mackinskor
Well-Known Member
Title said:
If you have so many recipes, why don't you sell your beer?
If you have so many recipes, why don't you sell your beer?
because the three-tiered distribution laws and permitting is a PITA.....
and I don't have the money to go big. I make good beer now; but I'm not at the point where I make repeatedly great beer.....
Forgive my ignorance, could you elaborate on your first sentence?
Pain In The Ass got it like 3 seconds after -- what does three tiered distribution mean?
the way that most states regulate how alcohol is distributed and sold prohibits lots of homebrewers from being able to go commercial.
I can't remember exactly what it is but it has to do with the fact that you as a producer can't sell directly to a bar or store. There's a middle man....
I'm sorry, if I wasn't half in the bag I'd be able to help more.....
I'm half in the bag if not worse I plan on launching my line of beer within 10-14 months MAX which is why I ask.
I'd love to go pro once I get things nailed down. One of my dreams is to open a brewpub...need money for the building, equipment, some schooling and obviously the government BS on just about every level that needs to be waded through.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/things-i-learned-going-home-nanobrewer-137210/I can't think of the dudes name on here, but he wrote many threads about what it takes to go pro.....If I remember later, I'll let you know!
Money is the only thing stopping me.
Have enough money, you can clear all the regulatory hurdles that the states throw in our way.
Lets look at it this way. A local winery can sell directly to local businesses without a distributor and the license for production is under $2000. A brewery needs to have a distributor, cannot sell directly to consumers or restaurant/bars and needs upwards of $20k in licensing. That's alot of money to put outfront before you even have the chance of failing, as most small businesses do...
BTW, those numbers are about a year old but AFAIK they haven't changed.
The licensing costs vary quite wildly by state. I did some research for setting up in GA (a 3-tier state) recently and the gov costs were only a couple thousand.
Not sure why some of you are so scared of the three tier system (producer, distributor, retailer) with the proper licensing and business structure you can be all three. Many brewery owners form a seperate entity to be the distributor......brewery sells beer to the distributor, distributor sells to retail....more of a paper trail and proper licensing than anything, either way the brewer/dist owner keeps more of the profits. On the retail side, again with the proper licensing, you can sell your product on site. Haven't you ever seen 6 ers or bombers being sold at a brewery/tasting room?
In Colorado, individuals can form a seperate entity to be the ditributor.....so if 2 guys own the brewery, those 2 guys can form another entity that is a distributor....brewery sells to dist....same 2 guys still get all the money!
Or another easy workaround if indeed the same people can't own the distributorship...have the 2 guys wives form the 2nd entity.
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