[Wendon65]

Good afternoon. My daughter at 30 years old has been working in the brewery/ tap houses for almost 10 years now. She is very knowledgeable with all beers, ciders, hoppy beers, meads, etc.
my wife and I may be in a position to scoop a brewery that has been neglected by the owners who have decided to get out. My wife and I know nothing about brewing and at 55 years old, I would like to learn. I think the location is perfect. I will talk to the owner next weekend about selling his equipment to me. He is renting the space so that part will be between us and the landlord who we are told are wonderful people.
What do I need to know. I would welcome all feedback.
Don

[denny]

The first thing I'd ask you is do you have any business experience? Running a brewery is more about the business than the beer.

[Wendon65]

As far as me running a public business. No, I do not.
I have run the service department for a contractor for over 20 years. In charge of estimating, materials, man power, coordination with other trades, and finally turnover to the customer.
My daughter has been a manager for a restaurant before moving here and was a manager at this particular business until the owners decided to get out and purse other interests. ( including new born babies )
So does this experience qualify ?

[majorvices]

There's a few of us here that have opened breweries. I opened one in 2010. I am no longer a part of that business and received a buy out this year. I still work as a brewer in the industry.

I guess my questions are: Is it a brewpub (Its there a restaurant)? What size is the brewery? Are you going to hire an actual brewer? Because homebrewing and commercial brewing aren't exactly the same thing. (Edit: I see your daughter is planning on being the brewer. I can attest that it is a hell of a lot of work: expect 60-80 hour weeks unless help is hired. Of course, this depends greatly on the size of the facility)

Like opening up or acquiring any business there are substantial risks. If the current owners have "neglected it" is it because they were not able to make money? That's usually why breweries get neglected--they are expensive to run with an incredible thin profit margin.

[dmtaylor]

It's very difficult to turn a decent a profit, even for those with a lot of applicable experience.  If you want to open a brewery as an expensive new hobby but not intend to make any money, that's one thing.  If you want it to also be profitable... beware.

Brewing also involves a ton of work hours, which is fine if you can afford a large staff, but very demanding if you only have one or two brewers.  If you want your daughter to help in any way, get her input before making any moves financially.  It's an enormous commitment.

[KellerBrauer]

I would want to look at the current business profit and loss statement.  As well as their marketing strategy to see if the business is profitable and what you can do to improve it.  I would also want to learn more about the local health department requirements.  The current business may be grandfathered in some way and a new owner taking over may have to jump through hoops to get licensed; meantime your investment is getting old.  Just some thoughts.

[majorvices]

It's very difficult to turn a decent a profit, even for those with a lot of applicable experience.  If you want to open a brewery as an expensive new hobby but not intend to make any money, that's one thing.  If you want it to also be profitable... beware.

Good advice. A lot of it depends on the laws in your area. Some state laws make it almost impossible to run a successful brewery. New Jersey has some draconian small-brewery laws.

[goose]

Having experience in the brewing world is a must if you are going to open/take over a brewery.  As has been said it is a substantial risk and the rewards are not as high as the risks.

It is also, as dmtaylor stated, a ton of work.  Brewing is a very small part.  Getting the business model established, filing for a brewing license, and getting label approval for any beer you make are necessary and tedious parts of the business.  The brewing portion is just a very small part of it.  You have cleaning, contracting for grain and hops (which will be hard the first year or two), maintenance and repairs on the equipment, and all the bookwork is daunting.

Years ago, I talked with a professional brewer about opening a brewery.  He said one word, "don't".  That is why I took a part-time gig at a brewery when I retired from my career job to get a feel for what it took to operate a brewery.  It cured me.  I chose to continue perfecting my homebrewing skills instead of jumping into the big pond that has become very competitive.  However, I do help out at breweries from time to time because I love doing it.  I don't want to burst your bubble here, just making you aware that if you don't have any experience in the field, it might be difficult to successfully pull this off.  I wish you the best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

[Wendon65]

I sincerely appreciate all of that advice. If I were still in my 20’s. I would have most likely ignored all of it. I still have plenty of research to do on this place. My wife and I made a few bucks on our move from Massachusetts to here a year ago. Both of us have good jobs but we’re hoping to invest in something that could become a retirement job 10 years down the road. I needed this input.
The owner of this business has a brewer who bounces between this place and another. Without him working for me, I wouldn’t attempt to do it myself.
My next step to reach out is licensing. I will start with the town to see what is required and cost.
I am meeting the owner next week to see if there is any profit in the business. If not. We are certainly out. I am not looking to get rich. Just a nice business to be proud of and make some money. 

Now what about a tap house? Buy from local breweries and serve while only having 2-3 of our own on tap? Does that make sense. I believe that’s what was happening at this place.
A small menu was also part of this establishment. Tacos on Tuesday, burgers on Wednesday. That type of small menu.

[majorvices]

Now what about a tap house? Buy from local breweries and serve while only having 2-3 of our own on tap? Does that make sense. I believe that’s what was happening at this place.
A small menu was also part of this establishment. Tacos on Tuesday, burgers on Wednesday. That type of small menu.

Yeah, if the local laws allow you to do this it makes the establishment more viable. Food is really a must if you are going to survive since the novelty of going to a brewery just to drink beer wore off years ago.

Do you have any idea how big the brewery is volume wise? How large is the brewhouse, how many fermenters, etc.

[reverseapachemaster]

I agree you need to look at the financials before anything else. Undoubtedly if the brewery has been neglected by the owners, the numbers probably aren't great and some of the problems may be attributable to neglectful owners. I'd look back through the internet to see if there was ever a time that brewery had good business. You can google search by year and find older reviews or news articles. If it's not a great location or they never put out decent beer, then your job driving people to spend money in your brewery is going to be a lot harder and might explain why the current owners fell out of love with it.

Having run a business in the past and in the midst of starting a new business, I would be extremely cautious. Jumping into a struggling business with no experience running a business, and running a bar/restaurant, a brewery, or even brewing is a very high risk investment. Not only are you putting money/assets at risk but the stress may cause harm to your relationships with your wife and daughter.

[Drewch]

I've never owned or run a brewery, but I've thought about it as a possibility when I finish my current career. I've found Kelly Meyers' How Not to Start a Damn Brewery podcast eye-opening on some of the aspects that are unique to breweries vs. other businesses. There's a book, too:  https://a.co/d/2ixleSa