Market research

[Greg2013]

To be fair i never said anything about you not being able to run a business, however tbh if the "business" is the first thing that pops into your head and if you can't brew yourself then i don't know why you are opening a brewery of any size ? That's putting the cart before the horse IMHO that's all i was saying, look i am not PC and i never will be, i genuinely mean no offence to you personally. I wish you all the best but until you can brew yourself well you know how i feel.

Then again i can't brew a good fart most days so what do i know.

[brenmurph]

ben Dunne knows feck all about fitness and couldnt give a fart about his own fitness and hes a chain of gyms all over the palce

[DEMPSEY]

The Ben Dunne comparison is a good one. He is not exactly the picture of a fit body but he invested in a gym business and employs people to work in it while he gets on with running the business side. All businesses need good management and a micro brewery is no exception.

[LordEoin]

@beernovice - First of all, best of luck with your business idea. I hope that it works out for you and turns a profit.
Second, best of luck with your new homebrew kit. You'll amazed at how much it will teach you, and how quickly you 'll learn. Learning's easy when the payoff is 40pints of beer!

Paying a home brewer to brew a batch for you doesn't sit too well with the tax-man, but you could probably offer something like paying for all of the required materials (grains, hops, etc) in exchange for someone doing the brewing with you on their equipment (and keeping half the batch).

Otherwise, consider attending a brew-day so that you can chat about how it's done, what people like/hate, different ingredients, equipment etc.

I'd be no good to you on the all-grain side of things but if you have any questions about your home kit and the likes feel free to poke me a PM or post in the relevant forum section

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

There is a difference between starting a business with basic capital, and buying into a market with loads of capital.

Most current microbreweries are starting with one or two individuals. There is enough work in brewing, that both will need to be hands on.

If you are well capitalised, you can start by employing people day one that know what they are doing, while you concentrate on business stuff like sales channels, marketing and distribution.

[TheSumOfAllBeers]

@beernovice - beer is changing. All of the interesting growth is in the small producers who can react to changes in the market, or are otherwise brewing for quality.

The big beer businesses are struggling to a degree - most are working hard just to tread water. The business they are selling into is declining - pubs are heavily hit, and the market is starting to realise that the yellow fizz is a commodity, dressed up as something prestigious with billion dollar advertising.

The days when you could launch a new beverage with loads of marketing are numbered. The big boys are working harder than ever at that (see the lukewarm reception to the #LetThereBeBeer campaign).

When we talk about the Craft Beer market, we are talking about products that are barely marketed at all. They are sold to a clientele that already know about the products and are willing to try new things, and are sold in venues where these people congregate. The dominating feature of a Craft Brewery, is that the beer comes first - you achieve your brand through excellent product.

There are a few breweries out there trying to *fake* being Craft Beer breweries. Which is working for some - you see it a bit in the UK.

It is getting easier and easier to brew small, on smaller kit, or even on someone elses kit in collaborations.

[Greg2013]

Tube,Dempsey,Brenmurph i don't know whether ye are taking the mickey or have just missed my point or both? Ben Dunne was already a millionaire businessman so to be fair there is really no comparison with what the OP is saying. If this person wants to just run a business and pay someone else to do the brewing then fair enough,then he is a businessman not a brewer, if he wants to be an actual brewer then he better learn yeast from extract FIRST.  :

The Ferrari for those of you who did not get it was my piss poor analogy of me trying to say he is going about it arse about face IMHO.Business peop-le only interested in business and money and have no love or desire to gain experience in craft brewing ,now where have we seen that before hmmmm ? AB,Molson Coors get the point now?

He needs to brew himself first and gain experience first and forget about opening a brewery until he does that and get steeped in the whole craft brew scene through sites like this in order to gain a sense of what is needed to bring the craft brew scene forward in this country, this is what we should be encouraging IMHO and i have seen only one or two on this post so far doing that tbh.

[mr hoppy]

The only thing about that is, you don't need to brew to know about beer - think about some one like Michael Jackson (the beer writer).

[Billythegypsy]

The only thing about that is, you don't need to brew to know about beer - think about some one like Michael Jackson (the beer writer).

Done.

Now I know what I'm going to be watching for the next few hours.

[Greg2013]

The only thing about that is, you don't need to brew to know about beer - think about some one like Michael Jackson (the beer writer).

Sorry but in my opinion you do,theory is all well and good as well as "book learning" but until you actually do it yourself you don't know crap IMHO.

[mr hoppy]

I've never seen his TV show or thought to look for it on youtube. Cool.

[beer novice]

Thanks Lord Eoin for your comments ,as he as suggested is there someone out there willing to brew me a batch or two on the terms he has mentioned. TheSumofallBeers I  fully agree the product is very important and having a great product will lead to building a brand.I believe that unless a person is passionate about what they are doing you will never created a great product nor will it get sold.

I am only learning and want to learn hence why i joined this forum,deadman if anyone starts a business purely to make money and this is the sole driving force it doesn't always work,there has to be an interest in the business but a passion to provide a good product at a good price.Money isn't my motivation although it helps,as someone pointed out early there are easier businesses to get involved in.

I am looking forward to attending the RDS,hopefully i don't have a problem parking my Ferrari

[Bubbles]

the market is starting to realise that the yellow fizz is a commodity, dressed up as something prestigious with billion dollar advertising.

The dominating feature of a Craft Brewery, is that the beer comes first - you achieve your brand through excellent product.

Excellent post!

[Billythegypsy]

Thanks Lord Eoin for your comments ,as he as suggested is there someone out there willing to brew me a batch or two on the terms he has mentioned. TheSumofallBeers I  fully agree the product is very important and having a great product will lead to building a brand.I believe that unless a person is passionate about what they are doing you will never created a great product nor will it get sold.

I am only learning and want to learn hence why i joined this forum,deadman if anyone starts a business purely to make money and this is the sole driving force it doesn't always work,there has to be an interest in the business but a passion to provide a good product at a good price.Money isn't my motivation although it helps,as someone pointed out early there are easier businesses to get involved in.

I am looking forward to attending the RDS,hopefully i don't have a problem parking my Ferrari

Making beer aside.

What are you liking at the moment? Are you a hop head? A IIPA or Imperial Stout kind of guy? Or do you like the cask conditioned stuff?

What do you find boring or done consistently badly? Do you like saisons or lambics? there's none being made here.

[Greg2013]

Thanks Lord Eoin for your comments ,as he as suggested is there someone out there willing to brew me a batch or two on the terms he has mentioned. TheSumofallBeers I  fully agree the product is very important and having a great product will lead to building a brand.I believe that unless a person is passionate about what they are doing you will never created a great product nor will it get sold.

I am only learning and want to learn hence why i joined this forum,deadman if anyone starts a business purely to make money and this is the sole driving force it doesn't always work,there has to be an interest in the business but a passion to provide a good product at a good price.Money isn't my motivation although it helps,as someone pointed out early there are easier businesses to get involved in.

I am looking forward to attending the RDS,hopefully i don't have a problem parking my Ferrari

Touche i deserved that Sorry for being pissy, looks like i picked you up wrong, i thought you were a fly by night chancer because you were on about opening up a brewery and you had not even home brewed yet and you were asking others to brew you free beer as i thought at the time.

Sorry about that, not all the lads here are cranky like me, welcome to the home brew scene and best of luck.