Should I buy an operating brewery or start one with used brewing equipment?
An operating brewery gives you recipes, customer and retail accounts, staff, trading history and a layout that already works. Used equipment gives you the tanks and little else, so you build the brand, the accounts and the licensing yourself. The right choice depends on how much of that building you want to do.
Used brewing equipment is easy to find, and some people consider it as a way into the trade. But a brewhouse is only one part of a brewery. The rest is the beer people already buy, the places that already stock it and the people who know how to make it. This page sets out what each route gives you, so you can compare them on your own numbers.
What an operating brewery adds
A running brewery comes with tested recipes, a brand customers recognize and accounts with bars, restaurants and stores. It also has a trading history you can read in the statements, staff who know the equipment, and a floor plan where drains, cold storage and packaging already work together. Ask what of that will actually transfer to you, and what depends on the seller personally.
What used equipment leaves out
Buying tanks, a mash system or a packaging line gives you capacity, not demand. You still need a site, utilities, permits, recipes, a brand, a sales route and a first year with little revenue. Your lawyer can tell you which approvals a new brewery needs. Ask the equipment seller why the kit is for sale and what condition it is in.
How to compare the two routes
Write down the whole cost of each path, including the months before the first sale. For an existing brewery, read the statements and ask what the seller will do during a handover. For used equipment, price the move, repairs, installation and testing. This page on checking worn equipment shows the questions to bring. A lender will set its own terms for either route.
- Which recipes, trademarks and customer accounts come with the sale?
- Which staff will stay through the handover?
- What would a new site need before the first batch could be sold?
- Who inspects used equipment before you pay?
Related reading
15 pages on the same subject, grouped by topic.
Selling
Buying
- GuideBuying a brewery or brewpub in Canada
- Expert answerWhat should I do in the first months after buying a pub?
- GuideBuying a distillery in Canada
- Expert answerHow do I find a cidery for sale in Canada?
- Expert answerHow do I find a kombucha business for sale?
- Expert answerShould I buy an existing cidery or start one?
- Expert answerShould I buy an existing kombucha business or start one?
- Expert answerAm I buying a cider brand or a working cidery?
Sources
This answer is checked against primary sources. Links were last confirmed on the dates shown.
- 01Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentWhat are the steps to buying a business?
- 02Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentHow to conduct due diligence when buying a business
- 03Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernmentEquipment valuation: How to do it
- 04Business Development Bank of CanadaGovernment4 key steps to plan your cash flow in the coming year
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