Great advise and thanks for the encouragement as well!!
The plan is to have a tap/tasting room connected to the brewery and to hopefully sell a lot of beer out of the taproom to maximize profit. Have 3 - 4 "flagship" beers that will be mainstays and in addition to the main brewing equipment have a 15 gallon test system that we can use to experiment with and create "one off" beers to sell out of the taproom also, the thought being to keep people coming back with new things to try. Location will be key I think...
The Following User Says Thank You to wookster For This Useful Post:
And remember -- fun hobbies stop being fun hobbies once they become work.
not to be a downer, but i agree this is something to keep in mind. this happened to me as well, though i didnt go into business for myself so that may help mitigate the affects for you. i loved making websites about 10 years ago. then i made it my career. because i do it 40 hours a week for my employer, i have no desire to do anything of my own, and certainly have no desire to be creative and push boundries that aren't part of my work reqs.
just a warning to know that you may kill your passion for this because you suddenly have to do it instead of want to do it. if you keep that in mind, hopefully emotional let down will be minimized.
Cool plan! If you ever decide to make a gluten free beer, let me know. I've got some awesome recipes(much better than the stuff for sale). I'd want a good 140% cut though.
not to be a downer, but i agree this is something to keep in mind. this happened to me as well, though i didnt go into business for myself so that may help mitigate the affects for you. i loved making websites about 10 years ago. then i made it my career. because i do it 40 hours a week for my employer, i have no desire to do anything of my own, and certainly have no desire to be creative and push boundries that aren't part of my work reqs.
just a warning to know that you may kill your passion for this because you suddenly have to do it instead of want to do it. if you keep that in mind, hopefully emotional let down will be minimized.
If your story involved making video games then perhaps it would be a legit comparison. I'd consider yourself lucky to ever have had a passion for making websites. That's the worst programming gig I can think of.
Brewing beer is a whole different ball game and could be more rewarding than it ever was as a hobby. It's taking your passion of making delicious beer for you and you're friends to enjoy, and dedicating your life to fine tuning this craft and give the world access to your delicious product.
If your story involved making video games then perhaps it would be a legit comparison. I'd consider yourself lucky to ever have had a passion for making websites. That's the worst programming gig I can think of.
Brewing beer is a whole different ball game and could be more rewarding than it ever was as a hobby. It's taking your passion of making delicious beer for you and you're friends to enjoy, and dedicating your life to fine tuning this craft and give the world access to your delicious product.
Yeah, not really.
Brewing beer on a commercial basis is about 90% cleaning/sanitizing.
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I love what you're doing and hope you rule the business. Distribution is the key to this business. Don't plan on selling much in liquor stores. They don't want anymore craft beer and unless you dish out samples every day yours will rot in the storage cooler. Focus on the on premise sales. Get kegs in bars. Order your kegs now. They take forever to get here. On premise sales will float your other sales agenda.
Don't plan on selling at any events around the province. Molson has a lock on everything of any significance from rodeos to music festivals, sporting events etc. It's a dead end. You won't beat em and you can't join em.
Promotion is literally the only thing you need to be good at. Corona is consistently the worst rated beer for taste and the fastest growing beer in sales. Don't spend your money on brewing beer. Spend it on everything promotionally possible. Branding above all. Figure out a brilliant press release and hope it gets picked up. Have a launch party at the most high profile venue possible.
Beerfest is very important. Don't miss it. Rocky mountain wine festival is worth doing.
Try and sell something else too. A couple more sku's can really help. A couple non alcohol sku's can land your product in many more events. T-shirts and BBQ sauce gets you into stuff like lilac festival. Easy exposure.
Kill it!
Last edited by OMG!WTF!; 07-22-2016 at 10:48 PM.
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Good luck! I agree with Bandwagon; take the Calgary brewery tour. It's an excellent window into small scale production that can lead into bigger things. If you get a chance, make friends with Graham (and Jeff) from Tool Shed. Graham is a great guy with a ton of enthusiasm and passion for microbrews. He would be a great resource of knowledge if you get the opportunity to meet with him.
The Following User Says Thank You to Yasa For This Useful Post:
I love what you're doing and hope you rule the business. Distribution is the key to this business. Don't plan on selling much in liquor stores. They don't want anymore craft beer and unless you dish out samples every day yours will rot in the storage cooler. Focus on the on premise sales. Get kegs in bars. Order your kegs now. They take forever to get here. On premise sales will float your other sales agenda.
Don't plan on selling at any events around the province. Molson has a lock on everything of any significance from rodeos to music festivals, sporting events etc. It's a dead end. You won't beat em and you can't join em.
Promotion is literally the only thing you need to be good at. Corona is consistently the worst rated beer for taste and the fastest growing beer in sales. Don't spend your money on brewing beer. Spend it on everything promotionally possible. Branding above all. Figure out a brilliant press release and hope it gets picked up. Have a launch party at the most high profile venue possible.
Beerfest is very important. Don't miss it. Rocky mountain wine festival is worth doing.
Try and sell something else too. A couple more sku's can really help. A couple non alcohol sku's can land your product in many more events. T-shirts and BBQ sauce gets you into stuff like lilac festival. Easy exposure.
Kill it!
Send me a PM if you are considering issuing a press release as I have a significant number of free resources that are all geared towards creating a more impactful press release and I can potentially secure you a discount on using one of the major wire services.
The Following User Says Thank You to Faust For This Useful Post:
1) Develop a concept for your brand, know your brand, live your brand, be your brand. Branding > Beer
2) Microbrew is considered to be hoppier and more flavourful than marcobrews. While true, don't go too far in the hoppy or flavour direction. Remember it's still beer that you need to sell to the public at large. Don't be afraid to experiment with hoppy/malty/fruity/sour beers, but have your flagship beer first.
3) Start with 2 brews, and slowly work up to 4 then seasonal. IPA & Light to start; followed by either a dark and red (or red and dark).
4) Brewery Logo. Keep it simple but eye catching. If it wouldn't make for a good sports team logo it's too busy. You want something a 6 year old can draw. Watch this video: .
5) Beer Logo. This is where you can be artsy, but still need to stick with your brand. You want to be able to see the beer and logo and instantly associate it with you.
6) Merchandise. Have good quality merchandise that people like. If they like your beer they'll want your hoodies/shirts/etc. I love my Picaroon's and PEI Brewing Co hoodies, but wear my Breton Brewing Co hoodie all the time, my go to hat is my Breton Brewing Co hat, and my lazy t-shirt is my Breton Brewing Co Black Angus t-shirt.
If you want to look at a mirco-brewery that I think has absolutely nailed marketing check out: http://bretonbrewing.ca/
7) Have a reason why people are going to come in and socialize. Have trivia night, music nights, or something consistent to have people stopping by.
8) Never forget quality, and service. Train your employees to know the beers and be happy to talk about them. Have stories for each beer. Tell them to remember stories of when people bought them, tried them, and pass those along. Be excited. Always excited about the product.
Good luck. I'm not in Calgary but next time I am, I'll be sure to stop by.
__________________ "Calgary Flames is the best team in all the land" - My Brainwashed Son
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I have no idea if it would sell here but what I miss about drinking in the UK are proper gravity pumps with no CO2 (they are called sparklers in the UK) to build a head up in the beer, British beer in the south is not gassy, most Americans think it's flat, it just has the natural CO2 from the brewing process, no more, served at slightly below room temperature you can taste every nuance of the beer (which is why American beers are served ice cold and highly gassed, they taste like ass otherwise).
I miss that beer so much whether it's Youngs or Fullers, my local breweries when i lived back there.
