The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Craft Brewery
Do you feel the calling to brew in your heart and soul? Does the idea of creating your own beer on a large scale excite you? Then, creating your own brewing operation might be the right move! Home brewing as a hobby is a perfectly good reason to get into the world of making beer. If you feel that it’s what you want to do all day, every day, you may want to consider your own brewery.
Starting a craft brewery isn’t all that different from starting any other kind of business. At the heart of a successful brewery is a successful company run by a passionate individual, and that individual can be you as long as you know what you’re doing.
This ultimate guide to starting a craft brewery will give you an overview of what the process entails and what you should focus on when you first get started. Through these steps, you can set yourself and your brewery up for success without fumbling in the dark.
Create Your Business Plan
You can’t get started without knowing where you want to end up. Every business creates a plan that lays out the path it wishes to take and how the individuals will achieve goals along the way. Business plans are essential, especially for acquiring funds you might need to get everything up and running. Your business plan should lay out your craft brewery’s main concept, each member of the business and their contributions, and the current state of the local brewing industry.
Tip: Professional Legal Advice
Alcohol is a tricky subject for a business because it comes with many extra regulations to follow and licenses to procure. To avoid any unnecessary run-ins with the law, you may want to hire a legal professional who can walk you through the local alcohol regulations and restrictions for businesses. This investment could prevent many future headaches and unexpected costs.
Design Your Unique Brand
No business can survive without a brand to make it unique. Branding goes beyond the logo or the art on your bottles (although those are still a part of it). Your brand also includes the things your company cares about and how you will connect to your target customers. Sticking to your brand’s image and messaging is just as important as creating them. Customers won’t trust a brand that doesn’t live up to its own claims.
Tip: Names Have Meaning
Both the name of your brewery and the individual names of your products carry a lot of weight. Before you go all in with a joke name, make sure that it’s how you actually want to present your brand. Customers who are less familiar with craft beer may make a decision based on names alone, so it’s worth the effort to come up with a brewery name you’re proud of and can connect to. The same goes for the names of your individual brews.
Determine Your Starting Budget
We couldn’t make an ultimate craft brewery starter guide without mentioning the financial aspects, of course. Ideally, you’ll have some money stored away to use as seed capital. Even with those funds, you’ll need to carefully evaluate how much you’re willing to spend on this venture. The numbers don’t need to be exact, but you don’t want to create a budget with no information on how much things like brewing equipment actually cost. A starting budget will also help you in the next step.
Explore Options for Funding
Unless you’re very well off, you will likely need outside funding to get everything you need to begin your brewery in full force. Here are the most common methods of securing the funding you’ll need.
Loans
Small business loans are common among craft breweries, and you’ll likely need one to get started.
Acquiring Investors
With your business plan and budget, you might find some luck attracting individual or corporate investors. They will own a small portion of your business if you use their money.
Crowdfunding
The newest method of fundraising, yet the most uncertain, is crowdfunding. Some start-ups find great success with crowdfunding, while others might not due to insufficient branding and marketing.
Acquire Quality Brewing Equipment and Accessories
Focusing on the business side of things is the best way to ensure your brewery sees real success. At this point, you can start to really look into your options for the equipment you’ll need to start brewing at a larger scale. Stainless steel brite tanks might be your first purchase, as they will enable you to start brewing larger batches. Other equipment like fermenters, yeast brinks, kegs, and keg washing machines will allow you to boost the scale of your production. You want equipment that will last a long time, so think of these as investments rather than sunk costs.
Create Your Initial Beer Offerings
The beer itself is the star of the show, and you can’t afford to disappoint. Some craft breweries will stretch themselves too thin by trying to create a huge variety of beers. While it is good to diversify your offerings with varieties, try to focus on making a few into your core products. IPAs stay at the top of consumer lists, so many craft breweries begin with one. You can add to your lineup with unique beers, such as a stout or lager, to round out your offerings.
Get the Word Out
If no one knows who you are, not many people will take a risk on you. Marketing is just as important as creating the beer itself. Social media platforms are the quickest and easiest ways to find communities of people who love beer and love trying new offerings. If you want to keep your brewery local, reach out to local news sources and websites to put your name in the heads of the people who are nearby.
While the devil is always in the details, this guide is a perfect place to start and figure out what’s ahead as you begin your craft brewery. These tips will ensure you have what you need to start your journey with your best foot forward.
