What should be warned about starting beer brewing startup?

ByHoratiu Curutiu

Mr. Colin · McDonnell, an American, is a founder of a beer brewing start-up who owned a beer brewery over a long period of time because he loved beer too much. Mr. McDonnell publishes the hard work at the start of beer brewing and the actual work at the brewery, and it is very useful for those who are considering beer brewing startup.

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Mr. McDonnell, who loves beer, is in San Francisco before setting her own breweryThe 21st AmendmentI worked as an assistant for beer brewing in a company called. McDonnell, who fulfilled his dream of "brewing beer myself", when he actually worked at a brewery, he said the work was very boring. Because it is because 90% of the work of beer brewing was cleaning, and 10% was document work.

In order to ferment the wort in the process of beer production, a large amount of tank is necessary and all of the tank must be cleaned thoroughly. Also, in the process of packaging, tanks and equipment are dirty, so cleaning work seems to be indispensable for beer brewing. The work at the brewery begins with the cleaning of all kinds of things and places such as tanks, glasses, floors, drainage daily, every day. This kind of cleaning work is necessary regardless of the size of the brewery, and those who dislike such work are not suitable for beer brewing.


For beer brewing, people with character such as being patient, good at fine work, really like beer are suitable. Many recipes and processes of beer brewing, there are few differences in each work, the same work has to be repeated over and over again and the work must be recorded every time. As most of the work seems to be a chore, people of character who can enjoy the work are suitable. According to McDonnell, the brewing work was totally different from what I had imagined before.

When Mr. McDonnell is working at a brewery, besides brewing work, I have felt "I had misunderstood." McDonnell thought "If you work at a brewery, you can have a tasty beer, you can drink anything!", But drinking beer at a brewery is "to record the taste of beer and compare it with other beers so far I got impressions from employees and got impressions and got a conference about how it was done. "Because it is quite different from drinking beer in private, I thought that the idea of" beer drinking freely when I want to drink "was sweet It is that.


Also, there is no holiday at the brewery. Regardless of weekends and holidays, it is indispensable to go to work every day to brew beer. Even if I go to work everyday, my salary is not high, and when Mr. McDonnell worked in San Francisco, I got only an 8 hourly wage (about 800 yen) as an internship. So, only for those who really love beer from the bottom of the heart, beer brewing is not suitable.

However, there seems to be some people thinking that there is knowledge of biology, chemistry, etc. in beer brewing, but that is wrong. Mr. McDonnell says that when he receives an interview of a brewery for the first time, he informs the person in charge "knowledge of beer brewing is not necessary, since I am teaching from now I am okay", I remember feeling secure.

Mr. McDonnell worked with two friends in 2006 in the experience of a beer brewery "HenHouse Brewing"We will establish a company called. Work on brewing is the same as when working in a brewery, but as you start your business, studying legal regulations and sales on beer brewing is essential. In order to operate a brewery, it is necessary to understand the aspect as a business rather than the brewing work.


Many people know that, but beer brewing is strictly regulated by law. In the case of thinking about making beer in Japan, there are strict provisions such as "to acquire a prescribed license" and "to brew alcohol concentration to less than 1.0 V / V". So, in order to establish a brewery, we start with a lawyer familiar with laws and regulations and the details of the agency in the country properly.

Since establishing a brewery as a company, it is also important to establish a tight business plan. Otherwise, it is impossible to receive loans from banks. In the case of Mr. McDonnell, I cooperated with my friends to work out a business plan, but the costs that occur monthly, such as salaries and equipment maintenance expenses, have increased more than the original times. Although it is not fun to manage company finances such as expenditure and profit, it is as important as working to ferment wort or pick fermentation hops.


McDonnell says that what you need to run a brewery is "It is a strong enthusiasm for many people to drink beer made by themselves"I tell you. It is said that it is necessary to have a passionate feeling for beer hidden in my heart to do work that is quite different from the cleaning, simple repetition of work, and management, accounting, sales and so on. "My advice may sound negative, but having established a brewery is the most wonderful thing in my life," McDonnell said.