Starting a Micro-brewery on farm?

[Chris F]

Has anyone had a micro-brewery set up on their farm or done one themselves? We have at least 5 small real ale bars pop up around here - so seems a good time to start such ventures with sales a craft beers and ales growing year on year?

(side benefit is that I like beer and the FIL has a lot of time on his hands)

 

[Mdt]

Next time you are in the lakes visit lakes distillery, very interesting! They set up in a derelict farmyard! @Chris F

 

[chaffcutter]

One set up on a farm in Abbots Bromley Chris, when our truck drivers were picking up grain from there they kept getting samples that they were developing the brews at the time.

 

[Clive]

I think it’s of those things that if you were in early has been good but is maybe now getting a bit overdone ?

 

[Chris F]

I think it’s of those things that if you were in early has been good but is maybe now getting a bit overdone ?

Sales are going up and up, but I think it's one of those things you need to have a passion for and understand you would spend more time selling than brewing. Hence why it needs someone who understands that craft industry.

 

[Kevtherev]

@YorkshireAndrew
We have a couple of small breweries in this area and cider makers both very successful

 

[Timmy_45]

I'll follow this thread with interest. Several micro brews in our county, and I have been looking at setting one up. I've asked around the free locals pubs and all have been keen on the idea of stocking beer from a local micro brew.

Like a lot of people though I just haven't had the time to do much with the idea!

 

[Yale]

We receive the malt,spent grains from our local micro brewery.

I have watched how their enterprise has faired over the last few years.

It’s hard work,even harder to sell the beer and seems a constant battle to maintain momentum.

You have to have a passion for brewing and beer,it becomes your life.

If you can do this you can make it work.

 

[Yale]

These are another relatively local to us brewer who I would consider to be some of the most professional in the industry.

They produce some excellent ales and are really on the ball.

http://www.bighandbrewing.co.uk/

 

[Lincs Lass]

These guys were on C5 few weeks back ,,young couple ,city slickers but got fed up of the rat race and ploughed all the savings into setting up a brewery in a redundant chicken shed ,,
http://unitybrewhouse.co.uk/our-beer/

 

[Greenbeast]

There's one 5 minutes from here on a farmer's land, seem to be going from strength to strength, they produce some cracking beers and now cider and open a pop-up pub on thurs/fri/sat afternoons

 

[Chris F]

There's one 5 minutes from here on a farmer's land, seem to be going from strength to strength, they produce some cracking beers and now cider and open a pop-up pub on thurs/fri/sat afternoons

Any chance you could get them on here?

 

[Greenbeast]

the brewers or the farmer?

 

[Chris F]

the brewers or the farmer?

The brewers - wondering about the brewing, but also what planning permission changes were required - so maybe the farm too.

 

[Greenbeast]

The brewers - wondering about the brewing, but also what planning permission changes were required - so maybe the farm too.

No promises as i don't know the farmer, although i do know another guy that rents a unit there. Also haven't been down to the brewery for a few months, i keep trying to get their grains, so might have to visit soon

 

[The Business Barn]

Hi there - The Business Barn has a free business opportunity profile offering advice to those looking to start-up a microbrewery: www.thebusinessbarn.co.uk/business-opportunity-profile-microbrewery?search=brewery.
Best wishes,
The Business Barn

 

[BobTheSmallholder]

I've been a professional brewer for the last 8 years, I started my own brewery 8yrs ago and put it into administration 2yrs ago. The brewery world is not an easy one to succeed in but it can be awesome fun! Without writing a huge essay here are my top tips:

Small breweries (sub 500 litres per brew) can be profitable and fun as long as costs are minimised and you don't want a huge salary (you should be able to pay yourself £12-30k pa). One this size can be kitted out for £25-£50k if you are sensible or £200k if you never want a return on your cash! Sell everything at retail wherever possible, get the brewery licenced for on-sales so you can earn £4 profit per litre rather than £0.80 per litre selling into pubs etc. Keep it fun, experiment, get your mates involved and it will be a good laugh if nothing else. If you are in a building you own rather than rent and keep it below the rates limit then the business will be highly profitable quickly and you may only have to brew once or twice a week which frees up a lot of time.

Big breweries can be profitable too, 15bbl (2400L) or bigger brew volume, £250k worth of hardware and another £250k in setup costs and branding etc will give you the punch you need to get the volumes necessary to break even. Needs a shitload of cash and some awesome marketing to make it work. Not the option if you want to sleep at night. Get it right and you can sell it on for millions or go on crowdcube and get an insane valuation. Hire amazing sales people before an amazing brewer.

Anything in between those two extremes is just sh!t. Lots more hard work than the first option but no more money than the second. Middle sized microbreweries are going to become a rare thing over the next few years as the squeeze hits.

NEVER SELL TO WETHERSPOONS! MAINTAIN YOUR MARGINS AND YOUR INTEGRITY OR YOU WILL JOIN THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM PRICE.

Anything else?

 

[Yale]

I've been a professional brewer for the last 8 years, I started my own brewery 8yrs ago and put it into administration 2yrs ago. The brewery world is not an easy one to succeed in but it can be awesome fun! Without writing a huge essay here are my top tips:

Small breweries (sub 500 litres per brew) can be profitable and fun as long as costs are minimised and you don't want a huge salary (you should be able to pay yourself £12-30k pa). One this size can be kitted out for £25-£50k if you are sensible or £200k if you never want a return on your cash! Sell everything at retail wherever possible, get the brewery licenced for on-sales so you can earn £4 profit per litre rather than £0.80 per litre selling into pubs etc. Keep it fun, experiment, get your mates involved and it will be a good laugh if nothing else. If you are in a building you own rather than rent and keep it below the rates limit then the business will be highly profitable quickly and you may only have to brew once or twice a week which frees up a lot of time.

Big breweries can be profitable too, 15bbl (2400L) or bigger brew volume, £250k worth of hardware and another £250k in setup costs and branding etc will give you the punch you need to get the volumes necessary to break even. Needs a shitload of cash and some awesome marketing to make it work. Not the option if you want to sleep at night. Get it right and you can sell it on for millions or go on crowdcube and get an insane valuation. Hire amazing sales people before an amazing brewer.

Anything in between those two extremes is just sh!t. Lots more hard work than the first option but no more money than the second. Middle sized microbreweries are going to become a rare thing over the next few years as the squeeze hits.

NEVER SELL TO WETHERSPOONS! MAINTAIN YOUR MARGINS AND YOUR INTEGRITY OR YOU WILL JOIN THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM PRICE.

Anything else?

Yes,the brewery we deal with aim to sell into lucrative markets,cities,real ale bars etc.

Sometimes I do wonder about the cost of logistics of taking casks a coupe of hundred miles.

 

[BobTheSmallholder]

Yes,the brewery we deal with aim to sell into lucrative markets,cities,real ale bars etc.

Sometimes I do wonder about the cost of logistics of taking casks a coupe of hundred miles.

The costs are significant, you need a full van (1.5 tonne of stock) and be selling at good solid margins to make any distance trips pay. It can be done but needs lots of planning.

 

[warksfarmer]

Has anyone had a micro-brewery set up on their farm or done one themselves? We have at least 5 small real ale bars pop up around here - so seems a good time to start such ventures with sales a craft beers and ales growing year on year?

(side benefit is that I like beer and the FIL has a lot of time on his hands)

Yep. Got one here. Its been going about 15 years at a guess and he's doing really well looking in from the outside. Its nothing fancy but they have a good name locally so seem to be shifting quite a few barrels per week. Probably brewing 3 days a week at a guess.