Yes, this is another thread about selling beer... but on a tiny scale.

[50calshooter]

What would be interesting would be a brewpub what is set up, where a homebrewer could come in, brew their own recipe, and be served and sold at the brewery.
(I'm making this up as I go along, with the help of a couple high test beers, so I don;t know anything about the legality of this...)
So the (home)brewer pays for the ingredients, possibly working with the brewpub to source them, and the profits would be split between the brewer and pub?
so, using the recipe for a tripel I'm ordering up, cost is about $40, I'd get about that many (US) pints out of 5 gallons. So if the pub was to sell that beer at $6 a pint, that's $5 profit, split, even 50/50, that's $100 to the pub. Scaling that up to even a 2 barrel system increases that, of course. I'd have to look at costs and such to see what would pay - even say $2 a pint to the brewer, so cost + a buck profit would result in a big profit for the pub. They may have their own house beers as well, aside from guest brewers.
Obviously there's costs to the pub - staff, insurance, the costs of the licenses and such, cost of the space, equipment, etc etc etc.

We do something like that. It's called our Guest Brewer Program. I ask a home brewer what he wants to brew then I get approval for my brewpub to brew and sell it from the state. Then they come in and brew. We promote it and he returns a month later and tends bar and pours it. I buy the ingredients and we charge standard price. The brewer gets one dollar for every pint sold, keeps all the tips, and gets a shirt to wear that says "I was a Guest Brewer at Uncle Bob's Brewpub". It's a lot of fun and the customers and Guest Brewer love it.

https://fb.me/e/6ZAogXSy6
https://fb.me/e/2KlaWi8Qb
https://fb.me/e/1zb4ucKUA
the shirt:

 

[bleme]

My local brewpub has something like that also, but only once a year. They hold a brewing contest and the winner gets to brew his beer on their system and served on their taps.

 

[50calshooter]

My local brewpub has something like that also, but only once a year. They hold a brewing contest and the winner gets to brew his beer on their system and served on their taps.

There are a few around here that do the contest thing and it's a great way to bring them in. I went the Guest Brewer route because I didn't want brewers to feel like you had to win something or compete to be a brewer. It just fit my business plan better.

 

[50calshooter]

In highly restrictive states, such as jrgtr's state, (Mass) the local authorities can limit your beer selling activities, so even if you get a license to brew beer, you might not be able to sell it retail.

https://www.connelllawoffices.com/the-different-types-of-brewery-licenses-in-massachusetts/

For the most part it's like that in all 50. Distribution has to happen by a third party and there are several levels of brewing licenses. There are a few states that allow self distribution. Like Arkansas- they have a native brewers permit. Less the 45K BBL a year (I think) and you can self distribute. But, yeah Mass is pretty strict.

 

[bobeer]

The brewery that hosts my brew club will do this a few times a year as well. We'll hold a competition then the winner gets to brew in the pilot system and have it poured in the taproom. Very cool!

 

[Rob2010SS]

For the most part it's like that in all 50. Distribution has to happen by a third party and there are several levels of brewing licenses. There are a few states that allow self distribution. Like Arkansas- they have a native brewers permit. Less the 45K BBL a year (I think) and you can self distribute. But, yeah Mass is pretty strict.

IL is another self distribution state

 

[shoreman]

For the Op I'd recommend reading "Brewing up a Business" about Dogfishead's start. Sam was brewing 12 gallon batches on a Sabco kit when they first started the brewpub.

https://amzn.to/2GwP7oa
But yeah you will need a license to sell. Probably have a better chance opening something super tiny somewhere rural where you can keep the costs way down.