sell their beer they brew? for profit? i was just wondering what you would need to do that either to brew on site or what
Short version: you need a liquor license (for a bar) or a production license (for a brewery), or both, depending on the state. You also need a separate space for brewing (i.e. it can’t be in your home anywhere I’m aware of, and it may need to be zoned commercial). And of course you have to pay the appropriate taxes at the federal level, and license/label each beer with TTB.
It isn’t impossible to do, but it’s complicated, enough so that there are attorneys who do nothing else.
Completely illegal without the proper licensing, and that licensing includes the beer being brewed on a premise other than your home. Basically, if you really want to make a profit on selling your beer, you need to be up around a 7bbl system. Otherwise you will never see a profit - and without the proper lic you could be seeing the inside of a jail!
There’s an old saying that to make a small fortune in brewing, start with a large fortune.
I agree with brewboy, don’t let anyone tell you that it can’t be done… it also depends on the laws in your area. But you are looking at a lot of man hours just getting the lic. … and you have to be approved ahead of time. The TTB has to come and inspect your brewery before you ever brew even a batch - and it takes 2-4+ months after they inspect your brewery for you to get your lic. (you will be paying rent that entire time I imagine), and as was mentioned they also have to look at all your recipes, etc. Most cities expect you to have a floor drain and a place at the street where they can pop on in any time they want to look at what you are dumping into their sewage system. You have to pay for that and it ain’t cheap. On top of that, you have to spend 5000 up front for your brewers bond (I think that’s what it is called, part of your lic.) That’s up front. The health dept is going to want to stick their nose in their as well and so does the city building inspector. Then, on top of that you are only going to make around 100 bucks per bbl… so if you have a 1 bbl system and it takes you 8 hours to brew you just made about 100 bucks. Don;t forget, there’s kegging and clean up and fermentation still to be done. Of course, if you can sell the beer from your door you can make a lot more - but that depends on the laws in your area. In my area I have to go through a distributor - which sucks!!!
So, all I am saying is it is a lot more complicated than just selling your homebrew out your kitchen door. Not that you can’t do that on the downlow (hypothetically, of course ;)), still, even if you go the illegal route in the end you won’t be making any money - not if you count the time it takes for your to brew a batch. Course I guess it would give you good practice for selling prison hooch…
Unless you are selling on the premises it takes upward of around a 7 bbl brewery to really make a profit … there’s a reason why I know all this… ;)
Some friends are starting up a brewery here. I asked them if they were buying used equipment and they said the price differential between new and used was so small that they were buying new. That way they could also get a system tailored to their needs. They’ve spent the last 9 months with investors and lawyers and hope to be running in another 3-4 months. Apparently, it’s been a very expensive process.
If I hit the powerball I’ll start my own brewery. 
There was a guy here in OR who opened a brewery after hitting the lottery. In a few years, he was broke…
lmao
It’s location, location, location not to mention the facts that one must be able to wear many hats. Did I also say that one must make great beer. ;D
Very true.
Of course it is true … but you also have to take into consideration the size batches you need to brew to make money. If it takes you 6-8 hours to brew one batch, and you are only making 100 dollars for your effort … it ain’t really making money. And if you are only brewing 5 gallon batches … well … lets just say it is a lot of work for a very small amount of money. Once you hit the 7bbl system then you can actually turn a profit.
I’d try it if I hit one of them $100M jackpots and just needed something to pass the time 8)
You seem to be banging this drum awfully hard. No offense, but can I see your business plan? I’ll show you mine.
For a small-scale on-premises brewery (i.e. the brewhouse and restaurant are separate entities) with one employee, you need to sell roughly 500 bbl a year to keep the lights on and pay yourself minimum wage. So even if you brew every day, you need a 2 bbl system to break even. 7 bbl just happens to be the most common size that’s larger than the break-even point. If you want to turn a profit (or god forbid, distribute) you’d better be able to turn over those seven barrels 2-3 times a week. And that doesn’t include amortizing the high five- to low six-figure startup costs (which, in this scenario, don’t include a liquor license - another six-figure sunk cost in many places).
As usual, a10t2 says it better than I can. Lets also just say I have done a lot of research for reasons I don’t feel like sharing right now.
Well, that was my point. I do have a business plan (as, I believe, does Keith) and so we’re probably as close as you’re going to get to professionals (on this board). If you want real answers you can pop into ProBrewer, but I think they get pretty fed up with questions about starting up from people with post counts of one.
Sorry if I came down on you hard, but you were asking where the numbers come from, and I wanted to illustrate that I’m not just pulling them out of my… mash tun.
I love the great success stories like Jim Koch. In 1984 he started the Boston beer company on a shoestring. Now look at him.
Now keep in mind he’s the top 5%ers.
Oh, I’ll come clean sometime soon. You guys are all gonna think I’m crazy when I do, though. Especially given the advice I gave in this thread. :
The suspense is mounting. 8)
Keith, I don’t think any of us need any more convincing…