MicroBrewr 012: How To Start Up a Brewery for $125,000 w/ Wild Earth Brewing

MicroBrewr 012: How To Start Up a Brewery for $125,000 w/ Wild Earth Brewing

The Final Episode of the MicroBrewr Podcast

As a lot of you know, my wife and I are currently expecting our first child just about any day now. With him coming, I’ve taken a step back to analyze priorities since I feel like I don’t currently have enough free time to give to him with everything that I’m currently doing. While doing this podcast has been an absolutely amazing experience, after a lot of consideration I’ve come to the sad conclusion that I’m going to need to give it up to be able to focus on my family. I hope that you understand and I just really want to say thanks for all of the amazing support that I’ve had along the way. This will be the final MicroBrewr podcast and I have an awesome interview with David from Wild Earth Brewing to wrap up the MicroBrewr podcast series!

UPDATE: This is not the last episode!!! See episode 13 for more details.

Meet Dave From Wild Earth Brewing

Dave Kilgour was able to start up Wild Earth Brewing in 6 months, fully funded from friends and family and with a total cost of $125,000.  From moving in the fermenter from his garage with a couple guys from town to being the only employee of the brewery, David has planned to keep costs down while still producing awesome beer for the masses.

In this podcast, we discuss:brewerytaproomlogo

  • The dynamics of starting a brewery in a small town
  • How working in a brewery before starting your own is key to your success
  • Discussion on the financial aspect of nano-brewing and the lost costs to increase brewing size
  • Selecting the styles of beer to offer when opening your brewery
  • The process of scaling up your homebrew batches to the full brewery process
  • How to bottle your beer while keeping costs down
  • The benefits of being able to fully fund your brewery without outside investors

Support Dave and Wild Earth Brewing Co!

Check him out at the links below!

Wild Earth Brewery Website

Wild Earth Facebook Page

Wild Earth Twitter Page

UPDATE 6/27/2020: Wild Earth Brewing website is down. This is from their FB post Dec 5, 2014: …it has become clear to us that in order to meet the demand for our product we must evaluate our operation and explore new business models that will enable us to grow to meet the level of production our customers are demanding. To that end, we have decided to close our current operation in Roslyn at the end of December while we investigate our options.”

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MicroBrewr 011: Starting a Brewery in Hawaii w/ Sean Garvey

MicroBrewr 011: Starting a Brewery in Hawaii w/ Sean Garvey

Welcome to MicroBrewr Podcast #11!

In this podcast, I got to talk with Sean Garvey who’s currently raising funds to start up a brewery in Hawaii. Since Sean is right in the middle of the money raising phase, we got to talk about his experiences when seeking out potential investors and asking them to invest. We also talk about starting a brewery in a location that experiences a lot of tourism and how to strike a balance between reaching out to locals while also getting the attention of tourists who will be on the island for a limited amount of time. Sit back, sip on your favorite local beer and enjoy!

Here’s a highlight of what we discuss in this interview with Sean:Hawaii-Beer

  • Developing your business plan in “off hours” when working full time
  • How to stay motivated and push forward to your end goal
  • Getting the word out to tourists while also pleasing your local fans
  • How to factor in extra costs when you brew in a remote area
  • The pros and cons of going with a distribution brewery instead of a brewpub
  • The art of raising money and the challenges along the way
  • How to find people willing to invest in your brewery
  • Realizing that most potential investors are probably not even going to read through your business plan
  • Building the team around you that have key strengths to propel your brewery

Links and Resources Covered

Hawaii Market Research

Garveyaz@yahoo.com

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Ninkasi Logo

MicroBrewr 010: How Ninkasi Went From a 15-BBL System to the 30th Largest Craft Brewery in the Nation w/ Ninkasi Brewing

If you’re new to the podcast, we like to talk all things craft beer but tend to focus on starting up a brewery or ways to take your current brewery to the next level. This week I’m really excited to share the story of Ninkasi Brewing and the tremendous growth that they’ve seen since 2006. Ninkasi started as a 15-BBL system and after four expansions has become one of the top 30 craft breweries in the nation. Nikos Ridge is one of the founders of Ninkasi and talks through why he thinks that their brewery has really taken off and lessons that he has learned along the way. Nikos also talks through their community involvement and how operating a brewery is more than just about the beer, it’s about the people who work in the brewery and the surrounding community.

In this podcast, we’ll cover:Ninkasi Brewing

  • How Ninkasi got started and their journey along the way
  • The experience that they’ve gained after going through four major expansions of their brewery
  • Planning for that next expansion down the road
  • The importance of community and examples of different programs your brewery can get involved in
  • Finding the right staff that fits your brewery (and the troubles you can run into if you select poorly)
  • What Nikos believes has driven the tremendous growth that Ninkasi has experienced and what will continue to drive growth in the future
  • Advice for new breweries that are opening up in today’s market

Make Sure to Get a Ninkasi Brew Near You!

If you live or are visiting the West Coast, Ninkasi is distributed through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, California and British Columbia (and coming soon in Nevada). Here are some other resources that we talked about during the podcast:

Ninkasi Web Page

Top 50 Craft Breweries List (2013)

Oregon State Northwest Beer and Cider Sessions – Great resource for those looking to start a brewery

61 Brewers Speak Out: What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting a Brewery

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Come Say Hi

I love to connect with the MicroBrewr community so make sure to connect with me through Facebook, Twitter or Untappd.  You can also send me an email using our Contact Page.

Connect on Facebook

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Have a Beer With Me on Untappd

Support MicroBrewr

Help keep MicroBrewr on the air. CLICK HERE for ways you can help.

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