[bluesman]

I think the key to success is learning from others mistakes. More importantly, not making the same mistakes.

Visit as many nano and micro breweries as you can. Read books from the likes of Ray Daniels, Sam Calagione and others. There are pro brewer forums to join. Research, research and more research as well as developing a sound business plan. The closer you can get to having a solid vision, the better prepared you'll be.

I can tell you one thing...it's will be difficult getting started but can potentially be rewarding if you have a sound business plan and you are willing to work hard and put in some long hours.

[majorvices]

Heck yeah - it's a blast and well worth all the hard work. Think about it like this, you have a mch bigger budget to buy new gadgets and ingredients. And you have a good reason to be searching the Internet for beer stuff all the time! Right now I am trying to acquire used Chardonnay barrels to age some batches of saisom in. Really, lots of fun and worth all the hard work and money.

[bluesman]

...and you can learn from Keith who'll be three steps ahead of you. 

[oscarvan]

If you need to lease/buy a brewery, why not buy a big building and earn some rent, if you can get the capital together for the down-payment?

Indeed, if you can have someone else pay the rent, that would make a huge difference. Now you have to do your Commercial Real Estate Investment due diligence.

There is a reason many people will tell you why it can't be done. MOST businesses fail in the first 1-3 years. Under-capitalization being the main culprit. Some succeed, but they studied hard, worked even harder and had a little bit of luck.

If I were to pursue this, I would get my ass working at a small brewery for a few years to see it from the inside.

[morticaixavier]

Just looked back at your OP Weaze, and it looks like maybe you have one big advantage here which is that you have a business minded person who is encouraging you and it sounds like wants to be involved on that side of things. If he's got the money to bankroll you on this, and it isn't OLD money, one would assume he knows what he is doing. I might also suggest a book called 'Beer School' by Steve Hindy. It's about the Brooklyn Brewery and their experience as a start up brewery. Good read with a lot of info in this direction.

I was recently listening to NPR and they were talking about the importance of failure. Basically failure is good becuase it means you are trying things and there is rarely any success without trying things, thus rarely any success without failure. If someone else is making the financial risks all you have to lose is your time. Which is, needless to say, valuable but at least won't land you in the poor house (but just might land you in the pour house, pardon the pun)

Also, a lesson from Beer School, make sure you have a good contract with your money guy.

[denny]

The best solution, if you you have the available space, is to have a small bar within the brewery and sell some good bar food to go with it. Only open at night, so it doesn't interfere with brewing, which is done during the day.

The successful breweries around (Ninkasi, for instance) brew at any time of day, not just during the day.

[ccarlson]

The best solution, if you you have the available space, is to have a small bar within the brewery and sell some good bar food to go with it. Only open at night, so it doesn't interfere with brewing, which is done during the day.

The successful breweries around (Ninkasi, for instance) brew at any time of day, not just during the day.

Do they have a bar, within the brewery, that's open at night?

[a10t2]

The successful breweries around (Ninkasi, for instance) brew at any time of day, not just during the day.

While that's certainly true of many production facilities, you definitely don't *have* to brew two or three shifts to turn a profit.

[denny]

Do they have a bar, within the brewery, that's open at night?

They have a tasting room open during the day.  No actual "bar".

[ccarlson]

My point was that if space is limited, you make the most of what you have. You could even brew in the middle of the night, but you wouldn't want your bar customers getting in your way.

Actually the place I saw had the bar separated by the fermenters, so brewing could have gone on while the bar was open. It was a very efficient way to utilize the space they had.   They offered bar food, but you went to a window into the kitchen and placed your order and picked it up yourself, where you also paid for it, separate from the bar tab. It's a great idea.

[a10t2]

I think the best business model for a (very) small brewpub I've personally seen is Colorado Boy in Ridgway. They have one type of food (pizza now, used to be sandwiches) and run the entire bar with one bartender and one cook. When they were doing sandwiches, the bartender made them up before the bar opened, and they only had one employee in the building at a time.

The owner, Tom, has also put together a DVD on how to open a brewery on the cheap (this is something like his fourth or fifth). It's a good resource and well worth the money for anyone thinking about it.

[ccarlson]

I think the best business model for a (very) small brewpub I've personally seen is Colorado Boy in Ridgway. They have one type of food (pizza now, used to be sandwiches) and run the entire bar with one bartender and one cook. When they were doing sandwiches, the bartender made them up before the bar opened, and they only had one employee in the building at a time.

The owner, Tom, has also put together a DVD on how to open a brewery on the cheap (this is something like his fourth or fifth). It's a good resource and well worth the money for anyone thinking about it.

Here's a direct to the DVD. $20 from someone who's actually done it for a while could be money well spent.
http://www.beerbooks.com/cgi/ps4.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=2126&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID! 

[punatic]

I think the best business model for a (very) small brewpub I've personally seen is Colorado Boy in Ridgway. They have one type of food (pizza now, used to be sandwiches) and run the entire bar with one bartender and one cook. When they were doing sandwiches, the bartender made them up before the bar opened, and they only had one employee in the building at a time.

The owner, Tom, has also put together a DVD on how to open a brewery on the cheap (this is something like his fourth or fifth). It's a good resource and well worth the money for anyone thinking about it.

Here's a direct to the DVD. $20 from someone who's actually done it for a while could be money well spent.
http://www.beerbooks.com/cgi/ps4.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=2126&ORDER_ID=!ORDERID! 

If nothing else he knows how to market a concept.  A DVD and an imersion course... 
+1 on the DVD = money well spent 

[denny]

So has the guy opened 4 or 5 because they were so successful or because they failed one after another?

[ccarlson]

So has the guy opened 4 or 5 because they were so successful or because they failed one after another?

How many people on here have done it successfully for a long time, but are giving advice. I know I haven't opened one. Have you? Even if he failed, his knowledge should be worth $20 more than most of what Weaze is getting from here. I'm including myself in that group.

I might buy it and I have no desire to start a brewery.