How can i start a brewery

If your business has multiple stakeholders, the business structure also clarifies who owns what, who is responsible for what, and the rights each owner has. Speak with a business attorney to determine the right type of business entity for you. Once you select a name for your brewery or beer, protect your intellectual property with a trademark. Through this process, you'll submit your name to the U. Patent and Trademark Office for consideration.

The USPTO will weigh aspects such as the uniqueness of your name and whether another company in a comparable category has the same or a similar trademark already. While in theory you could submit a trademark application yourself, consider speaking with an IP attorney who can help you navigate the process and overcome any potential challenges with your application.

Your location is key to your success. It sets the tone of the business and dictates whether your brewery is a destination people will go out of their way to visit or a neighborhood spot locals will frequent. Once you choose your location, be sure that your name, address, and phone number — known as your NAP — are the same in every online listing.

What matters most is that your customers can find accurate and complete basic information about where your brewery is located and when they can come enjoy your products. There is a lot to learn if you want to become a successful brewer. Experts recommend that even seasoned home brewers spend time working in a brewery before starting their own. Entry-level work involves a lot of cleaning, sterilizing and other tedious tasks, but you'll learn the daily routines of a busy brewery. After you put in some time, you can move up and learn additional job skills that pay more, but it's worth your while to learn all the jobs involved in a productive brewery.

If you have the time and resources, formal training programs are also available, including university degrees. States such as Michigan, California, Colorado, Oregon and Missouri offer certificates and four-year degrees in brewery management. International schools are also available in countries such as Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Alternatively, you can find online courses and even free programs. Portland State University offers a certificate program that focuses on the business portion of running a brewery, while CraftBeer. Did you know? Experts recommend working in a brewery before starting one. Additionally, formal educational resources are available, including university degrees and certificate programs that focus on brewery management.

According to many brewers, you should be prepared to pay out twice the amount you think it will cost to launch your business. Unexpected expenses can pop up, such as additional contractor fees for altering your building, or delays in acquiring permits that push out your production date.

Depending on the size of your operation, the number of barrels you intend to produce, and whether you plan on operating a brewpub or a stand-alone brewery, your costs can vary greatly. A realistic and thorough business plan is necessary to your brewery's long-term success. Investors want to see not just a general plan, but up to three years of projected financials. Even if you have capital saved, you'll still benefit from a bulletproof financial plan. We recommend consulting a professional who can help you create your business plan, provide financial advice and legal assistance, and help you obtain funding.

Before you meet with your consultant, lay out as much information as you can, including your startup costs, expected ongoing costs, revenue projections, business vision , and anything else you think of to help you and your consultant create the best business plan possible.

If you are looking to build a new brewery with all-new equipment and asking for large sums of investment or loan money, you'll need to quantify your passion and present it in a way that potential investors will understand. Unless you already have generous funding set aside, you'll need to raise capital and plan for extra expenses.

You'll likely need to obtain funds from multiple sources. Consult a professional on how to obtain funding. Good credit, experience, and collateral will help, but you may also want to secure letters of intent from distributors who have agreed to purchase your product. It helps to get creative when you're starting a brewery.

Many entrepreneurs in the industry are fortunate enough to take over an existing brewery after the previous owners have moved along. Some have been able to partner with restaurants looking to add a brewpub. You may also be able to lower costs by purchasing used equipment or by leasing equipment. Eventually, you should be able to afford your own equipment if you increase your volume.

It is also easier to get funding once you demonstrate what you are capable of, even on leased equipment. The U. The three tiers are the producers you, the brewer , the distributors and the retailers. You sell your product to wholesale distributors, and they in turn sell to retailers, who sell your product to the beer drinker.

The exception is brewpubs, which manufacture the beer and sell it directly to patrons in the pub. Most states have their own distribution requirements and are usually involved in the process. Some of the more prohibitive states, such as Utah and Pennsylvania, exert control at the distribution and retail levels. You'll need to research your state's requirements, as well as those of any other states you plan to sell in. Depending on your area, you may be able to work with a major distributor such as Anheuser-Busch or Miller, or a distributor that specializes in non-major brands.

Consider which company you want to distribute with and the specifics of your contract. Most states have laws to protect the provider-distributor sales contract which could last years , so you'll want to consider both your current and future needs before signing a contract.

Your local brewing group or guild should be able to help you find the best distributor to suit your needs and brand. You should also visit potential retailers to research the market and talk to them about their experiences with local distributors.

Prepare your presentation carefully before meeting with potential distributors. Know your pricing models, advertising and marketing plans, and other incentives.

They need to understand how you will help them sell your beer to retailers and customers. In three-tier states, the distributors have the advantage, since they don't need to work with you. They make the most profit when they can sell your product at a healthy margin, so let them know how you can help them do that.

Depending on your state, you may be able to find alternative ways to get your beer to your customers. If you own a brewpub, you can likely sell through your pub without a distributor, since the beer doesn't leave your establishment, or you might be able to sell your beer online.

Review your state's distribution laws to find the best method for you. State and local laws for breweries vary greatly. Your local chamber of commerce should be able to point you in the right direction. Regardless of location, here are some things you will need to consider:. We spoke with two sources who work in or provide services for the beer industry, asking them what they would have benefited from knowing when they started out.

Nigel Francisco, CFO of Ninkasi Brewery in Oregon, expressed the importance of obtaining professional assistance to help you with accounting, legal requirements and risk management. He said if you are not a numbers person, you need to find someone who is. Francisco also advised using an advanced inventory control system and a POS system. Tracking of inventory, loss and sales need to be as exact as possible.

You may already have a name in mind for your brewery. When you are branding, think about the other aspects — like a logo, label design, and even how you want your space to look.

You might use your location, your favorite hobby, or even a clever pun to develop your brand. Remember: people like craft beer because it is different from mainstream beers sold everywhere.

You can get a little weird and funky with your brand. Other questions to ask when thinking about your branding include your target audience, what makes your beer special, and the personality that you want to project when people see your logo. Remember that your brand will ultimately go on all of your products, from beer bottles and cans to t-shirts and cups. Find a way to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Picking a location is one of the most fundamental parts of this process.

The specific details will depend on the type of brewery that you are planning to open. For example, a contract brewery could be located in a warehouse in an industrial park, while a brewpub should ideally be located in a spot where people want to go — and can easily find you.

After location, you will need to secure brewing equipment. This is one of the most expensive aspects of opening up a brewery. You want to find a balance between buying enough equipment to keep up with demand — and not overbuying and making it hard to dig out of debt.

If possible, talk to other brewers in your region to get a feel for how much equipment you will need. Next, you will need to think about how you will package your beer, with options including bottles, cans and kegs.

While bottles are the traditional choice for craft beer, there are a lot of benefits to going with cans. Not only are cans less expensive overall, but they are more environmentally friendly and keep your beer fresher for longer.

For kegs, there are a number of new options on the market, such as lightweight kegs, so be sure to do your research to figure out what is best for your business. Depending on the size of your operation, it may make sense to not buy packaging equipment, and rely on mobile canning and bottling services instead if available in your area.

Do the math to figure out if it makes more sense to package your brew yourself which also gives you more control over the finished product or to pay someone else to do it for you. As with packaging, you can choose between distributing the beer yourself if your state law allows you to do so or paying a distributor. Having your own trucks, paying drivers, and storing your beer can be expensive, so make sure that you fully explore your options before deciding on a method.

Finally, think about your online presence. In , consumers expect businesses to have a web page and at least one social media page. Many entrepreneurs choose to work with a professional to design their website and do online marketing so that they can focus on brewing their beer. And you're doing it for the love of the job: you will not make a lot of money as a brewer.

At the beginning of your brewing career, you likely need to have more than one job to pay the bills, and you might want to consider living with your parents for the discounted rent. Still want to be a brewer? I hope so! I still believe that brewing is magical.

Sure, it's hot, dirty, and wet. It's labor-intensive work that will make you forget how to enjoy drinking beer and give you some borderline-OCD cleaning tendencies. But it's also an ancient art, one that yields deliciousness at the end of the process, and I can promise you there is nothing quite as fulfilling as having people enjoy beer you made.

I remember exactly what I thought owning a brewery would be like before I worked in the brewing industry: I would make beer and people would buy it. Five years in, giving advice about opening a brewery makes me feel like King Bummer: A brewing company is as much a company as a brewery. If you're going to succeed, you need to treat it that way. Learn about the local regulatory environment, learn about accounting and basic finance, learn about sales.

As a co-owner of a startup brewery, I spend way more time working on regulatory compliance than I do making beer. And sales work is endless and exhausting. Owning a brewery is more about running a business than brewing beer. Prospective brewery owners sometimes forget that beer is a heavily regulated industry. There are federal and state agencies that get all up in the business of any booze maker, and the wastewater treatment folks in your municipality will want to have more than a few words with you before you start operations.

There are far more agencies you will need to report to than you realize, and the first thing you should do when you decide to start a brewery is to contact all of them and ask if they have a punch list of compliance items for breweries.

More likely than not, they don't, so don't be discouraged when they can't give you advice on getting your operation off the ground. In my experience, these regulators generally work for agencies that are underfunded, understaffed, and underappreciated, so building relationships is key. The regulations that breweries have to comply with are not one-time hurdles to jump over; there's constant reporting and constant inspection.

You're going to spend a lot of time on the phone with public servants and you'll be much happier if you have good relationships with them. Always ask how the person on the phone is doing today and actually listen to their answer; these small kindnesses will translate to helpful people who want to get you through the process as painlessly as possible.

People have told me my love of spreadsheets is freakish, so I'm not sure I can tell you with a straight face that accounting and finance are fun for everyone. But tracking the expenditures and income of our company and projecting those numbers out into the future is a large part of what I do, and fortunately, it turns out that I enjoy bookkeeping. I find it calming to know how we make money, where we spend money, and how we can save.

You'll need those spreadsheets; they're a powerful tool for remaining in control of your business there is no worse feeling than not knowing if you can afford anything , and if you want a bank loan or to bring on investors, they will want to see that you have a solid understanding of your business's financial operations. Some folks will try to hire their way out of the financial responsibilities of the company, but that seems like bad strategy to me.

Being intimately aware of the financial health of your company might not be glamorous, but it is as important as monitoring your fermentations or selecting hops. You should be excited to see your profit margins for different beers and to understand labor as a percentage of total cost. Knowing these things gives you the power to control them. Don't underestimate the significance of scarcity as a creative driver, either.

You may find that there are things you do to impact the cost of your beer that improve the quality as well. The best advice I can give you about financial planning is this: write a business plan and then double what you think it will cost, because it will cost you double what you think it will.

If you're going to own a brewery, you'd better love selling beer. In my opinion, the reason to start a brewery is to share the beer you love with a larger group of people. Otherwise, why not just make beer at home? If getting your beer in front of a lot of people doesn't excite you, sales will crush your soul into tiny pieces.

Walking into a restaurant where you don't know anyone and explaining why they should carry your beer is an emotionally exhausting experience When they say no, it can really make it tough to do the same thing a dozen more times that day. Be sure that presenting your beer to people is a thing you want to do day in and day out, because that's how beer gets moved. Many people enjoy brewing because it's rather introverted.