Start A Brewery?

[hamstringsally]

not sure if there is a thread on it at all already but was wondering just how difficult it really is to start a tiny brewery? Its one of those questions i ask myself after too many longnecks every saturday after another all grain brew goes down and never really asked anyone the question in the know.
as i can see you need council clearance to produce on certain grounds, government liquor license and food grade license to produce as well.
what else are the must have's just out of curiosity?

cheers

hammo

 

[fcmcg]

what else are the must have's just out of curiosity?

cheers

hammo

You must have plenty of fementation vessels...easy to brew it but as you know...bit of a time lag to ferment it...
You must have a bucket load of cash too !
Seriously though , one of the guys at my brew club , brews professionally...and he said all he seems to do is clean !
Cheers
Ferg

 

[Nick JD]

Buy some FGL shares, much easier way to make money. People love shit beer.

 

[manticle]

not sure if there is a thread on it at all already but was wondering just how difficult it really is to start a tiny brewery? Its one of those questions i ask myself after too many longnecks every saturday after another all grain brew goes down and never really asked anyone the question in the know.
as i can see you need council clearance to produce on certain grounds, government liquor license and food grade license to produce as well.
what else are the must have's just out of curiosity?

cheers

hammo

The Kooinda guys would be your best source of information as they set up their own brewery as an extension of their love for homebrewing. I think most/all involved still have day jobs and only brew one kind of beer at the moment. It is a very good beer though and I've not yet had a bad bottle (unfortunately can't say that about all craft breweries I've tried wares from).

 

[pbrosnan]

The actual licence to brew ( or "Application for a Licence to manufacture excisable products - alcohol") is available from the ATO. I suggest you download it as it'll give you an insight into what is required. There are of course state and local government regulations to be taken into account but if you don't satisfy the ATO then you can't get anywhere with regard to brewning. The bad news is that you basically have to set the brewery up to make the application (that's why small may not be a bad idea). The good news is the the licence doesn't cost anything.

 

[Silo Ted]

Pat Casey from Absolute Home Brew is in the process of setting up a small brewery, and has a blog that might give you a bit of an idea on what sort of things to expect. He talks about sourcing the gear, council approvals, and some interesting write ups about tax. Check out the link below, to read about one guys current work in progress doing exactly what youre asking about

http://www.caseysbeer.com.au/

 

[BrenosBrews]

A few micros started out brewing in other people's breweries & took care of marketing/selling themselves. As Dave from Mountain Goat said at a recent beer thing; it's easy to brew beer, selling it is the hard part. Or something to that effect. That's the avenue I'd go down if I wanted to do it.

Temple have been around for a while brewing at others premises & concentrating on a few styles & are now in the process of opening a brewery themselves.

The Kooinda guys started out as essentially a large homebrew set up in one of their backyards and I believe are also now in the process of trying to start up a "proper" brewery.

 

[pbrosnan]

Pat Casey from Absolute Home Brew is in the process of setting up a small brewery, and has a blog that might give you a bit of an idea on what sort of things to expect. He talks about sourcing the gear, council approvals, and some interesting write ups about tax. Check out the link below, to read about one guys current work in progress doing exactly what youre asking about

http://www.caseysbeer.com.au/

Just had a look at the Pat Casey blog. I bought my first mash tun off him about 7 years ago. He's certainly taking the big bang approach.

 

[Silo Ted]

Good on him though, I reckon. It's a huge step to make, but good to follow what's going on as he builds it from the ground up. Regular customers will know that he's getting out of the LHBS game once the brewery is fired up, and it's a bit sad that an all round great bloke wont be my supplier of all things grain in a while. I wish him all the best, and will contimue to follow his progress in the new venture.

 

[pbrosnan]

Good on him though, I reckon. It's a huge step to make, but good to follow what's going on as he builds it from the ground up. Regular customers will know that he's getting out of the LHBS game once the brewery is fired up, and it's a bit sad that an all round great bloke wont be my supplier of all things grain in a while. I wish him all the best, and will contimue to follow his progress in the new venture.

Completely agree. A great asset to the HB community. Still, bloody big step as you say.

 

[hamstringsally]

A few micros started out brewing in other people's breweries & took care of marketing/selling themselves. As Dave from Mountain Goat said at a recent beer thing; it's easy to brew beer, selling it is the hard part. Or something to that effect. That's the avenue I'd go down if I wanted to do it.

Temple have been around for a while brewing at others premises & concentrating on a few styles & are now in the process of opening a brewery themselves.

The Kooinda guys started out as essentially a large homebrew set up in one of their backyards and I believe are also now in the process of trying to start up a "proper" brewery.

do you know where would let you make a few brews in their brewery at the start in victoria? i always thought of doing that but didnt know where to start

 

[scott_penno]

do you know where would let you make a few brews in their brewery at the start in victoria? i always thought of doing that but didnt know where to start

Keep in mind that if you use someone elses commercial facilities, you're going to have to pay for the ingredients as you brew and also the excise as soon as it's packaged. Or you'll be paying them to brew for you. Either way, it could be a fairly large commitment.
Paul Mecurio had a bit to say about this in a thread some time in the last few months as I'm fairly sure this is the path he took with his 'Mercs Own' brew. The short of it was that it was a hard way to make a few dollars.

sap.

Edit: Found link to Paul's post here - http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...&pid=639438

 

[BrenosBrews]

do you know where would let you make a few brews in their brewery at the start in victoria? i always thought of doing that but didnt know where to start

Temple's were done at Jamieson mainly I believe & there are a couple of Ballarat brewing course guys also doing a couple there, yet to be released.

I don't know the finer details re: who pays for what etc.

 

[///]

Hello ...

Theres always a few things to ask yourself, importantly (and as a man much wiser than myself once said) what do you want to achieve? Is the achievement a hobby-farm business, sea change, market innovator, challenger or dominator? (and the many incantations in-between) Answer these sort of questions and you'll get yourself a long way along the path as it is a set of questions that are self-reflective. Stuff like size, equipment, beer styles dont matter a hoot until you qualify this very question.

The Kooinda boys and similar all stink of conviction. If you have the conviction and all the interests involved share that same conviction and actively share the hard work (not just say they will do it) then it may happen. Beware someone attempting to live the dream and/or use the allure of lots of money to help build that dream, that is danger right there.

Brewing is hard work. Its hard work to make and sell beer. Its a simple fact, and it goes back to the conviction side.

Beware the nay-sayers;

A) every State has different liquor laws - if you truly want to do it you will work through the process; and
B) every Council has different requirements - if you truly want to do it you will work through the process; and
C) every AHB member had their own opinions - if you truly want to do it you will work through the process; and
D) heaven forbid some AHB member may get it wrong .... god-bless.

The comment about payment when packaged of excise is an individual company thing, not excise or licensing. All excise care is when it goes outside the defined bonded area, State licensing would not know or care!

Scotty

 

[King Brown]

Considered enrolling in a brewing course at university? I think, hypothetically if I was gonna make the venture I'd probably want to start out by learning how to brew on a professional level. You would probably learn about the business end of things, though someone who's done this would be a better source for information.

 

[Silo Ted]

Considered enrolling in a brewing course at university? I think, hypothetically if I was gonna make the venture I'd probably want to start out by learning how to brew on a professional level. You would probably learn about the business end of things, though someone who's done this would be a better source for information.

A marketing degree would be more handy if you were the primary investor. There's no doubt that dozens of AHB members could step into a micro as the head brewer, no formal qualifications but priceless practical experience, and produce a range of highly regarded beers, but actually selling the stuff to a small target audience is the tough part.

Is the achievement a hobby-farm business, sea change, market innovator, challenger or dominator?

In the context of this discussion, dominator isnt going to happen. Any single micro will never knock the big boys off their perch, because their product is catering to a habit-driven majority. The collective micro scene might make a wee dent in the national market share, but sadly it is still small fish. James Squire has slowly been making some inroads into the aussie psych but most of the growth could be attributed to the post buyout brand that has a big marketing budget. Use some clever marketing, make it seem progressive with one off releases, and sit the brand against indie micros in Dan Murpheys. We know who's going to lose the battle.

 

[alowen474]

Many of us have researched this topic to great extent.
When preparing your plan, when you estimate your costs and double them. When you predict your return, halve it.

To get started, you need a DA, there is a few grand there with building inspection and waste management plan requirements.
The producers license if you are regional is a mere $500, but you can't get it without your approved DA.

Now you have to get your construction cert from council (another thousand) and build your brewery (as much as you want to spend).
Once you have your brewery built and council approved you apply to the ATO for your manufacture licence. This is free, as they get your excise before you sell your beer.
Then you need to package and sell your beer. Isn't that the easy bit? No!!

Pretty easy really and it only takes acouple of years.

Oh yeah, and do a course of some description. that will give you more credibility than just life experience.

 

[WarmBeer]

To get started, you need a DA, there is a few grand there with building inspection and waste management plan requirements.
The producers license if you are regional is a mere $500, but you can't get it without your approved DA.

Silly question, please excuse my ignorance, but what is a "DA"?

 

[Fents]

Hello ...

Theres always a few things to ask yourself, importantly (and as a man much wiser than myself once said) what do you want to achieve? Is the achievement a hobby-farm business, sea change, market innovator, challenger or dominator? (and the many incantations in-between) Answer these sort of questions and you'll get yourself a long way along the path as it is a set of questions that are self-reflective. Stuff like size, equipment, beer styles dont matter a hoot until you qualify this very question.

The Kooinda boys and similar all stink of conviction. If you have the conviction and all the interests involved share that same conviction and actively share the hard work (not just say they will do it) then it may happen. Beware someone attempting to live the dream and/or use the allure of lots of money to help build that dream, that is danger right there.

Brewing is hard work. Its hard work to make and sell beer. Its a simple fact, and it goes back to the conviction side.

Beware the nay-sayers;

A) every State has different liquor laws - if you truly want to do it you will work through the process; and
B) every Council has different requirements - if you truly want to do it you will work through the process; and
C) every AHB member had their own opinions - if you truly want to do it you will work through the process; and
D) heaven forbid some AHB member may get it wrong .... god-bless.

The comment about payment when packaged of excise is an individual company thing, not excise or licensing. All excise care is when it goes outside the defined bonded area, State licensing would not know or care!

Scotty

listen to scotty he knows!

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Swizzle]

Silly question, please excuse my ignorance, but what is a "DA"?

Development Application would be my guess, different names in different States. Planning Approval in Tas.