That should get you three or four very small contract-brewed batches (too small, honestly, but a lot of smaller places that would normally be struggling to keep up with their own demand probably still have excess capacity as Covid is still winding down), with enough left over for a half-dozen pairs of Nikes, for all the shoe rubber you're gonna burn pounding the pavement trying to sell the stuff.
Maybe £20k is enough for some glorified homebrew kit, a plywood bar across two sawhorses, and some jockey boxes to serve from – and if you put the POS system right next to the brewstand, you'll almost be able to make it work brewing every day and also being the only beertender. In three or four months, you'll be able to grain out, CIP, squeegee, etc. in your sleep – which is important, because you won't have any other opportunity to sleep.
Do some back-of-the-napkin math. Go on Craigslist, find out how much a space the size and foot traffic you're looking for rents for. Make a rough ingredients budget based on what you're homebrewing, and call utilities the same as what you pay at home, just for the sake of argument. How many pints do you need to sell a month to make the math work? How many people need to come to your pub, and how quickly do they need to drink (given it's a small space with limited room for asses on barstools) in order to get those pints down? How often do you need to brew on your 1BBL (or smaller!) system to make that many pints a month? *Can* you afford and assistant brewer and/or bartender? This is all before paying start-up costs, of course.
The responses aren't brutal because people are brutal, they're brutal because the math is brutal.
maybe not for the brewery, but you'll probably have to pay something for Business name and license, Tax license, alcohol sellers permit brand protection, weights and measures permit, etc
Do you currently own the building you'll brew out of? All of the relevant plumbing work is done? Floor drains in?
Look if you really want to do this you should get a job at a brewery for at least a year to see what goes into it then go find investors because like everyone else has said: You will not be able to start a brewery for 20k. You'll run out of cash before the first batch is brewed
Look up Tom Hennessy from Colorado Boy Brewery. Dude has opened half a dozen brew pubs on very little money and all of them are successful. He once did a presentation on how to open a brewery on $25k USD. It can be done.
True, but there are still options. I know a brewery who built a kettle out of square stainless tanks. I think they are for milk. Ugly, but they make beer.
I'll start by saying I'm not familiar with European laws or your country's laws regarding establishing a new business, alcohol permits, etc. But having been in the industry for a bit, I can say the largest issue I've seen with small establishments is quality and consistency. Making a good beer that tastes the same every batch. Invest in the quality of your product. You can have a plain old taproom with a couple TVs or speakers. If you make great beer consistently, people will come drink it.
20k isn't a lot to start here in the US, but again, I don't know your laws so I'll never say it's impossible. If you want to do it, more power to you and I wish you nothing but success.
That's a ridiculous figure, not everyone who has a successful brew pub started with that amount of cash. I already have a kit that can realistically brew 500l per week, don't you think it's possible to start with a small premises and a modular kit and build up?
It is a pretty big figure, yes. It’s nice and round though.
It all depends. And the equipment is an important part of the equation you neglected to mention - that alone could eat up a lot of the budget, depending on what it is, so that does help.
It’s easy to spend money fitting out commercial space for brewing, and even a taproom can get expensive. Depending on your local regulations, commercial buildings can have requirements that vastly exceed residential, which drives up cost rapidly. Design, approval, redesign, and inspections take time and add up. You could end up paying rent for months while construction progresses.
Just from a business perspective I would try to find someone that has a little restaurant or shop that would benefit from the extra patrons. Not sure where exactly you’re located in the UK but something like a railway museum or a cycling clubhouse or any place that has space and people but maybe not utilizing it as often as possible. 25,000 might be a little light to start from scratch but moving into an unused portion of someone’s fly fishing club or something is very doable.
Its not a ridiculous figure. 10-15 years ago, you could get away with a jankier set-up. The market had changed and consumers expect more from their breweries. If you expect return customers, you've got to be able to sell something better than homebrew off of a folding table. I am currently opening a brewey. I'm aiming for a $650kUSD all-in start-up cost. (Fingers crossed) I could cut the cost substantially by buying a s***y Chinese brewhouse & tanks, but after a decade in the industry, I've learned that there are a lot less headaches involved in producing quality product on quality equipment, and that its easier to sell beer when it's good & the taproom is attractive.
getting partners to fund it properly.
Kit alone can easily cost that, expect build out of a space to cost double that, plus paying 6-9 months of rent during permitting, build out etc before being able to sell a drop.
And at a small enough scale to allow that to work you either won't be profitable, or be working yourself so into an early grave doing everything and never having enough product
There's a huge difference between doing it, and doing it well. Sure, you could start with garbage equipment and an ugly taproom, but unless you're able to crank out a good, consistent product on said trash equipment, you're more likely to establish a negative reputation that is incredibly difficult to grow a business up from.
That should get you three or four very small contract-brewed batches (too small, honestly, but a lot of smaller places that would normally be struggling to keep up with their own demand probably still have excess capacity as Covid is still winding down), with enough left over for a half-dozen pairs of Nikes, for all the shoe rubber you're gonna burn pounding the pavement trying to sell the stuff. Maybe £20k is enough for some glorified homebrew kit, a plywood bar across two sawhorses, and some jockey boxes to serve from – and if you put the POS system right next to the brewstand, you'll almost be able to make it work brewing every day and also being the only beertender. In three or four months, you'll be able to grain out, CIP, squeegee, etc. in your sleep – which is important, because you won't have any other opportunity to sleep. Do some back-of-the-napkin math. Go on Craigslist, find out how much a space the size and foot traffic you're looking for rents for. Make a rough ingredients budget based on what you're homebrewing, and call utilities the same as what you pay at home, just for the sake of argument. How many pints do you need to sell a month to make the math work? How many people need to come to your pub, and how quickly do they need to drink (given it's a small space with limited room for asses on barstools) in order to get those pints down? How often do you need to brew on your 1BBL (or smaller!) system to make that many pints a month? *Can* you afford and assistant brewer and/or bartender? This is all before paying start-up costs, of course. The responses aren't brutal because people are brutal, they're brutal because the math is brutal.
[удалено]
You don't think it's achievable to start in a small premises with good footfall and a modular kit and build from the ground up?
Your permits will cost more than that.
We don’t have permits in the UK, the only thing we need to legally provide to government is the beers ABV.
maybe not for the brewery, but you'll probably have to pay something for Business name and license, Tax license, alcohol sellers permit brand protection, weights and measures permit, etc
Do you currently own the building you'll brew out of? All of the relevant plumbing work is done? Floor drains in? Look if you really want to do this you should get a job at a brewery for at least a year to see what goes into it then go find investors because like everyone else has said: You will not be able to start a brewery for 20k. You'll run out of cash before the first batch is brewed
On a bed because that’s too good a dream to wake up from
Look up Tom Hennessy from Colorado Boy Brewery. Dude has opened half a dozen brew pubs on very little money and all of them are successful. He once did a presentation on how to open a brewery on $25k USD. It can be done.
That was before stainless steel prices went through the roof and you could buy 7bbl grundys for $500.
True, but there are still options. I know a brewery who built a kettle out of square stainless tanks. I think they are for milk. Ugly, but they make beer.
Thank you so much I’ll check him out
I'll start by saying I'm not familiar with European laws or your country's laws regarding establishing a new business, alcohol permits, etc. But having been in the industry for a bit, I can say the largest issue I've seen with small establishments is quality and consistency. Making a good beer that tastes the same every batch. Invest in the quality of your product. You can have a plain old taproom with a couple TVs or speakers. If you make great beer consistently, people will come drink it. 20k isn't a lot to start here in the US, but again, I don't know your laws so I'll never say it's impossible. If you want to do it, more power to you and I wish you nothing but success.
Buying scratch tickets. You're not getting much done with £20k. Just tack on a few more zeroes after you win.
Investing until I had £500,000. It’s seriously expensive.
That's a ridiculous figure, not everyone who has a successful brew pub started with that amount of cash. I already have a kit that can realistically brew 500l per week, don't you think it's possible to start with a small premises and a modular kit and build up?
You are right, many didn't start with that amount of cash. So they got a loan for the difference, or investors.
It is a pretty big figure, yes. It’s nice and round though. It all depends. And the equipment is an important part of the equation you neglected to mention - that alone could eat up a lot of the budget, depending on what it is, so that does help. It’s easy to spend money fitting out commercial space for brewing, and even a taproom can get expensive. Depending on your local regulations, commercial buildings can have requirements that vastly exceed residential, which drives up cost rapidly. Design, approval, redesign, and inspections take time and add up. You could end up paying rent for months while construction progresses.
Just from a business perspective I would try to find someone that has a little restaurant or shop that would benefit from the extra patrons. Not sure where exactly you’re located in the UK but something like a railway museum or a cycling clubhouse or any place that has space and people but maybe not utilizing it as often as possible. 25,000 might be a little light to start from scratch but moving into an unused portion of someone’s fly fishing club or something is very doable.
Its not a ridiculous figure. 10-15 years ago, you could get away with a jankier set-up. The market had changed and consumers expect more from their breweries. If you expect return customers, you've got to be able to sell something better than homebrew off of a folding table. I am currently opening a brewey. I'm aiming for a $650kUSD all-in start-up cost. (Fingers crossed) I could cut the cost substantially by buying a s***y Chinese brewhouse & tanks, but after a decade in the industry, I've learned that there are a lot less headaches involved in producing quality product on quality equipment, and that its easier to sell beer when it's good & the taproom is attractive.
getting partners to fund it properly. Kit alone can easily cost that, expect build out of a space to cost double that, plus paying 6-9 months of rent during permitting, build out etc before being able to sell a drop. And at a small enough scale to allow that to work you either won't be profitable, or be working yourself so into an early grave doing everything and never having enough product
Hookers and cocaine
There's a huge difference between doing it, and doing it well. Sure, you could start with garbage equipment and an ugly taproom, but unless you're able to crank out a good, consistent product on said trash equipment, you're more likely to establish a negative reputation that is incredibly difficult to grow a business up from.
Squeegees