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  • #16
    1 1/2 BBL production brewery

    I with a partner run a 1 1/2 bbl production brewery part time. It is a hobby, our goal is to not loose money so our wives make us quit and we have succeeded !!! We don't make any money either. It works because I already own the building so we have NO fixed costs other than licensing.

    I would like to suggest the following,

    We spend 5 times the hours doing non brewing stuff. We brew once a week the rest of the time is spent kegging,bottling, cleaning, sales, marketing, delivering, carbonating, fermenting, book work............

    You have to self distribute or have a tap room. There is no profit margin if your spending 30% on a distributor. Run the numbers!! Also you would be relying on someone else sell your beer , someone who is just as happy selling everyone elses beer ..... depending on the distributor and your locality this is a big deal.

    Buying the brewing equipment is the cheap part. Make sure you use realistic figures for startup costs.

    Sales takes effort! Marketing takes effort! There is lots of craft beer out there and others will have a much bigger marketing budget. If your solely local it helps but it still takes work. Be realistic about sales.... beer doesn't sell itself anymore!

    Before you commit, go in and talk to bar owners and explain what you are thinking of doing and ask their opinion. If they seem noncommittal that's a bad sign. Ask how much beer per craft beer handle they sell each week and use that as the upper end of possible sales .

    Last but prob the most important is to know and control your fixed costs. building expenses, insurance, debt costs, utilities, labor, etc. These costs occur whether you sell beer or not.

    Having said all that we are having a blast and it have been worth it to us.

    S

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    • #17
      Yes you are CRAZY! 5bbl part time? I've seen and heard that story enough times lately. The results?, going out of business. Good luck with that dream.

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