43 replies to this topic

[Genesee Ted]

I think where the problem eventually lies is valuing your own time. Brewing 3 batches a day 5 days a week and the associated cold side work would get pretty tedious. No matter how much you love to brew, when it’s a business it becomes about dollars and cents. There is so much more involved in running a business than brewing. I think it would be extremely difficult to cover your overhead on a 1 BBL. In the grand scheme of things, you’d be better off working a second job and saving that extra money until you have enough for at least a 5 bbl. You’re going to be doing all that extra work on your 1 bbl anyway. And you won’t be getting paid on the 1 bbl.

[Big Nake]

I think where the problem eventually lies is valuing your own time. Brewing 3 batches a day 5 days a week and the associated cold side work would get pretty tedious. No matter how much you love to brew, when it’s a business it becomes about dollars and cents. There is so much more involved in running a business than brewing. I think it would be extremely difficult to cover your overhead on a 1 BBL. In the grand scheme of things, you’d be better off working a second job and saving that extra money until you have enough for at least a 5 bbl. You’re going to be doing all that extra work on your 1 bbl anyway. And you won’t be getting paid on the 1 bbl.

Sounds like some people are opening a brewery as a side thing but keeping their day gig as much as possible.  I could envision a lot of variables there based on people who have flexible schedules and whatnot.  Work your day gig when you can, work at the brewery when you can.  My guess is that some days it would be fun to abandon the day job and head to the brewery.  

[Genesee Ted]

Thing is, you can absolutely homebrew. There’s not a real need to go “commercial” or “pro” or whatever so you can brew beer. My thing is just At some point tho, you’re going to want to get paid for all your hard work. Even if you just break even, that means you never make a buck. And that’s scary. You definitely don’t want to be losing money, at that point, might as well be home brewing.

[Big Nake]

Honestly, all of this talk is what has convinced me that I wouldn't want to be a part of it unless someone else owned and asked me to make beer.  I would not want to own a brewery but then just take care of inventory and red tape and selling, selling, selling, working out distribution and all of that.  No sir.  It would suck the fun out of brewing and let's face it... many people who like to make their own beer already have a day job that is just too sweet to give up just so you could bust your ass and make $30k a year or something.  You have to really, really want to have that and I don't necessarily have that drive.

[zymot]

You have to brew at a rate that keeps up with consumption. If your customers are slurping up an average of 3 barrels a day, I am going to believe  you can hire hire somebody to help you brew beer. Or you can justify the purchase of a bigger system.

[HVB]

Or, you brew haze-bombs, have a can release Saturday mornings and once you sell out you close down for the day. Build the hype!

[positiveContact]

Or, you brew haze-bombs, have a can release Saturday mornings and once you sell out you close down for the day. Build the hype!

 

I've never heard of anything like this!

[Big Nake]

Or, you brew haze-bombs, have a can release Saturday mornings and once you sell out you close down for the day. Build the hype!

It's a fact that people like to stand in line for hours and pay top dollar for a limited amount of beer that may or may not be available when they get to the front of the line.  Fact! 

[zymot]

Around here, people line up for the release of the latest Pliny The Elder. Local news shows will do a live remote.

[HVB]

Around here, people line up for the release of the latest Pliny The Elder. Local news shows will do a live remote.

A once a year release vs weekly releases is a bit different.  While #lineculture is dying down it is still alive and well.  People will wait for FOMO!

[Genesee Ted]

Honestly, all of this talk is what has convinced me that I wouldn't want to be a part of it unless someone else owned and asked me to make beer. I would not want to own a brewery but then just take care of inventory and red tape and selling, selling, selling, working out distribution and all of that. No sir. It would suck the fun out of brewing and let's face it... many people who like to make their own beer already have a day job that is just too sweet to give up just so you could bust your ass and make $30k a year or something. You have to really, really want to have that and I don't necessarily have that drive.

Some people enjoy small business just like brewing. I do. It’s fun. But it wouldn’t be if you weren’t making money at it.

[Buscotucky]

Honestly, all of this talk is what has convinced me that I wouldn't want to be a part of it unless someone else owned and asked me to make beer.  I would not want to own a brewery but then just take care of inventory and red tape and selling, selling, selling, working out distribution and all of that.  No sir.  It would suck the fun out of brewing and let's face it... many people who like to make their own beer already have a day job that is just too sweet to give up just so you could bust your ass and make $30k a year or something.  You have to really, really want to have that and I don't necessarily have that drive.

 

There's an allure to it...small brewpub, on site sales only, limited food (food trucks?) open 25 to 30 hours a week (maybe a Thurs - Sunday sched.) It would be bigger than 1 barrel; maybe as small as 3.5 but hopefully bigger.

 

I occasionally play around with the idea & frankly could continue ownership of the print shop while starting.  My business partner could take on more of the daily operations & I'd split time between both. We've talked about him buying my shares out at some point (he's about a decade younger.) He also likes the idea of being part owner of a brewpub.

 

Who knows...could happen, could just be one of those daydreams I entertain when printing sucks, lol.  All homebrewers do that, right?

[Big Nake]

There's an allure to it...small brewpub, on site sales only, limited food (food trucks?) open 25 to 30 hours a week (maybe a Thurs - Sunday sched.) It would be bigger than 1 barrel; maybe as small as 3.5 but hopefully bigger.

 

I occasionally play around with the idea & frankly could continue ownership of the print shop while starting.  My business partner could take on more of the daily operations & I'd split time between both. We've talked about him buying my shares out at some point (he's about a decade younger.) He also likes the idea of being part owner of a brewpub.

 

Who knows...could happen, could just be one of those daydreams I entertain when printing sucks, lol.  All homebrewers do that, right?

It sounds like something I would love to be a part of but I don't think I would want to be on the hook for the capital, organization, red tape, distribution, red tape or the red tape. 

[denny]

It'll be interesting to see how it shakes out in the next few years - how many shut down, how many grow into a larger system & how many just plug along 1 barrel at a time. The Brewers Association will probably have some numbers down the road, if they don't already. I think the nano definition includes up to 3.5 or 5 barrels, so may not break out the single barrel guys.

 

We just had 10 shut down in Portland in 3 weeks.  It's not in the future.

I think where the problem eventually lies is valuing your own time. Brewing 3 batches a day 5 days a week and the associated cold side work would get pretty tedious. No matter how much you love to brew, when it’s a business it becomes about dollars and cents. There is so much more involved in running a business than brewing. I think it would be extremely difficult to cover your overhead on a 1 BBL. In the grand scheme of things, you’d be better off working a second job and saving that extra money until you have enough for at least a 5 bbl. You’re going to be doing all that extra work on your 1 bbl anyway. And you won’t be getting paid on the 1 bbl.

 

Well said!

[Buscotucky]

We just had 10 shut down in Portland in 3 weeks.  It's not in the future.

 

 

 

As Samuel L. Clemens said "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always 20 years behind the times."  I'm a lot closer to Cincy than Portland!

[Bklmt2000]

As Samuel L. Clemens said "When the end of the world comes, I want to be in Cincinnati because it's always 20 years behind the times."  I'm a lot closer to Cincy than Portland!

 

Not sure I quite agree with that sentiment. 

 

Ten years, maybe, but 20?  Gonna have to disagree with Mr. Twain about that one.

[Buscotucky]

Not sure I quite agree with that sentiment. 

 

Ten years, maybe, but 20?  Gonna have to disagree with Mr. Twain about that one.

Yeah, but that was over a hundred years ago...the internet will speed that up a minute, lol.

[Bklmt2000]

Yeah, but that was over a hundred years ago...the internet will speed that up a minute, lol.

 

Makes me thankful for broadband.

[SchwanzBrewer]

Ya know, as someone who ran his own small business for 30 years, I have more perspective than you might realize.


The fact that something can be sold to people is not a sign of viability, but of "hope springs eternal" for the people who buy those products
.

Then I'd hope you would empathize with someone willing to lay it on the line and create a business.

Rome wasn't built in a day and telling someone that they are screwing around rather than being serious about their business isn't very nice considering it's not your money or living on the line.

Did you start your business by putting on multi million dollar productions from the get go where you laid out the bulk of the costs for overhead and materials? Maybe you did, I dont know, but few small businesses start that way.

It's ok to be small and grow into something more substantial. Dont belittle someone else's labor without substance though.

[SchwanzBrewer]

In addition, Denny, I'm not trying to say you are 100% wrong, just that those kinds of statements should be reserved for specific cases. You're kind of a rock star among homebrewers and what you say has influence in the community. I'd hate for that to have an inadvertent negative affect.