How do I hand over my brewery’s recipes and yeast management to a buyer?

Start with the recipes. Put the grain bill, hops, water treatment, mash and fermentation steps in writing, along with the tweaks you make by feel. Add notes on what you do when a batch drifts. A recipe that only works when you are standing next to it has not really been handed over.

Yeast needs its own record. Describe where your strains came from, how they are stored, how often they are refreshed and how you decide a culture is finished. Include cleaning routines and any history of contamination. Ask whether any strain is shared from another source and whether you may pass it on, and have your lawyer check. Then plan the transition. Brew several batches together, switching who leads. Introduce the buyer to ingredient suppliers and any lab or quality contacts. Decide how much you will remain available afterward. Use a confidentiality agreement from your lawyer before releasing full formulas, and release them in stages as the deal firms up. Keep a backup of the yeast somewhere other than the brewery, such as a lab or a trusted peer, and tell the buyer where it is. A single point of failure in the yeast supply could halt the beers that depend on that strain, whoever owns the business.

Key takeaways

• Write recipes the way you brew them, including the adjustments you make by feel.
• Document each yeast strain’s source, storage and refresh routine.
• Brew side by side with the buyer, and protect formulas with confidentiality terms.