful pub together.

Know what people say when I tell them thats what I want to do as a retirement? "I dont know Thats a lot of work"! You think?

So is starting a excavation company! So is starting a taxi cab company! So is starting a flippen maid service! So its easy to get a little pissed when people say " that is really hard to do", "Oh, thats alot of work", "You cant do that"!

NO Part of owning and operating any business is easy! If you get lucky, and I mean really lucky, you will find the right person in your endeavors that will bend over backwards to protect and serv your best interest. Then it gets a little easier.

But until the right one comes along, your best friend that you had since highschool will hock your tools(after he said he had your back and we can build it together). Your own brother will embezzle the companies savings. Your wife will stop caring about the business all together and just want to spend all the money. Every family member and friend all of a sudden can tell when the company has money and thinks they are entitled to it. Then they disown you when you tell them that you are not a flippen bank, not a auto loan officer, not a pawn shop, not a payday loan service, ETC.....

So if that is what you want to do, DO IT! Setting in your rocking chair on the front porch when you are 85 saying I wish I would of dont sound like fun to me, setting there saying" boy I kinda screwed that FIASCO up" and laughin about is saying that a dreamer you were not! A doer you were! What if Martin Luther King wouldnt of had a dream?

Good Luck! Remember that none of this business stuff is easy, all business' pay taxes, all buy product, all buy equipment, all hire some idiots, all find a good idiot once and a while, and all stand a chance to fail or succeed, its up to you to decide which one it will do.

 

[bull8042]

Wow ballbuster, what a post. Very well written. I am impressed, and wish I had your spirit.

Prost to you, sir!

 

[ballbuster]

Thank you Bull, thought I might of put too much real life in there, but what the heck? I'm getting off topic now.

 

[CBBaron]

If you want to sell your beer in a legal manner then you need to be aware of the regulations and requirements to do so. Just making a batch of beer and selling it or "distributing" it is very illegal and can get you in alot of trouble. Much more so than black marketing other items with the exception of illegal drugs.

Now if you really want to sell your beer, then do the home work figure out your finances and go for it. A nano scale brewery is quite possible as a side job in several states. A profitable nano scale brewery is probably not going to happen in Ohio as the brewery license is about $4000/yr which makes it tough to make a profit without volume. Many other states are similar.

And check out Brewtopias threads about the brewpub he just opened. Nice place.

Good luck.

Craig

 

[Christian]

I used to own a bar........keywords there are used to.

I only have this advice to give, hire a lawyer.

No matter how much you think you know, hire a lawyer because the law always knows more. There are allot of legal resources available to small businesses, use them. The money will be well spent.

 

[isac777]

Lots of posts on my "little question". I was really looking to just pick your guys brain and I got everything..Anarchy,bootleggers,and pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. I just seems that I love homebrewing so much and I know I could never quit my job and would have to jump through massive hoops (legal) but here is the thing....THE WIFE LIKES THE IDEA!!!! need I say more? p.s. she is not mental either