Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Expanding production, what to do next?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Expanding production, what to do next?

    So I am looking for advice. We are expanding to a 5 bbl brewhouse from our previous tiny system and we are looking at what to do next. We essentially sell everything from our taproom now and have been since we opened about 8 months ago. We are looking at having excess beer now and want to sell it fresh. We are looking at potentially distributing more kegs than we do now (currently only a few a month leave the taproom). Previously we looked at the wholesale keg sales as a marketing expense. When we look at the cost of goods sold it is actually more than what we can sell a bbl of sixtels for wholesale. So for a brewery our size does it make sense to start sending out more kegs in an effort to get more people in our doors or do we try to bottle (we cant afford canning right now)? Or do we just stock more beer to sell it in house?

    Thanks in advance.

  • #2
    Often times what I've noticed is when average people are drinking at a bar they don't even pay attention to the beers they order. Between sports on tv and their conversation and their phone, there isn't a whole lot of time for them to get acquainted with your brand. We've always looked at wholesale keg sales as a last resort overflow for this reason and the fact the profit margin is low.

    canning can be cheap. We are canning with a crowler seamer and 4 fillers we fabbed up our selves. Might be a bit labor intensive, but 3 guys can set up, label, fill, rinse, tear down 600-700, 750 ml cans in 6-7 hours, which we can sell directly from our taproom in less than a week. small bottle fillers can be a good cheap option, If you can sell bottles or cans right from the taproom in your state I would highly encourage it, we've found it to be the best outlet for beer as far as profit margin goes, next to pint sales.

    Another avenue to look at (if your state allows it) is getting event permits to sell your beer at events off premise. Then it can become an extension of your taproom, all you need is an event to go to, a jockey box and an extra guy to send out every now and then.

    Comment


    • #3
      use every method you can to sell every ounce of liquid from your taproom. Pints, growlers, cans, bottles: whatever it takes, sell as close to 100% of your production directly from the taproom. Distribution is a low margin, high effort task that you should put off for as long as you can avoid it.

      If your local laws allow it, I would urge you to consider switching to a brewpub licence instead of brewery - brewpubs are able to be cash flow positive significantly faster than production brewery can.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks to you both. We hated the idea of sending out kegs so this reinforces that. We are interested in the canning and threw around the idea of a mobile canner but we haven't researched it yet. Junkyard, care to share more info on your filler set up? Did you have to modify the seamer?

        Comment


        • #5
          You can get the seamer for 3k from Oskar Blues, and you can order either 750 ml cans or 32 oz cans through them. No mods required. Easy seaming process, low maintenance, our seams have never leaked, the seamer has easy adjustments to keep the seem in spec. Through measurements of the seam with a digital caliper.

          I actually made a thread about our filling process. http://discussions.probrewer.com/sho...=fill+crowlers

          Comment

          Working...
          X