Brew UK Forum | General Brewing Discussions
If you had the money, would you??
Have always loved the idea of opening a microbrewery but as always money, stiff competion and commitments puts the stops on.
Question is; If you had the investment/investor & property available would you take the plunge!!??
Responses
Posted 1 year ago by Member
If it got me out of IT - yes!
Then again, just about anything would tempt me out of IT.
Owning your own microbrewery, though.... Creative input. Experimentation. Working from home. Yer mates always being around giving you plenty of business and good crack (I refuse to spell it 'craic'). Doing something you actually like for a living - where's the catch?
-Barry
Fermenting: Marston's Pedigree
Conditioning (Bottles): Warsteiner Lager Clone
Drinking (King Keg): Fullers London Pride
Posted 1 year ago by Member
If I had loads of money and could swan in and out, throwing a few handfuls of hops into the odd boiler then yes. But day in, day out, risking the mortgage on it? No.
But for those that do. The best of luck to you! The more successful independent brewers the better. I look at the rows of beer on the shelves in the supermarkets and wonder how many of them are actual independents and not part of some global conglomerate. I do a lot of that!
I really should just buy from local breweries and local grocers and local butchers etc. But the supermarkets have well and truly got me. I feel a New Year's resolution coming on .....
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
I flippin hate my job with a vengance and funnily enough malts n hops n brewerys were swirling round me head before I eventually nodded off. I can think of nothing better, but unfortunatly unless I had some money to back it up I could never do it. Mortgage, debt, nursery fees, 2 cars etc etc plus me n the missus need to be flexible to be able to drop/pick kids up at school/nursery.
Its a shame as I would love LOVE LOVE to follow this passion we all share.
Great now im at work AND depressed!
On the plus side microbreweries are doing well. I watched south today (local news) which suggests that a lot of them are springing up and the ginancial results are pretty good.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Maybe an appearance on Dragons Den would be needed
With freehouses on the decrease and microbreweries on the increase surely this bubble has to burst at some point!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
IT does my head in.
There is a pub just up the road from me that is in dire need of some TLC and being taken over by a landlord/lady who knows about beer and not ruin it by serving dodgy ales and tasteless lagers. There is enough room to import a 2.5 barrel brewery and it's right on a main road with a brilliant bus service as well. I keep saying one day that pub will be mine...
I'd love to be able to have my own micro and brew beers and get friends around to taste them. So far they've enjoyed my home brews..
I have even got a name for my beers and brewery i'm that sad!
Sherwood Brewery:-
Maid Marian - Light Hoppy Beer 3.5%
Will Scarlet - Red Beer (Possible fruit) 4.0%
Friar Tuck - Golden Ale (IPA maybe?) 5%
Little John - Barley Wine/Strong Ale 7%
I can but dream i guess... but hey one day.
Neil
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
One day....
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I thought Friar Tuck would be a little Stout! Ha Ha hee hee ha. Ahhhh. Sorry about that but couldn't resist!
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Actually Simon...
That's not a bad idea... was trying to think of a character for a mild too, any ideas?
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Well, the original question was "If you had the money...?"
Well, yes, of course. I'd do it in a flash! Talking of using local shops etc... when I move to where I am now in '87, there were 7 butchers. Now there are none.
Little Stout ... love it!!!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'm afraid I've now exhausted my witty quip ration for the day!
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone
Posted 1 year ago by Member
You could buy a packet of quips with your pint in your new local microbrewery.
Sorry.
Fermenting: Marston's Pedigree
Conditioning (Bottles): Warsteiner Lager Clone
Drinking (King Keg): Fullers London Pride
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Being the sort of person who likes to create something, nurture it and improve on it until it's right, yes, I'd love to have a brewery, but reality dictates otherwise. Even with money to burn it would be useless run as a hobby. If you do that, you might as well open the doors, let your mates in and give the beer away. Sadly, microbreweries are seldom opened by people who know what they are doing. There is a guy in Norfolk who, for 20 grand, will set up a micro brewery for you, commission it, order your ingredients, run your first brew, pat himself on the back when it tastes like any old bitter, and clear off with your £20k, never to return. When YOUR first batch goes wrong, he doesn't want to know. For every 10 potential micro brewers (you know, very short ones), 9 end up bankrupt. But, with enough money for losses not to matter, I'd have a go and I'm sure I could make it profitable in the end.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
If I had enough money?, er... probably not to be honest, though there is definitely a market for micro brew beer.
My local has 4 real ales & only 1 is permanent, 2 of them change every week & they're often from small independent breweries, so peeps do drink the stuff.
I can think of 6 micro breweries within 10 miles of me, 4 are doing very well indeed, 1 went bust & the other just packed it in after his lease ran out.
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
How about we all give a small amount (on credit card of course) in a paypal account and then get a brewery together.
Small print:-
1."small amount" means at least £2000 dependant on people involved and may well go up if less people are involved)
2. You must not drink all the profits
3. You must not drink all the beer
4. You must wear suspenders in an attempt to gather mass journalism
5. Things that are concidered worse than "wearing suspenders" may also be involved....remember we are trying to crack the european market and they are into some weird s**t.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
heh heh nath, almost spat my beer over the monitor reading that! Excellent.
By European market, do you mean Scotland?
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Och Ie tha Noo
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
or something more european - ouch je l'nough
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
'Must'??? 'Must'??? Why, sir, you make it sound like a chore.
Fermenting: Marston's Pedigree
Conditioning (Bottles): Warsteiner Lager Clone
Drinking (King Keg): Fullers London Pride
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Saracen,
Just for the record that man in Norfolk isn't me
However, damn fine idea of earning 20k... 
To be honest i didn't know anyone did that kind of thing in my fair county. Should be interesting to see if he has a website or not?
Posted 1 year ago by Member
If I had the money, I'd start a Micro brewery, then offer you all jobs, I havent the foggiest about brewin beer I just like drinking it! but I'd do the Wine side...
Micro Brewery/Trendy Wine Bar?...
Theres a nice Micro in Reading called "0 Degrees" must sample and post results....
Fermenting: nothing... Yet...
Conditioning: Merlot, 30 bottles, Pinot Grigio, 30 bottles,
Planned: Ginger beer (from the BrewUk receipe)
CIDER! god know's how many bottles! (Apple tree went mad this year!)
Drinking: De Murviedro Syrah (Asda, not bad for £4 a bottle!)
Posted 1 year ago by Member
+1 to Bazza as well.. "I'm a lumberjack and i'm ok..." we all know the song.
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
The key to success is being good at making beer but equally good at selling/marketing your beer. The reason that most fail is that they are good at one or neither but not both.
Many start a brewery when they have never even brewed any beer... Madness.
If you can get both right then its a really good time to open a brewery, if of course you have a spare 100k or so that you'll need to fund a decent size brewery capable of actually making some decent income.
Now where did I put that lottery ticket... Oh yeah forgot to buy one AGAIN.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I second what Greg says..
Too many people have a pipe dream of running a pub or a brewery yet have no idea how it all works. I've seen small breweries start up and disappear within a year of opening. As Greg says usually because they think they know how to make beer but in reality.
I have noticed there are courses now on brewing. Wonder whether that would be worth going on?
That is where we all have a distinct advantage. Oh and sorry Greg i've bought the winning ticket...
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Sounds like something they'd have as a task on The Apprentice.
Fermenting: Marston's Pedigree
Conditioning (Bottles): Warsteiner Lager Clone
Drinking (King Keg): Fullers London Pride
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Oh god!
Could you imagine that lot trying to set one up? Never has "You couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery" be more apt!
Lord Sugar would be in his element...
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I remember years ago, in the Adam and Joe show, they did just that. They wandered into some brewery with a few beers and couple of tubes of Pringles trying to get a piss-up going with the employees. They couldn't manage it. Funny though.
Fermenting: Marston's Pedigree
Conditioning (Bottles): Warsteiner Lager Clone
Drinking (King Keg): Fullers London Pride
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
That sound very funny Bazza. Quick search on youtube but no joy.
Neil the brewlab courses are mean't to be ready good if you can spare the time (and cash!).
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I'll be digging deep at the back of the couch tonight!
Posted 1 year ago by Admin
Be careful what you find down there Gazz. I normally wear gloves. I have small children so all kinds of strange things end up down there
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Maybe one day someone will blow the dust off this thread an type 'I DID!!'
Posted 1 year ago by Member
That's a really great post Gazz ... yes, wouldn't it just! Good luck to them, whoever they will be!
(with grateful thanks to the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers and slightly adapted)
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Hi Neil. The sorry tale was told to me by the guy who runs the GoodLife HomeBrew Centre on the Sweetbriar Industrial Estate. I went there because a friend of mine was buying a large local freehouse with outbuildings and the plan was to brew the beer onsite. When we looked deeply into it, it's a no hoper. You simply can't compete with the big breweries. They will sell you beer far cheaper than you can brew it. Many have tried, so there is a huge market in secondhand brewery kit.
I don't know the name of the guy who does it but apparently he had a microbrewery that went bust so he decided to profit from inflicting a similar misfortune on others. He will also buy the equipment if it doesn't work out at about 20% of the price he sold it to you for, and, guess what he does with it? Right. Sells it to the next mug who comes along.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
That bloke is pretty low.
Plannin'-
Loads a beer after an upgrade!
nathbrew@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Ahhh the Goodlife Homebrew shop know it very well. He is a top bloke in there that's for sure and knows his stuff. So he is likely to be telling the truth.
Just trying to think of breweries that have recently gone kaput in Norfolk? Not that many that's for sure we seem to be getting more and more opening including our newest brewery Norwich Bear (Very nice beers too!).
The bloke does sound like he could do with a visit from Matt Albright and Rogue Traders. What a low life thing to do... I've not seen anything in our local papers about anyone.
As the original post stated if i had the money... probably in reality no... it would be just a mere pipe dream because as you say the big nationals can sell their muck cheaper than it is to brew
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Hi Neil. It's not the sort of thing that will make the papers, because it would be so hard to prove that you didn't screw it up yourself. As has been said, you need to be a brewer AND a businessman, and the idea of setting up a brewery on a handful of redundancy money must seem attractive to many. It's like the other big con; "Train to be a Driving Instructor and earn £30k a year". It should read; "Train to be a Driving Instructor and pay us £250 a week to rent the car, whether we find you work or not." I think the guy has been working nationally, but as far as I understood he lives in Norfolk.... or North Suffolk....... same thing...... isn't it?
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Ach! I thought that driving instructor thing was too good to be true *scrunches up yet another job application*.
Fermenting: Marston's Pedigree
Conditioning (Bottles): Warsteiner Lager Clone
Drinking (King Keg): Fullers London Pride
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Quite right Bazza! Biggest mistake anyone could ever make. I've been there from 1984 to 1993 and again 3 years ago. No way is there a profit for a newbie now.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
I personally think there are loads of factors to consider, not just 'o the big boys will out do you'....yes they probably will but does everyone who sets up any business think bugger it because they have competition who are always bigger than them????
Did Brew Dog think that when they opened in 2005??? I think not. If you are planning on opening one with a silly traditional name and call your beers with silly old names & produce drab like alot of it is then your at a loss straight away.
Posted 1 year ago by Member
*Gasps at at the association of Norfolk being the same as North Suffolk...* They'd hang you around these parts Saracen
In all honesty it would be just a pipe dream as you say it would be increasingly difficult to set up a new micro brewery and still be in the trade 10 years later. I think what has made Brewdog successful is their we don't give a damn what people think attitude. Calling their beers politically uncorrect names such as "Trashy Blonde" then coming up with stupid strength beers such as Sink the Bismark.
Maybe just maybe if i won the lottery?
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Another way perhaps:
Vine Park
Fermenting:
Condtioning:
Drinking: Twibute Clone, PJ Clone
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Well if money was no object then you could buy the farm that produces everything you need too, although then you would need to be a brewer, publican, business man and a farmer
Personally I have a job I love but the idea of producing such wonderful stuff from scratch and then getting people to pay you for it has tremendous appeal!! If no one ever took risks then we'd have no great micro breweries and no millionaires, good luck to anyone with the balls.
Drinking: Nothing
Planning: Way To Amarillo
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Some interesting stuff, I thought some years ago the chancellor dropped the duty on small breweries.
You think having a small micro brewery on site in a working pub would make sense.
Sell what you make, no delv cost, no duty!
I think people are addicted to brands and consistent quality ( or percived quality) and not trying other things! and that is where the problem lies.
The people on here that brew are the exception or do it to have cheap alcohol or both??!!
Posted 1 year ago by Member
There is a pub in Norwich which, in the Spring will be installing it's own brewery. They're selling the beers at the moment, Norwich Bear. The best bit is they've said they're thinking of allowing home brewers to show case their beer in the pub. Also they're going to allow people to come into the brewery and do batches of beer as well, how good is that?
I think as Lol said people here brew beer because it's much cheaper than the pub per pint. Plus i don't know about you but if you get a brew right it tastes much better than what you can get in a pub too.
Neil
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Neil , I agree mate, used to be a pub in Downham Market ( Ship Hotel??poss) that did brew on site.
Would be great to showcase your own beer, I bet politicaly correct brigade will have something to say, think they stopped WI bringing in cakes to hospital!!!! aghhhh
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
I hope they succeed, and they haven't got caught up with that Stuart shyster. A lot of pubs have stopped brewing because a free house can buy beer cheaper than they can brew it. It could also be that they were brewing rubbish, but the sad fact is that fewer people go to the pub now, and whether having a good beer from the backyard on tap will do it, I don't know. On the other hand, in Norwich there is huge customer base within walking distance. The Canon Brewery at the back of the old St Edmund's Head in Bury St Edmund's has been highly successful, and deservedly so with their excellent brews, and another is opening in Bury soon.
I think they're going to be onto a good thing. Home brew is a growing interest, and being able to do it with expert advice on hand looks good. I watched the Vine Park video, and that's the same deal.
Tony. Where is it going to be? It can only be great news for GoodLife Home Brew Centre.
Planning: - To get some more brews on now the weather's a bit cooler
Fermenting: - Ginger Beer experiment
Conditioning: - A normal bitter with Styrians
Drinking: - All of it!!
E-mail: arnyfris@gmail.com
Posted 1 year ago by Member
Hi Saracen,
It is the Rose Tavern on Queens Road in Norwich. Norwich Bear beers will be brewed from there. Platinum Blonde 5%, Classic 3.8%, Legend 4.3% and Santa Claws 4.8%....
As you say the Goodlife Homebrew shop will do well from this as well. I think people are finally waking up to the virtues of homebrewing. Maybe just maybe we will eventually get to the same level as the Americans. They take home brewing to another level.
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
Not sure what the quantity is but upto a certain level of production the duty is half rate.
I was told recently Wentworth Brewery near Rotherham sell their barrels last 2 digits of gravity plus £10, so a 1044 OG beer for example would sell for £54, plus VAT I presume, thats about 88p a pint. The same chap said Timmy Taylor sell Landlord for over £100 a barrel.
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff
Posted 1 year ago by Moderator
The PDFs here make interesting reading, Landlord works out at £105.15 including VAT.
http://www.smallbeerwholesale.co.uk/promotions.html
Fermenting: Summer pale ale
Maturing/Conditioning: Marynka pseudo-lager
Drinking: Wheat beer, ESB, Vienna lager & shop bought stuff
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