Reddit reviews Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery

Can I add - Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery .. reading it right now and enjoying the story of the business start up and its growth.

If you haven't read Beer School, go buy it now. It's one of the best craft beer industry books available, and it's an inspirational entrepreneurial book with tons of info. Plus it's written by major pioneers of the industry. Cheers, Steve and Tom

edit: The robbery scene is actually hilarious in the book.

This is my full list of books from /r/homebrewing but it includes pro level books:

New Brewers:

• How to Brew - John Palmer
  
• Brewing classic styles- Jamil Zainasheff
  
• Designing Great Beers - Ray Daniels
  
• The Complete Joy of Homebrewing - Charlie Papazian
  
  Continued Learning:
  
  
• Water - Palmer and Kaminsky
  
• Yeast - Zainicheff and White
  
• Malt - Mallet
  
• Hops - Hieronymous
  
• Experimental Brewing - Drew Beechum and Denny Conn
  
• Radical Brewing - Randy Mosher
  
• Brewing Better Beer - Gordon Strong
  
  Specialty/Advanced/Other:
  
  
• American Sour Beers - Michael Tonsmeire (/u/oldsock)
  
• Brewing with Wheat - Stan Hieronymus
  
• IPA: Brewing Techniques - Mitch Steele
  
• Farmhouse Ales - Phil Markowski
  
• Brew Like a Monk - Stan Hieronymus
  
• New Brewing Lager Beers - Gregory J. Noonan
  
• Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers- Stephen Harrod Buhner
  
• Drink: a cultural history of alcohol - Iain gately
  
• Principals of Brewing Science - George Fix
  
  Business Books:
  
  
• Brewing Up a Business - Sam Calagione
  
• Brewers association Guide to Starting Your Own Brewery - Cantwell, among others
  
• SO you want to start a brewery - Tony magee
  
• Beyond the Pale: The Story of Sierra Nevada Brewing Co - Ken Grossman
  
• Beer School: Bottling Success at the Brooklyn Brewery Paperback –Steve Hindy & Tom Potter
  
  Technical Readings (Textbooks might be expensive):
  
  
• Brewery Operations Manual - Tom Hennessy
  
• Beer Packaging - Master Brewers Association
  
• Technology Brewing and Malting - W. Kunze, 5th Edition
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 1 - Many Authors
  
• Malting and Brewing Science, Volume 2 - Many Authors
  
• Brewing yeast and fermentation - Boulton and Quain

First off, I really loved your book about starting the company. It was an incredibly informative and insightful read.

My Question: What important bit of advice would you offer to smaller breweries/brewpubs just getting started in this quickly evolving market?

For home brewing check out Charlie Papazian's books:

https://www.amazon.com/Charlie-Papazian/e/B000APNS36/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

For more recent history of ABInBev buy-outs, there is a new book about the history of Goose Island and the AB Buyout: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075TGFCLB/?coliid=I2LXZVBPAKF3PP&colid=2YSL69HF0HW9V&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

For the history of Sierra Nevada: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1118007360/?coliid=I112DGOG2QCE0S&colid=2YSL69HF0HW9V&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Brooklyn Brewery: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0470068671/?coliid=IGH5AQOEB9RBE&colid=2YSL69HF0HW9V&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

There's a famous line "If You Have to Ask the Price, You Can't Afford It" but when it comes to breweries that extends to blood, sweat and tears. The factors vary so much that you're going to hear a range of answers based on: market, legal bullshit, owners & experience. In Minneapolis most breweries open four to six months behind schedule and I'm guessing it's a 500k-1m investment.

If I were in your shoes I would do two things. First, read every book out there on the brewing industry (start here and here). Then I would talk to your local brewers guild and breweries to answer these questions. If you were doing this in MN everyone would be fairly honest and supportive plus you'd get better answers than reddit (no offense). Cheers!

1. I recommend reading this list of things pros wish they'd do differently
   
   
2. Starting a brewery is not as simple as starting a restaurant. I recommend Beer School by the founders of Brooklyn Brewery. It outlines every step of the process and their personal experience. After reading that you should have a pretty good idea - what's needed, what are the major steps etc. Pro tip: this is an older book so your local libraries could have it to borrow for free.
   
   
3. Just to save you some time, here are some things to consider
   
   > like a food truck but for beer
   
   This is not legal in any US state AFAIK. Maybe it's possible with a permit at festivals, but definitely not freely on the street.
   
   > Is a 1 bbl system worth it in your opinion
   
   1bbl = 2x 15.5 gal kegs. That's not a lot of beer for your time from a business stand point. Pros can chime in and tell you that to brew 50bbl or 1bbl takes the same steps and not much more time for 50bbl. Probably not even 2x the time. You can do the math how brewing 1bbl is not a good financial decision.
   
   > the difference in competition
   
   Keep in mind the more competition there is, the more you need to stand out. You can assume that in highly competitive markets such as Portland, breweries with bad products/management/marketing will not survive. Thus you need a really really great plan for your products/management/marketing (or all) to get people in the door. Having good beers is a given and not a competitive advantage.

http://www.amazon.com/Brewing-Up-Business-Adventures-Founder/dp/0470942312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309892619&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Beer-School-Bottling-Success-Brooklyn/dp/0470068671/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309892701&sr=1-1

If this is something you are interested in, consider checking out Brewing Up a Business and Beer School which talk about the business aspect of the beer industry.

Also, take a listen to this panel discussion with some brewery owners
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr08-05-10pro1.mp3
http://media.libsyn.com/media/basicbrewing/bbr08-12-10pro2.mp3

I haven't really looked into this because I am still learning about making beer. Once I start receiving good feedback on my beer from homebrew competitions (which I don't plan to enter for a while), I will need to research the legality of having a brewpup in the MD/VA/DC area. One has to jump though quite a lot of hoops to get approval for this type of thing.

Not directly related, but have you read Beer School? It's about the Brooklyn Brewery and how they managed to get started. It's a really good read.

http://www.amazon.com/Beer-School-Bottling-Success-Brooklyn/dp/0470068671