Does anyone work in the brewing industry?

[Greedo]

I've got a mate who popped in for a chat earlier. He's been with his company for 20 years this year.

He's sounded out taking his release and as he's worked hard and his way up in the company he will be on for a decent lump sum.

He's been very careful with his money over the years and feels he has enough in reserve to "take a gamble" and use his redundancy money to do something totally different.

For years he's made his own beer and has always dreamed of doing something serious with it. It's always decent stuff he makes and has quite a creative side when coming up with new stuff. He's sounded out a course and is of thinking going on it and setting up a micro brewery business. He's clever, smart, got his head screwed on and works hard.

Does anyone know if this is a good idea or not as in the magazines and websites i read it seems the beer/ale market is in freefall.

Said I would ask on here for him.

Cheers
Greedo

 

[rich p]

No, but I leisure in the brewing industry

I wonder if there's a Brewing Chat forum somewhere out there?

 

[Greedo]

No, but I leisure in the brewing industry

I wonder if there's a Brewing Chat forum somewhere out there?

I'm sure there is but everyone is too pissed to post anything!

 

[Hover Fly]

A mate of mine does it (in England). He started out in a very small way about 4 years ago, him and his wife part time. Now he's expanding and thinking of taking on an employee or two as he moves into bigger premises.

 

[yashicamat]

It's a nice thought to set up a microbrewery (a thought that has passed through my mind as well), but in reality, it is a very difficult business to squeeze even enough for overheads out of. The microbrewery industry is definitely not in freefall though, it's actually doing quite well compared to a lot of industry (not to be confused with the large breweries who are suffering massive losses).

To give a few practical pointers about setting up a microbrewery, he'll need:

- premises certified safe (and with planning permission I think) for the production of foodstuffs (beer is classified as one). For most folk, this will require somewhere other than home, an industrial unit seems quite a popular choice from the small breweries I know.

- capital for setting up; the actual brewing kit will cost about £20k at least (that's going for second hand kit), plus specialist electrical installations will be needed to feed the vast currents demanded by the heaters (hot water containers and the boilers). Barrels are a surprising additional cost too, you can expect a barrel to be gone 3 weeks before it comes back, so assuming you start with a 2 barrel plant or something (8 firkin casks, the usual sizes for pubs) and you brew 4 times a week, that's nearly £7000 in barrels.

- reputation, initially you've got to get your beer marketed and bought until you've got a reputation that sells the beer . . . not an area I'm familiar with I'm afraid.


Sounds a bit daunting . . . well, it is. I'd suggest that your friend does some reading on this forum, one I've used for years and is an excellent resource with some very helpful people. A lot of homebrewing forums are American based so aren't much use for UK business plans, but this one isn't. You'll find me loitering over there under the same username . . .

 

[User169]

- reputation, initially you've got to get your beer marketed and bought until you've got a reputation that sells the beer . . . not an area I'm familiar with I'm afraid.

Probably the most important point. I get the feeling that there are plenty of good brewers who simply have no idea how to sell. The assumption seems to be that if it's a good product it will sell itself.

You need to think about who's going buy your beer, why they're going to do so and how they're going to do so.

 

[BigonaBianchi]

You need to think about who's going buy your beer, why they're going to do so and how they're going to do so.

easy.

MTBrs

Because they arnt real roadies

By parking their muddy bikes outside the pub to make it look like they are hardcore


..contentious enough?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Can I volunteer as chief tester (of product)?

 

[palinurus]

If anyone does work in a brewery i'd be interested to know if it is in fact easy to organise a piss-up in one.

 

[User169]

If anyone does work in a brewery i'd be interested to know if it is in fact easy to organise a piss-up in one.

An ex-colleague of mine worked in a brewery in Sheffield. At the time he joined, late '80s I guess, it was still permissible for those on the brewery floor to drink as much as they wanted. Apparently, some consumed anything between 10 and 20 pints per day.

Drinking on the job was eventually banned, but it then transpired that no-one knew how to do their job sober, so drinking was reintroduced (although new joiners were then subject to the no drinking rule)!

 

[threebikesmcginty]

An ex-colleague of mine worked in a brewery in Sheffield. At the time he joined, late '80s I guess, it was still permissible for those on the brewery floor to drink as much as they wanted. Apparently, some consumed anything between 10 and 20 pints per day.

Drinking on the job was eventually banned, but it then transpired that no-one knew how to do their job sober, so drinking was reintroduced (although new joiners were then subject to the no drinking rule)!

 

[Bayerd]

If anyone does work in a brewery i'd be interested to know if it is in fact easy to organise a piss-up in one.

I used to work as a brewer in a microbrewery, and found it surprisingly easy to organise a piss up whilst there.

In relation to the original question, there is certainly room for brewers of real ale in the marketplace as it is growing at the moment. What I would do first is research the local area and suss out potential customers and what potential volume they'll be able to shift. If the figures stack up I'd then look to provide samples to them to prove the ale is good quality. In my experience most pubs that serve guest real ales will try yours if it's of sufficient quality.

 

[philipbh]

Here is a link to a follow up story on the Morrissey / Fox Brewery that was on Channel 4 (last year?) - the joint venture of Neil Morrissey & Richard Fox

http://www.thepublican.com/story.asp?sectioncode=7&storycode=61829&c=1

They started with a Blonde Ale and moved to some seasonal products and are looking to expand their range even further

They have made a success of it so far after (IIRC) a haphazard start with the recipe and brewing process

 

[Bayerd]

An ex-colleague of mine worked in a brewery in Sheffield. At the time he joined, late '80s I guess, it was still permissible for those on the brewery floor to drink as much as they wanted. Apparently, some consumed anything between 10 and 20 pints per day.

Drinking on the job was eventually banned, but it then transpired that no-one knew how to do their job sober, so drinking was reintroduced (although new joiners were then subject to the no drinking rule)!

It wasn't the Cannon Brewery by any chance?

I once went there on a cellar management course. We spent lunch in the brewery tap (Pig & Whistle). We were told we could consume as much as we wanted. Fantastic stuff it was too. The tutor also got several down him, the afternoon session was more relaxed....

 

[Brains]

Making it is the easy bit.

It's flogging the stuff that is the hard bit

So unless he has a salesman as a partner I'd forget it