Won my first comp

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hammerhead3

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So I've been on this site reading for quite some time, and this is my first post...
Anyway, I entered and won my first ever competition recently. Part of the award was going to a local brewery to brew with them. I'm really excited about this chance to learn on a professional scale because I (like so many others) have the hope of starting my own place.
My question is this. They want to brew my recipe and put on tap at their brewery. While this is very cool, am I a fool to give them my recipe? A few people I've talked to have suggested I ask for percentages or other types of reimbursement. What is standard here? I really want to have this opportunity, and don't want to offend by asking for money, but don't want to lose out on what is obviously a good recipe. They are going to use the name I've given the beer, as well, so on places like untappd it will show up under my homebrew name, but is that enough?

Anyway, any advice or opinions are greatly appreciated. I'm on this site daily, and without it I wouldn't know half what I do now. Thanks for your time,
Cheers
 
Wow what a great problem to have !!! I would give them the recipe either way and just say hey if by chance this beer is a huge hit their needs to be some sort of compensation.
 
Congrats!

Maybe get them to sign something declaring that they can't copy your recipe & sell it themselves, at least not without some sort of compensation? I am no lawyer, but were it me, I'd want to protect myself.
 
Try not to sound like a dick but I would definatley protect myself. If they are going to make money off of something you created. It's only right you get fairly compensated. If they won't make a deal then maybe just outline your recipe and leave key parts out like amount of grain, mash temps, yeast strains ect.

Also Congrats on the win man.
 
What would be your motivation for not sharing the recipe? Are you thinking you might brew professionally and want this beer in your wheelhouse? Are you afraid they'll make a bunch of money off of your creativity and begrudge them that?

As for them, I doubt they're trying to pirate your recipe. For most homebrewers, having one's own recipe brewed professionally would be a point of pride, and the experience of brewing it on their equipment would be more than worth the tradeoff of sharing your recipe with them (after all, they're probably only going to brew it as a one-off anyway). Maybe see if you can score a few cases or kegs when they package it as an opportunity to share your pro brew with your buddies/get free beer (the best kind).
 
Thanks for the quick responses, all!

I didn't get the impression they were trying to"steal" my recipe or anything of the sort. My first thought was that I was ecstatic my brew is good enough for someone to want to reproduce commercially and I get the opportunity to assist in the brew professionally. That was enough for me. And yes, as a bonus they offered to fill one of my kegs for me. :rockin:

After sharing my excitement with a few people, some thought that royalties or something of the sort was in order since they stand to profit from my recipe, and maybe substantially. I just figured I would turn here, where I get all my questions about brewing answered, to see what the thought was on this. I think this will be a one off type thing, and give them the recipe, maybe get a gentleman's agreement of some sort where if they do it frequently other arrangements can be made.
 
Don't worry about your recipe, use this as an opportunity to learn something, maybe build a relationship with this brewery and the people there. How much is that worth?
Maybe you could do an internship or get a part time job there and really learn something from them.
If I was them, and some homebrewer started making demands, I would just say, that's OK, we don't need to do this collaboration. Any chance of having a good relationship with them will be spoiled.

If you ever get your own brewery going, you can still make your beer, you'll need more than one recipe anyway.
 
I'd give them my recipe. How many times on HBT has someone said they emailed or asked the brewery for their recipe and got it? I know of a few anyway. A good brewer could probably guess your recipe pretty close anyway. I wouldn't burn any bridges this soon. You may develop some good friends at the brewery that could help you further down the road.
 
most of us try and clone the microbrew product's,so i would give it to them.most likely you will get A FWK of your beer...and the knowledge that you beer was selected to be brewed,by this brewery..it could lead into a job..Well done:mug:
 
Part of the award was the chance to brew at the brewery. You don't have to do it, but that is part of the prize. If you don't want to "give" your recipe, then simply decline to brew.

I will say that I have made a ton of recipes for people, and for myself, and a recipe really isn't "worth" anything. Unless you have some sort of new combination of flavors, it's probably something that nearly anyone could taste and come up with. The other thing, you may be limited by their ingredients (like yeast strain). Since recipes for beer are barley malt with a great proportion of it base malt, hops that are commercially available, yeast and water, it's unlikely that ANY recipe in the universe is a trade secret or valuable in and of itself.
 
Congratulations on the win!

I seriously doubt that the brewery gains much, if anything, by copying your recipe. This sounds like something nice they are doing for you, not vice-a-versa. Think of all the great homebrew recipes that are out there on the web for free. And as most people who have brewed more than 2 or 3 batches know, the challenge in making good homebrew is the brewing process, not the recipe.

Furthermore, I doubt that the challenge in running a good brewery has anything to do with the beer recipes. The real challenges in most businesses are the same: how good you are at managing and hiring quality people, marketing, distribution, running a restaurant, balancing budgets, putting out a consistent product, dealing with complaints, etc.

Like Yooper said, if you you don't want to give away your recipe, just decline the prize.
 
Yooper said:
Part of the award was the chance to brew at the brewery. You don't have to do it, but that is part of the prize. If you don't want to "give" your recipe, then simply decline to brew.

I will say that I have made a ton of recipes for people, and for myself, and a recipe really isn't "worth" anything. Unless you have some sort of new combination of flavors, it's probably something that nearly anyone could taste and come up with. The other thing, you may be limited by their ingredients (like yeast strain). Since recipes for beer are barley malt with a great proportion of it base malt, hops that are commercially available, yeast and water, it's unlikely that ANY recipe in the universe is a trade secret or valuable in and of itself.
Click to expand...
All of this. The prize was likely inclusive of having your beer brewed and sold in their taproom. This isn't like a photography contest where your photo will be used by a company or something like that. That's where you want to protect your art. Did you come up with the recipe or did you take a recipe from somewhere and just brew it? You're not entitled to a percentage of sales unless they offered it upfront. What other prize did you get?

In truth, if I were the brewery putting on the contest and the winner wanted to protect their recipe, I would tell you to go ahead and be on your way and likely brew something pretty dang close to it anyway. If it were me, I'd let them brew it. If they're like many other breweries who do this, they will let the public know who designed the beer. I'd have an overwhelming sense of pride if a brewery wants to brew my beer on their commercial system. A shout out to me would be about as much as I'd hope for...maybe a high five.
 
Think about it this way.

What do you get out of this? You get a chance to brew your beer at a professional brewery. You get have it served on tap for many people to enjoy. You get your name associated with the brew. All pretty good things. You have a lot more to gain than they do. If you don't give them your recipe they will just put another beer on that tap and make just as much money.

It is just a recipe. Brewing is not rocket science. Any good brewer probably could get very close to your recipe by just tasting and evaluating your beer. Recipes cannot be patented. Think about a top chef writing a cook book. Think about all of the breweries that freely give out their recipes.

Relax, enjoy the win and the great opportunity they are giving you.
 
A huge congrats is in order. What an amazing sense of pride that must give you. wow!

I would echo the others. The beer being brewed at a brewery and having your name on it. That's reward in and of itself; one not many folks will ever receive.

Don't listen to your buddy on this one.
 
If you're wanting to become a brewer the experience and networking are going to be worth a lot more than any recipe.

Even if they did use your recipe there's nothing to prevent you from doing the same in the future. The same recipe brewed on different equipment is going to taste different and if you are using different brands of malt, yeast, etc. that will completely change the characters of the beer as well.

Anyways, congrats on the win!
 
Congrats on the win.
If you want to protect yourself, trademark your brewery name and ask to have the promo materials identify the collaboration. I would not ask for any money- they are going out on a limb that the beer will sell. (I don't know the beer you made or your market- obviously a delicious IPA will sell...) They are fronting all the materials, equipment, labor, insurance etc. Will you buy all the kegs that might not sell? Margins are probably tighter than you think and asking for a few hundred dollars (plus free beer) or whatever isn't worth tanking the relationship.

Good luck!
 
Congrats! My buddy used to do this same thing at his old establishment where he was head brewer. I honestly wouldnt worry about receiving any %s or having a binding agreement where they cant brew the recipe. While we know the potential is there, recipes are shared greatly all over the internet. Many of our favorite brews are online for the taking. A lot of the winning brews that they brewed large scale in the brewery ended up tasting different than the homebrewer's winning beer. Scaling up a beer that large, it will take a few attempts to refine it. Enjoy the brewing experience and most importantly, keep brewing good beer:mug:
 
Congrats! The prize sounds pretty cool to me! If it was me I would share the recipe. Pretty sure they are not out to make money off of you. Sounds like a one time batch deal. Have pride knowing your beer is being served to the masses. They are giving there time, equipment and materials cost.
 
If I were in your boots I would throw the recipe at them. You get to brew with some pros and have your beer commercially sold. You're having two dreams of pretty much every homebrewer crossed out at once (not to mention winning a competition).
 
Congrads.

I would think there was something in the "rules of the contest" stating the brewing of your beer and how it would be published & sold.

So would you kindly post here when the brew is available and where. I may drive up. If bottled would you grab me a 6 pack please?
 
In my eyes, your compensation is getting to brew it with them, learn a bit about commercial brewing and have your award winning beer shared with the masses. Congrats man! I would give away any one of my recipes in a heartbeat for a chance to brew it with a pro and get a foot in the door at their brewery.
 
I wouldn't think the brewery is going to profit very much on a one-off sold only in their taproom. The opportunity to brew on their equipment completely at their expense is more valuable than any royalties you could possibly expect to make.
 
You should go ahead and give them the recipe and brew with them. Just think in the future if you were to start your own brewery, what you would have to show for it. You could show off your winning the competition, being able to brew with a brewery as a prize and even getting your product out there if even for a short time in their taproom. Sort of like this is the beer that started it all kind of thing for your future brewery. Definitely would make for a cool back story.
 
Um... Either brew with them or not.

If you want the chance to use their facilities, learn and possibly develop a working relationship with them, give them the recipe and brew.

If you don't want them to have your recipe, don't brew.

It's that simple. Can't have the cake and eat it too. The contest had no pre agreement of compensating the winner for the recipe, so don't ask for compensation.

If it were my brewery, I'd tell you no. Then what? You brew anyway, and it's an akward experience.

Bottom line is they're not going to compensate you or sign anything. I would place a bet on this, so don't make an ass of yourself by asking.
 
Congratulations!

I have a story. I won best of show (and several other gold medals) at a large pro-am contest about 2 years ago with a local brewery. We brewed it on their system about a year later and went to GABF with it in the Pro-Am category in 2014.

I am currently posting from my commercial brewery site where the equipment is all on site and the build is about a month from completion. We're looking to open our doors in July. Your dream is my reality...so it can happen!

As far as recipe. Forget it. Any brewer worth his/her salt, IMHO, knows that the magic is in the brewer and his/her process, and not the recipe. In fact, my recipe was a tweak on Jamil's recipe from brewing classic styles. I spoke with Jamil personally at GABF and he got to taste the beer. When I said "it was your recipe" he said: "did you change anything?". I replied, "well a little bit of the specialty grains and used a different yeast". He responded: "Then it's YOUR recipe. Congratulations!".

I didn't hesitate to share it. In fact, my homebrew version turned out better than the commercial version, and when we brewed it on their system I took 5G of wort home to ferment it there. My new and old home versions were better than the commercial version. It's so not about the recipe. Let that notion go and you'll be a better brewer for it.

Just my $.02. Best of luck to you!

Edit: here's the untapp'd page of my beer:
https://untappd.com/b/figueroa-mountain-brewing-co-stumbling-saint/833440

One last piece of advice, learn to be thick skinned if you're going to read the public opinions on your beer. :)
 
After thinking about this overnight, I agree with most of the posts above. Matter of fact, I'd probably be at their tap room every night while they sold my beer, having a pint and talking to people about it, either getting their opinions or talking them into ordering one.

:)
 
hammerhead3 said:
Thanks for the quick responses, all!

I didn't get the impression they were trying to"steal" my recipe or anything of the sort. My first thought was that I was ecstatic my brew is good enough for someone to want to reproduce commercially and I get the opportunity to assist in the brew professionally. That was enough for me. And yes, as a bonus they offered to fill one of my kegs for me. :rockin:

After sharing my excitement with a few people, some thought that royalties or something of the sort was in order since they stand to profit from my recipe, and maybe substantially. I just figured I would turn here, where I get all my questions about brewing answered, to see what the thought was on this. I think this will be a one off type thing, and give them the recipe, maybe get a gentleman's agreement of some sort where if they do it frequently other arrangements can be made.
Click to expand...

Yeah, no. They likely had the contest in order to get some new recipes. In exchange for that recipe, you get to brew on a commercial rig and you get a keg filled. Seems pretty fair. Asking for a percentage of the sales, in my opinion, is too much. If you don't like the idea of them brewing a recipe you created over and over again then you shouldn't do it.
 
I think this would be ideal. A lot of us go through a lot of heartache cloning commercial beers. Well, not heartache because we get to try and try and try...all the while we're making beer. You get to say the big guys cloned YOU. Chest thumping and high fiving would ensue if one of my local breweries had my recipe on tap.
 
First of all, congratulations.

As far as the recipe goes, unless it's some secret ingredient you are adding, personally, I wouldn't hesitate to brew with a pro. If you think you might go pro later and plan on using this beer, the only thing you might want to think of, is make sure you have the copyright to the name of the beer, if the name is something special.

Then again, this is if you are really paranoid. I don't think you really have anything to worry about.
 
I would give them the recipe, period. You have been given an honor few will ever know, and them spending their resources as part of a prize is huge in my book. You never know, they may want to brew your recipe commercially... Congratulations on your win, and if it were me, I would just be grateful.

EDIT: My first competition I never should have entered, I was too new to brewing. My second competition I won Best of Category is Stouts and Porters. I haven't entered a competition since.
 
I say just enjoy the experience. It's a pretty cool honor to win the comp and to see your recipe brewed on a commercial scale. I would be it will be just a one time brew for them, but hey if it does become part of their line up maybe then you could kindly chat with them about it.
 
On a somewhat related note.

Anychance you might post the recipe on HBT;). We won't tell anyone else.

I'm always looking through the database for competition winning brews. That way if it turns out meh! I know the fault lies with me and not the recipe.
 
Thanks, all for the congrats. Made me remember what's most important in homebrewing; sharing your creation with others and seeing them enjoy it. When I get a chance, I will post the recipe up here, especially since I probably got ideas for the recipe from this site. (I usually scour several sites once I decide on a style, and meld together the ingredients/process to come up with something unique to call truly my own). The brewery even asked if I wanted to use my recipe, I actually didn't even know when I entered that brewing with them was part of the prize.
Sfish, it'll be on tap at Bubes Brewery in Mount Joy, Pa. I'm not sure when, we haven't even picked a brew date yet. Once a date is picked and I find out when it will go on, I'll let you all know.
Oh, and I don't think I said yet, but it was an Irish Red Ale that won.
 

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