How to Open a Brewery in the UK: Starting a Brewery Business Steps

What Do You Need to Start a Brewery Business in the UK? (Checklist)

Opening a restaurant is exciting, and a brewery can be a dream come true for any beer-loving entrepreneur. But opening a brewery is also time-consuming and expensive, so it’s important to follow the correct steps to get your business off on the right foot. 

Here are a few things to consider as you think about opening a brewery.

How to Start a Brewery 

Talk to people in the brewing industry in your town or city and get a sense for what their process was like. Then, if you’re still on board to start your own brewery, here are some steps you can take to get started. 

1. Choose a brewery format

First: what is a brewery? Also called a brewing company, a brewery is a business that produces and sells beer. Here are a few specific brewery concepts to consider. 

What is a Craft Brewery?

A craft brewery is a small and independent brewery that prides itself on maintaining local brewing traditions while cultivating unique flavour profiles.

What is a Microbrewery?

A microbrewery operates just like a typical brewery, but with a smaller volume. A microbrewery produces fewer than 15,000 barrels.

What is a Brewpub?

A brewery that sells more than 25% of its beer directly to consumers on-site is called a brewpub. Brewpubs also have a restaurant component to their business and provide a more robust on-site customer experience than traditional breweries. 

2. Create a brewery business plan

Once you have your concept secured, the next step to starting any business is spinning up a business plan. A restaurant business plan is a blueprint for your entire project and it explains in detail how you will finance, operate, market, staff, and run your business once you’re open. 

Here, you’ll talk about your company overview, your operations (who are your suppliers? What is your staffing and service model?), and even more detail that will help you get everything going. 

Get to work on your brewery business plan with this template so you don't have to start from scratch.

3. Decide on a brewery location

If possible, taking over an old brewery is easier, for obvious reasons. But if you're starting from scratch, you'll need a very large space that can accommodate your taproom with its massive brewing tanks and the rest of your brewing equipment.

Here are a few things to consider before choosing the right location for your brewery:

• Your Style – Are you rustic? Elegant? Casual? This can determine the type of customers you’re likely to appeal to.
• Target Market – Different areas of your city appeal to different people. If you’re looking to appeal to university students, opening near a campus makes sense. If you’re looking to attract families, set up shop in a more residential part of town.
• Accessibility and Parking – If you’re attracting tourists, parking is less of an issue since they’re likely to call a cab or use a rideshare. However, tourists are less likely to be repeat customers. Keep this in mind when choosing your location.
• Zoning Restrictions – Can you open a brewery here?
• Rent and Utilities Costs – Will you be able to make this up in sales with the type of customers you’re going to draw in?

4. Look into brewery legal requirements, licences, and permits

Any restaurant that serves (let alone produces) alcoholic beverages is going to require specific alcohol licences, along with others to operate your business. 

Make sure to Google your area requirements. 

Here are just some of the licences you'll need:

• Alcohol Licence: specific types may vary depending on the country within the UK 
• Premises Licence: issued by your local council
• Health and Safety permit
• Brewing Registration: register with HMRC

If you’re selling merchandise, you also might need a retail licence, and a music licence or live entertainment licence if you’re showcasing local bands. Not acquiring the proper licence is a silly mistake that can cause your bar to close down, so work with a professional to ensure everything is good to go.

5. Collect the tax, business registration, and UTR information for your brewery business

Different areas have their own tax and employer requirements that are required for opening a brewery. It’s important to familiarise yourself with the appropriate tax requirements before proceeding any further. 

Decide if you are going to be taking an in-house approach to your taxes, or if you will be outsourcing to a third-party account. Be sure to register your business name early with Companies House and obtain your Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR). The UTR is assigned to your business by His Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for tax identification purposes. Additionally, you’ll need to check if you’re required to register for VAT, especially if your turnover exceeds the VAT threshold.

It’s a good idea to start this process early to avoid missing deadlines and working with a professional to help you through it. Understanding restaurant tax requirements is key to avoiding fees and fines as a new business.

6. Design your brewery branding, marketing, promotion, and advertising strategy

Set up your grand opening for success and get customers in the door with great marketing. The best place to start is by creating your restaurant marketing plan - where you can set goals, implement best practices and tips, and plan out your marketing calendar and budget for that critical first year.

Developing your marketing strategy begins by defining exactly what it is you are marketing. What is the unique appeal of your brewery? What does your atmosphere or aesthetic have to offer customers? The specific offering of your brewery and its intended audience will drive your branding.

When determining your approach to marketing and advertising, ask yourself questions such as:

• Who is your target brewery customer? 
• What platforms will you use for online marketing? 
• Which social platforms will you prioritise?
• Will you use organic marketing practices or pay for advertising?
• Will influencer marketing play a role in your strategy?
• Where does your target audience spend their time? How can you advertise in these spaces?

When you launch your new brewery, developing a strong restaurant social media marketing strategy can help to showcase your beer in a visual and shareable format. Social media helps put breweries on the map and attract new customers.

7. Figure out your brewery finances, sales forecasts and operating expenses

At this stage, it’s time to revisit your restaurant business plan and look at your initial financial projections for your brewery so you can plan out day-to-day operating expenses. With a more thorough understanding of your operating and marketing costs, you can more accurately predict the future earnings.

How much does it cost to start a brewery? 

The average total cost to open a brewery in the UK ranges from £50,000 to upwards of £1,000,000. 

In addition to the typical expenses associated with opening a restaurant, the specific equipment needed to start a brewery is expensive, and costs can add up quickly. 

Regardless if you’re buying new or used, the typical equipment you’ll need to begin brewing your own beer includes:

• Fermenters, boiling equipment, and brew kettles
• Test strips, meters, stock pots, and portion scales
• Walk in refrigerators for keg storage
• Bottling and packaging tools including growlers and beverage shippers
• Keg tapping, dispensing, and serving equipment
• Safety gear and equipment

Equipment is typically the largest cost you’ll face when opening a brewery, often making up a significant portion of the initial investment. The exact costs depend on the size and type of brewery.

How much does it cost to run a brewery? 

When factoring in the costs of running a brewery business, think about equipment, staff, marketing, building, tech, and food.

Beer production indeed requires significant water and electricity. For a typical 760-litre batch of beer:

• Water Costs: At about £10.00 per batch, this includes the water used for brewing, cleaning, and chilling.
• Electricity Costs: Estimated at around £60.00 per batch, this covers the power needed for brewing operations, including heating, cooling, and running brewing equipment.

This leads to a total estimated utility cost of £70 per batch for water and electricity alone.

Keep in mind that these numbers can vary depending on local utility rates and the efficiency of equipment used in the brewing process.

To make sure you keep your personal and brewery expenses separate, open your business bank account — this is mandatory in some areas purposes. Either way, this step is also where you will get your business credit card.  Do your research and work with a great accountant through this whole process to make sure it's done right.

8. Secure brewery funding and loans

Most people don’t have tens of thousands of pounds in the bank to start a new business. The good news is that restaurant financing is available, and there are numerous options to consider. Trying to figure out how to open a brewery with no money? 

The various means of funding you may utilise to start your brewery include:

• Small businesses loans
• Equipment financing or rental for individual appliances
• Startup business grants
• Opening a business line of credit

Once you've got your financing, you can start buying equipment and setting up your space with the basics that you'll need to get started.

9. Build your brewery menu

As mentioned above, the equipment needed to start a brewery is well above and beyond the standard restaurant equipment list. 

You'll also need food inventory to start bringing your dream menu to life, plus large quantities of your beer ingredients like hops, malt, and other speciality items that make your brew shine. 

Start building your brewery menu based on your individual concept. Are you offering a full food menu? A small-bites menu? Only beer? This is the time to figure this out. 

Start by simply writing down all of your ideas before organising them into groups based on ingredients and supplies needed. Take a peek at what your competition offers, and see where you can fill a gap in the market or jump on industry trends. 

10. Find your brewery inventory supplier

Now that you've determined your menu items — in addition to the ingredients and materials you’ll need to make them — you can begin purchasing your inventory. Of course, first you’ll need to decide where you’ll be purchasing your supplies from.

There are many food industry wholesale platforms that you can use for your inventory. Additionally, depending on your location, you’ll be able to find a collection of local retailers from which to obtain your products.

Wherever you decide to get your inventory from, it’s always a good idea to take your time reading reviews and chatting with your peers about potential suppliers. Overcoming supplier delays and miscommunications can be a real hassle for breweries, especially when they are just getting started establishing themselves. To avoid inventory hassles, partner with a supplier who you trust and respect.

Remember to continuously track your inventory shipments using restaurant inventory management software and create a backup plan to account for any delays. 

11. Invest in a brewery point of sale system

Another important decision you’ll have to make regarding the operations of your shop is choosing your point of sale system. The best POS systems for emerging organisations are user-friendly and capable of scaling alongside a fast growing brewery — and they make the payment process seamless for guests and for staff.

Toast’s POS can do all that and more, while providing you with the reporting and analytics that will help you keep track of your business’s performance and health. 

Restaurant POS software benefits breweries with features like:

• Simple interface: For quick order turnaround, large buttons and an easy user interface can speed up long lines on busy weekends. 
• Handheld devices and Order & Pay at the Table: On-the-go brewery operations need handheld POS devices to take customer payments and sell products from anywhere, and Order & Pay at the Table technology lets guests keep the orders coming throughout their whole visit, without waiting in line or for a server.

12. Craft your brewery design and atmosphere

With a thorough restaurant business plan and vision, you’ll now need to design a restaurant floor plan and layout that will align with your brewery business goals.  As an owner, your passion for the craft and your story will influence the design and atmosphere of your brewery. 

The goal is to make your brewery into a place where customers can feel comfortable and welcome, a warm space that offers tasty delights and an inviting atmosphere. 

What should your brewery floor plan include?

When designing your restaurant layout, keep these elements in mind:

• The kitchen
• Brewing equipment like kettles, kegs, boilers, cooling systems, storage tanks, fermentation tanks, and refrigeration equipment
• Tables and chairs
• The counter, if you’re a counter service brewery 
• Restrooms
• Windows
• Doors
• Exits

13. Hire your brewery team and management

A great staff is the backbone of a successful restaurant. Specifically for a brewpub, you’re looking for two sets of staff: those who will produce the beer, and those who will be serving beer and food to customers. And if you'll be making food in-house (as opposed to partnering with another food business like a food truck), you'll also need back-of-house kitchen staff.

When hiring for a brewery or other restaurant, you can use restaurant industry job sites like Hospitality Jobs UK, Caterer, or Leisure Jobs.

Open your doors 

And you’re off! Though the process of opening a new brewery can be daunting, taking it one step at a time and doing your research will make the process easier. 

Related Brewery Resources

• How Much Does it Cost to Open a Brewery
• How to Open a Bar
• What is a Rail Drink?
• How to Write a Bar Business Plan
• How to Design a Bar 
• 14 Permits and Licences Needed To Open A Bar