So, You Want to Start a Brewery?

Good morning. Happy brew day to all those brewing up some liquid gold on this winter Sunday. We have officially entered December, so if you’re looking to have some beer on tap by the holidays, it’s probably time to get brewing.

-Brandon Copeland

So, You Want to Start a Brewery?

The novelty of homebrewing in the beginning is to be able to make a beer in your kitchen/garage that tastes just as good as a beer you’ve had at your local brewery. It’s empowering to be able to create such a beloved and world renowned beverage right in your own home.

Once you’ve brewed a couple good beers, this novelty fades and it’s replaced with a simple question that every homebrewer has reckoned with at some point in their journey: should I start my own brewery?

It’s only natural to have these thoughts - as an avid fan of craft beer who can now brew great beer at home, the mind immediately leaps to scaling up and replacing your day job with your very own brewery. If you’re like me, this idea comes in waves, often to be shutdown by the reality of the endeavor.

Breweries are difficult to start because they are capital intensive - you need brewing equipment before you can make beer. The rabbit hole of finding the right size brewing system, the right location, and right equipment manufacturer etc. is usually enough to stop that idea and shove it deep down to wait for the next surge of optimism.

On top of the difficulty, starting a brewery means taking your favorite hobby and making it your full time job, and with so much focus on the business, you could completely lose sight of why you started it in the first place - to make great beer. There is much more that goes into a brewery beyond the beer, and as the owner you’re on the hook for all of it.

My wife and I took a quick trip to Guatemala last week, and as we do everywhere we go, we sought out local breweries. We found an absolute gem with Antigua Brewing Co in the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage City Antigua.

This brewery especially captured my imagination because of it’s simplicity and small scale. At 3 BBL, this little system can produce plenty of beer for walk-ins, and with a simple 3 tier HLT - Mash Tun - Brew Kettle layout, it’s simple to operate. They had 3 fermenters and a few brite tanks, with the rest of the beer being served from kegs. They had 6 beers on tap, so of course I had to go for the flight and try them all.

Seeing an operation at this scale definitely reignites the “should I start a brewery” idea, because it’s on a scale that is manageable - only 20x my homebrewing system. This particular brewery has a nice food offering, an incredible rooftop with views of the city, and a speakeasy room that only serves cocktails to supplement beer sales.

Just have to keep squirreling away those pennies, one day they could spawn a profitable brewery…

What’s New With Brewgr?

Brewgr has stayed mostly the same since 2017: it’s a free, reliable, and simple to use homebrewing recipe website. Brewgr will always maintain this - there will always be a free plan that has everything we offer now, plus new features we have on the horizon.

We have a lot of big plans for 2024 - we have hired a developer, and are currently planning massive improvements to the site. Our first focus will be migrating the software to current day tech stacks (it’s a bit stuck in the past currently). After this, we will start modernizing the tool and adding features that will improve the homebrewing experience.

These improvements include a completely reimagined Brew Session that will be more focused on your brew day, including timers and prompts for what to do next in the process. We will also add a water chemistry section to the recipe builder, among other minor additions. We will be adding a new Incognito plan that will give you the option to keep your recipes private.

This is just the tip of the iceberg - we have plans to roll out inventory management, equipment profiles, and equipment scheduling management. At some point we plan to create a mobile app to make Brewgr even more accessible during your brew day.

Reply to this email and let us know if you have any ideas you would like to see implemented into Brewgr in the future!

Thanks for using Brewgr, and we hope to offer you even more value in 2024!

Beer Trivia Question

🍺 Which variety of hops was developed at Oregon State University in the 1950s?

Read to the end to find out if you're right!

Homebrewing Equipment Highlight

Plaato Keg - Keg Management System

As an Automation Engineer by trade, I can’t help myself - I’m always looking to automate anything I can related to my homebrewing setup. That is why I am drawn to the Plaato Keg which allows you to track the amount of beer you have left in your keg through their mobile app.

I don’t currently own this, but I’ve hovered over the buy button several times and one of these days I’ll pull the trigger. It’s definitely a novelty, especially if you only have one keg, but boy is it cool.

In the future, potentially at the end of 2024, Brewgr would like to start supporting API integrations to different homebrewing equipment, and I imagine creating a dynamic graphic display that includes all data from kegs, fermenters, and brewing systems. When that becomes reality, then I will have to pick one of these up…

Deal of the Week

Free Christmas Ale With Purchase of $150+

If you are making a brewing upgrade over $150 and you also are aiming to make a Christmas Ale, this deal at Northern Brewer could be of interest to you.

If you meet the minimum spend and use code YULETIDE, you will get a free Christmas Ale Recipe Kit (Extract or All Grain) which is a value of up to $65. I don’t normally love recipe kits, but for free I would take it and just modify it to my liking.

Last Weeks Poll Results: Who Do You Brew With?

Results were clear from last week - an overwhelming majority of people brew alone. As a solo brewer, I am not surprised by this - as many people mentioned, it can be relaxing and meditative to brew alone, and it can be too large of a commitment for others.

For those who brew with others, the common thread seemed to be that it’s the same person - whether it’s your partner, son/daughter, or friend, that person is locked in with you in a shared hobby. I’m sure this leads to creative brews that you wouldn’t think of yourself!

Brewgr Recipe of the Week

5 Grain Irish Stout

On a crisp, cool day like today, I find myself craving a creamy nitro Irish stout. This looks like a straightforward recipe to carry out, although I’m only rigged for C02 currently… bummer.

Credit: Mashmellow

And the Answer Is...

🍺 Cascade, the hop that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale put on the map in 1980 before people were ready for it.