Home Brewing

[wolax39]

My little lady and I are thinking about opening up a home brew and brew on premise (where you can come in to the store and brew your own beer on our equipment) store. I'm putting together a business plan and need some market research. I was wonder if you guys could help me out by taking this poll. thanks.

[Machy uno]

Would be a good idea, as long as it was located right. I've always wanted to brew my own beer, but don't have the required equipment or know how.

[69mach]

Been brewing for about 3 years now. Not much in the way of supplies needed. You can have a batch every 7 days ready to bottle.
If you use kits you can save alot on the price of store bought beer and the flavor is much better.
( Malt kit is like 15.00 and will do 40 bottles.)

If you like to play you can get some really great flavors for just a bit more.
I had a Pumpkin for the Holidays that was great.

I also make my own wine, this takes a little longer but I am happy with the results.

[RightTime]

Regularly make/bottle my own wine. Tried a batch of beer, seemed alittle more complicated. Shop here does "make your own wine" on premises and also sells stuff the owners make. They have about 20-30 carboys going at any one time. Also have a tasting room, been in business since 2001.

http://www.ndwinecellar.com/template.cfm?page=about_us

[Linumup]

Originally Posted by RightTime

Regularly make/bottle my own wine. Tried a batch of beer, seemed alittle more complicated. Shop here does "make your own wine" on premises and also sells stuff the owners make. They have about 20-30 carboys going at any one time. Also have a tasting room, been in business since 2001.

http://www.ndwinecellar.com/template.cfm?page=about_us

My best friend is a Master Brewer . Seen it all start to finish . Totally awesome . Go to meetings once and a while . Defenitely a science to it . My kind of art .

[Black03Mach]

i just like drinking it...

but i would be interested in learning

[OSUALUM78]

I used to brew beer when I was single. Not really too much science. Just required learning and repetition of steps done correctly to get a good smell/flavor/taste. The science comes in when you want to get tricky with combos and flavors, or try to brew when you are drunk. Sticking to a recipe is easy. I used 5 gal carboys and did a partial mash. I also used to put my brew in a soda type keg and charge it with Co2, all three "kegs" kept in a big enough cheap fridge, and run it thru the door (sealed up so no fridge air would leak) to a tap, instead of bottling. Much easier bottling and drinking process to me. Good way to go if your brew is not going to sit for a long period of time.

As far as opening up my own brew shop, that requires too much capital IMO. Might as well open up an unestablished restaurant. Both have high failure rates. Not trying to get you down either. Dream big and big things will happen. Are you planning on doing this out of your home? If not, then you'll need capital for building, renovations, supplies, storefront furniture, paying liquor license fees (at least here in OK to be able to sell beer you gotta pay these), possible zoning issues to deal with, etc.
Then, people brewing their own beer. Not that it is a dangerous activity, but liability insurance prolly isn't cheap since they would be in your store working with boiling water and big glass carboys. Then you have to worry about sanitation more so than other food/beverage retail places. Sanitaton is the key to home brewing.

And then you get into other retail variables. Like: location, location, location. Is there a market for this store in your planned sale area/town/city? Will you have competitors? How are you going to promote this venture (promotion/advertising takes capital too)? Etc, etc, etc.

Definately do your homework is all I can say.

This site may help you: http://www.abcsmallbiz.com/index.html

PS - I didn't vote in your poll cause you didn't have an option for: "Used to brew when I was single" choice

[wolax39]

I would love to open up my own brewpub, however i have read books about it, and its not the best option for me right now. Thats why i though i would dream big but start small and start a home brewing shop, we wouldn't sell beer only the ingredients, so there really isn't much capital need. with this option I can still keep my other job till i am ready to start a brew pub.
We will see how it goes, I entered in to a contest to win win $10,000 to start a business, and now i need to put together a business plan. I knew 10K wouldnt help much with a brewpub, but could idffently make an impact on a home brew
store.
http://www.whatbrewareyou.com/contest.php#

[OSUALUM78]

Originally Posted by wolax39

I would love to open up my own brewpub, however i have read books about it, and its not the best option for me right now. Thats why i though i would dream big but start small and start a home brewing shop, we wouldn't sell beer only the ingredients, so there really isn't much capital need. with this option I can still keep my other job till i am ready to start a brew pub.
We will see how it goes, I entered in to a contest to win win $10,000 to start a business, and now i need to put together a business plan. I knew 10K wouldnt help much with a brewpub, but could idffently make an impact on a home brew
store.
http://www.whatbrewareyou.com/contest.php#

If you are only going to start by selling ingredients, then yes, less capital is needed. But ingredents = inventory = capital. Sitting inventory = losing money. I'd recommend a "Pull Plan" to reduce your inventory, thereby reducing your costs, but it will also increase the lead time it takes to get the product into your customers hands.

Winning that contest will help quute a bit with capital, but not with the knowledge to successfully run a business.

Either way, contest winnings or no contest winnings, you still need to do your market research, aka your homework, before investing one penny, IMHO. I'd probably say (depending upon the size of your town/city/region) you should spend around at least 6 months researching before you invest anything. I spent 1 year researching/deciding on whether to invest in a local, well known, established, profitable restaurant. The owner (I am now part owner) wanted to open up another location, and didn't have all the capital needed to do so. Yes, restaurant to retail beer ingredients is apples to oranges, but my investment to most would have been a no brainer. Invest in a local, well known, established, profitable restaurant? Most would think that should be an easy decision. Not.

Do your homework and be careful in your decisions.........

But most importantly, go for your dreams/aspiratons :THUMBSUP: