How Much Does it Cost to Open a Brewery?

/Update August 25, 2022 / By YoLong Brewtech

Opening a brewery involves multiple cost elements, each influencing your total investment. These range from the brewing equipment and facility setup to licensing, branding, and staffing. The costs vary widely depending on the size of your operation—whether you’re starting a small nano-brewery, a craft brewery, or a large production facility.

Here’s what you can expect to spend:

Expense Category	Estimated Cost Range
Brewery Equipment	$100,000 to $1,000,000+
Facility and Renovations	$50,000 to $250,000
Licensing and Permits	$5,000 to $25,000
Ingredients and Supplies	$5,000 to $50,000
Branding and Marketing	$10,000 to $50,000
Staffing	$30,000 to $200,000 annually
Miscellaneous Expenses	$10,000 to $50,000

Essential Equipment for Starting a Brewery

The heart of any brewery is its equipment. From fermentation tanks to packaging systems, each piece plays a critical role in the beer-making process. Let’s dive into what you’ll need.

Key Brewing Equipment Overview

Equipment Type	Purpose	Price Range
Mash Tun	Converts grains into fermentable sugars	$5,000 to $50,000
Boil Kettle	Boils the wort and sterilizes the brew	$10,000 to $70,000
Fermentation Tanks	Ferments beer to develop alcohol content	$5,000 to $200,000 each
Bright Tanks	Carbonates and stores the finished beer	$5,000 to $60,000 each
Cooling System	Maintains temperature for fermentation	$5,000 to $30,000
Kegs and Bottling Lines	Distributes beer in kegs, bottles, or cans	$15,000 to $200,000+
Cleaning Systems (CIP)	Ensures equipment cleanliness	$5,000 to $30,000

Each component serves a specific purpose, and skipping any part of this process can affect the quality of your beer.

Designing the Perfect Brewery: Space, Layout, and Customization

Your brewery’s size and design play a pivotal role in its functionality and customer experience. Whether you envision a small space focused on local distribution or a larger production facility, planning is essential.

Factors to Consider for Brewery Space

Parameter	Details
Facility Size	Small breweries may require 500-2,000 sq. ft.; larger ones need 5,000+ sq. ft.
Layout	Workflow efficiency is key—separate areas for brewing, packaging, and customer interaction
Customization	Equipment size, energy efficiency, and automation levels can be tailored
Utilities	High demand for water, electricity, and drainage systems

Cost of Facility and Renovations

Renovating a space to meet brewery needs often involves installing specialized drainage, upgrading electrical systems, and ensuring proper ventilation. These costs can range from $50,000 for small-scale setups to over $250,000 for larger operations.

The Brewing Process: From Grain to Glass

Brewing beer involves several stages, each with its own set of challenges and requirements. Here’s a quick walkthrough:

Mashing: Grains are soaked in hot water to extract sugars.
Boiling: The liquid (wort) is boiled and hops are added for bitterness.
Fermentation: Yeast is added to convert sugars into alcohol.
Conditioning: Beer is aged for flavor development.
Packaging: The final product is kegged, bottled, or canned.

Each step requires specific equipment and skilled handling to ensure a high-quality brew.

: brewing system near me

: Brewing tank

: Brewing system 5 vessesl

: 3 vessel CIP station System

Comparing Suppliers and Pricing

Finding the right supplier is critical to managing costs and ensuring quality. Here’s a breakdown:

Supplier Category	Example Suppliers	Price Range
Brewing Equipment	Blichmann, SS Brewtech	$50,000 to $500,000+
Ingredients	Grain Millers, Yakima Chief Hops	$1,000 to $10,000 per batch
Packaging Systems	Wild Goose, American Canning	$20,000 to $200,000

Look for suppliers with good reputations, warranties, and after-sales support to avoid costly downtimes.

Installation, Operation, and Maintenance Costs

Beyond initial setup, ongoing costs for operation and maintenance are significant. For example, fermentation tanks require regular cleaning, and cooling systems consume substantial energy.

Category	Details	Cost Estimate
Installation	Professional setup of brewing systems	$20,000 to $100,000+
Operation	Utility costs, ingredients, and labor	$50,000 to $300,000 annually
Maintenance	Cleaning and part replacements	$5,000 to $20,000 annually

Choosing the Right Supplier: Key Considerations

When comparing suppliers, ask yourself:

What’s their track record? Look for reviews and case studies.
Do they offer warranties? Equipment failures can be expensive.
Is customization possible? Your brewery’s needs may evolve.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Brewery Sizes

Every brewery size has its perks and pitfalls. Let’s compare:

Parameter	Nano Brewery	Craft Brewery	Large Brewery
Startup Costs	Low ($50,000–$250,000)	Moderate ($250,000–$1M)	High ($1M+)
Flexibility	High	Moderate	Low
Profit Margins	Moderate	High	Very High
Scalability	Limited	Good	Excellent

Nano breweries are great for experimentation, while large breweries excel at mass production.

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Estimating the cost of brewery equipment

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The budget should be planned from the following aspects

Estimated consumption of public resource such as water and electricity

For Cost to open a brewery, the consumption of public resources such as water and electricity can cost significant, long-term. In the stage of brewery planning, brewer, managers, consultants, etc. are required to calculate the cost of this part together.

The cost of choosing a good site

Site selection is also an important part of the process, that can be a lengthy one. The location, rent, foot traffic, transportation, beer consumption capacity, etc. need to be considered and balanced.

If you are opening a brewery in an existing building, it will be a much shorter project in terms of schedule and cost. Many renovations and utilities may only require partial modifications to meet requirements.
If you want to build a new brewery on a vacant government-approved site, you will need a more professional architectural, construction, and installation team to design the brewery and estimate the budget. The cost of building a new brewery will be very high and will require additional financial support.

Brewery decoration cost

Different breweries have different styles to attract customers, and a bar or restaurant without character will not attract more customers. In contrast, if your brewery is designed with a lot of character, it will create its own market in a city full of breweries. YoLong has designed and built many breweries of different specifications according to the situation on site, the volume of brewing system from 2BBL-30BBL, click here to view.

You can create a beautiful coastal beach tour, an industrial metallic cool style, a warm and cozy family style, a trendy city style, a specialty food style, etc. Some breweries will make themselves into event hosting venues, photo shoots, weddings, parties and other very meaningful events

You also need to consider the planning of the interior structure of the brewery, how big the brewery equipment and beer production needs to stand, whether you need a drinking bar, public dining sampling, food production area, raw material storage area, customer leisure activity area, staff activity rest area, etc.

Obviously, this is the beginning of building a brewery, and there’s a lot we have to think about in order to be successful in business. Fortunately, a good architect and enthusiastic brewing equipment supplier can give you some good advice to better understand the Cost to open a brewery and brewing journey you are about to embark on.

The cost of beer equipment

The price of beer production equipment is influenced by a number of factors, Cost to open a brewery ranging from $80,000 to $150,000 for a 10bbl brewhouse plant, for example.

Number of tanks for wort producing
Level of automation
Complexity of platform piping design
Product quality standards
Price of raw materials
Brand of accessories
Labor cost in the product’s country
Transportation costs

At the same time, the production capacity of the beer equipment should be carefully considered and calculated before finalizing the plan. If the equipment output is too small, the output will not be able to keep up with the sales, and the equipment will not be able to be simply expanded and upgraded due to the capacity limitation, which will result in the need for a second investment.

Over-designing the equipment will waste valuable budget and lead to a strain on other aspects of the brewery’s operation, which will not be conducive to the overall development of the brewery.

To view Cost to open a brewery for setting up different size breweries, please click here,

Or get a free quote directly from a YoLong project engineer! Click here!

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Estimating the cost of brewery equipment

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Inter-governmental expenses

Some of these costs are direct charges such as beer taxes, insurance, employee benefits and so on. Can be roughly estimated from experience.Another part of the cost may be waiting for approval, project review, project acceptance, security certification, etc. To a certain extent, the idea that time is money is also true.

Budgeting for future developments and emergencies

At no time should you invest all of your budget in the initial construction of your brewery. Considering that there are always problems during construction, you need to set aside enough budget to deal with these contingencies.

Even if your brewery opens very smoothly, be prepared for a period of stable operation and then gradually expand and supplement the construction.

To summarize, Cost to open a brewery can tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to build, depending on production, location, building, sales, etc. Detailed planning and design is required for each project to arrive at an approximate budget. Therefore, it is important to prepare for the opening of a brewery, which can take up to a year or more.

For some people, beer is a party favor, to be enjoyed on festive and even not-so-festive occasions.

At the same time, others see it in terms of a business opportunity, with plenty of money to be made.

In addition to the above on how to start a brewery, there are a few things to consider as a brewer;

Company Registration

This is one of the most important steps of starting one’s own beer brewery.

It involves the setting up of a legal brewing company, also sometimes called a corporation. This gives it a legal identity unto itself, under which it files its own tax returns, applies for loans, hires individuals, etc.

These are what the legal system defines as an ‘artificial person(s)’. It is the exact opposite of human beings, who are referred to as ‘natural person(s)’.

Brand Name & Logo Design

The next step involves the creation of a brand, which includes a brand name and logo.

This is what gives the business and product a unique identity unto itself, and allows for it to stand out in the marketplace.

Do note that the brand name need not be the same name as that of the company. On the contrary, the two can have completely opposing names, very distinct from each other.

Brand Name & Logo Registration

Once the above step has been completed, the brand name, slogan and logo will have to be submitted to the government for approval.

This is for the purpose of copyright protection, which is given so as to prevent others from copying the same name, logo, etc.

Assorted Legal Paperwork

There is a lot of legal paperwork involved in addition to the above.

These include, among others, tax registration, health department registration, labor department registrations, etc.

All of these things are legal requirements, usually in the form of permits or other paperwork, which is necessary in order to run the business.

Perfecting the Recipe

If one is interested in entering into the craft beer industry, it is important that the business have something unique to offer.

The reason for this is because craft beer is generally known for its unique tastes and flavors, which are not available with conventional mass produced beers.

So if you have a special recipe that hasn’t been used anywhere else, you might want to perfect it. Then again, if you don’t have a special recipe of any kind, you might want to get started with creating one.

Finding Suppliers

It is important that you find suppliers who are able to provide you with the ingredients in right quantities, and at the right rates, in order to maintain smooth business operations.

Also to note here is that once the suppliers have been found out, you will also have to.

Packaging & Marketing

When it comes to packaging, the term refers to both the actual bottling process, as well as the style of beer mugs and other containers used it the breweries.

Marketing on the other hand, refers to getting the word out that the business is up and running, and for customers to come and check it out.

Hiring the Right Employees

This is where employees come into the picture. From chemists and brewers to those performing support services, it is important that one hires the right kind of expertise to get the business up and running.

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BREWERY BREWING CONSULTING

If you are not a professional brewer and are considering making the transition from home brewing to micro brewery, it is a good idea to find a professional brewery consultant to help you through the first 30-90 days.

The Brewery Consultant will:

1：Help expand your recipes.
2：Learn how the brewing system works
3：Convince potential clients that you are on the right track.
4：Be your most reliable “brewery problem solver” partner
5：Make your commercial brewery a reality in the near future

if you want to start your own brewing business and know about Cost to open a brewery. My company YoLong has been working on microbrewery & beverage projects since 2004, we can give you any assistance from 0 to turnkey. Check out the Cost to open a brewery & professional brewing consulting services we offer.