Business plan template

Brewery Business Plan Template

Updated November 12, 2026 · Team Fonda

Short answer

A brewery business plan has ten chapters: Executive Summary, Problem & Opportunity, Solution & Product, Market Analysis, Competition & Differentiation, Business Model, Operations & Technology, Team & Organization, Financial Plan, and Risks & Mitigation. A brewery plan stands or falls on three things: how much beer your equipment can make, how much of it you sell over your own bar compared with through distributors, and whether you have enough cash to last through build-out and licensing before the first pour.

Key takeaways

Fermentation tanks, not the brewhouse, usually set how much beer you can make. Calculate capacity from the tanks.
A glass sold in your own taproom and a keg sold to a distributor earn very different amounts. Show the sales mix.
You will pay rent and loan payments while you wait for licences and construction. Budget for those months.
Alcohol is heavily regulated and the rules differ everywhere. Confirm them with the regulator before you sign a lease.

Who reads a brewery business plan and what they look for

A brewery needs expensive equipment and a suitable building, so few founders pay for it all themselves. Expect several readers, each with a different worry.

A bank or equipment lender checks that sales at a realistic volume cover loan payments, that the equipment list matches the volume you forecast, and that you have put in your own money.
Private investors, often friends and local supporters, want to know what share they get, when the brewery expects to pay anything back, and who is in charge of brewing and of the money.
A landlord cares about floor loading, drainage, water and power use, noise, smells, deliveries and whether the local zoning allows brewing and serving on the site.
Licensing and planning authorities may ask for parts of the plan, such as your premises layout, opening hours and how you will serve responsibly.
You need to know the volume at which the brewery stops losing money, and whether your equipment can reach it.

Brewery business plan outline: the ten chapters

Write the chapters in this order. It is the same 10-chapter structure Fonda's business plan uses, with sources, and you can see example plans at /tools/business-plan.

Chapter	What to write for a brewery	Prompts
1. Executive Summary	Your type of brewery (taproom-led, brewpub with food, production brewery for wholesale, or contract-brewed brand), location, capacity, funding sought and what it buys.	What will you open, where, and how much beer can it make? How much money do you need and from whom? When do you expect to break even?
2. Problem & Opportunity	What local drinkers or retailers lack: a gathering place in a neighborhood without one, styles nobody nearby brews, a local option for bars and shops.	Why this neighborhood or town? What do people drink there now and where? What evidence shows they want something else?
3. Solution & Product	Your core beers, seasonal releases, the taproom experience, food, events and any non-alcoholic options.	Which three to five beers will always be available? What will the taproom feel like and who is it for? Will you package in kegs, cans or bottles?
4. Market Analysis	The adults within reach of your taproom and the bars, restaurants and shops within reach of your deliveries.	How many people live or work near the site? How many outlets could stock you, and how many taps or shelf spaces change hands in a year? Is the local market still growing or already crowded?
5. Competition & Differentiation	Nearby breweries and taprooms, regional and national brands on the same shelves, and other places people spend an evening.	Who is within a short drive and what are they known for? What will regulars say about you that they cannot say about them? Why would a bar give you a tap?
6. Business Model	Your sales channels and the price you receive in each: taproom pours, cans or growlers to go, self-distribution, distributors, events, merchandise.	What share of volume goes to each channel? What do you receive per unit in each after tax and distributor margins? What does a regular visitor spend?
7. Operations & Technology	Brewhouse size, number and size of fermenters, the brewing schedule, packaging, cold storage, quality control, suppliers, utilities and wastewater.	How many batches a week can you brew and ferment? Where do malt, hops and yeast come from? Which licences, inspections and approvals do you need and how long does each take?
8. Team & Organization	Head brewer, taproom manager, bar staff, sales, bookkeeping, and the owners' roles.	Who has brewed at commercial scale? Who runs the front of house? Which roles are filled on day one and which later?
9. Financial Plan	Build-out and equipment budget, pre-opening costs, monthly forecast by channel, loan schedule, and break-even volume.	What is the total cost to open, including the months before revenue? How much cash is left on opening day? At what monthly volume do you cover all costs?
10. Risks & Mitigation	Licensing delays, construction overruns, a bad batch, ingredient price rises, a crowded market, changes in alcohol rules.	What if opening slips by several months? What if taproom visits are well below forecast? How do you catch a quality problem before it reaches customers?

Licensing comes first

Making and selling alcohol usually needs approval at more than one level of government, and in some places the rules limit how you may sell to bars and shops. Timelines, fees and tax rates differ by country and state. Contact your alcohol regulator, tax authority and local planning office early, and consider a lawyer who works with breweries.

Key numbers a brewery plan needs

Brewers measure volume in barrels in the US and hectoliters in most other countries. Pick one unit and use it everywhere. Base each figure on your own equipment quotes, recipes and supplier prices.

Metric	How to calculate it
Brewhouse capacity per year	Batch size x batches per week x brewing weeks per year
Fermentation capacity per year	Total fermenter volume x number of times each tank can be filled and emptied in a year. Use the lower of this and brewhouse capacity as your true limit.
Utilization	Volume actually produced / true capacity
Cost of goods per barrel	(Ingredients + packaging + production utilities + brewing labor) / barrels produced
Net revenue per barrel by channel	Sales in that channel, after excise tax and any distributor or retailer margin / barrels sold in that channel
Gross margin by channel	(Net revenue per barrel - cost of goods per barrel) / net revenue per barrel
Channel mix	Barrels sold in each channel / total barrels sold
Break-even volume	Monthly fixed costs / average gross profit per barrel across your channel mix
Loss rate	Volume lost in brewing, transfers, packaging and spoilage / volume brewed

The break-even calculator and profit margin calculator cover the margin and break-even rows. If gross margin is unfamiliar, read the glossary page before you build the forecast.

Example chapter: Operations & Technology for an imaginary brewery

This is an example

Stonebridge Brewing is an imaginary business. The equipment sizes, schedules and volumes are invented to show the format and are not a recommendation for your brewery.

Premises. Stonebridge will lease a 4,000 square foot former workshop. About 1,800 square feet is the brewery and cold room and 2,200 is a taproom with 70 seats. The landlord has confirmed in writing that the floor can carry full tanks and that a floor drain can be installed.

Equipment and capacity. We will install a 7-barrel brewhouse and four 14-barrel fermenters, each filled with two batches brewed back to back. Brewing two double batches a week for 48 weeks gives brewhouse capacity of 7 x 4 x 48, or 1,344 barrels a year. Each fermenter can turn about 17 times a year if a beer takes three weeks from filling to empty, so fermentation capacity is 14 x 4 x 17, or 952 barrels. Our true limit is 952 barrels, and the plan forecasts 600 barrels in year one, a utilization of 63%.

Process and quality. The head brewer logs gravity, temperature and pH for every batch and tastes each beer before release. A batch that fails is dumped, and we budget for a 6% loss rate overall.

Packaging. Year one is kegs for the taproom and for 12 local bars we deliver to ourselves, plus a small counter-pressure filler for cans sold to go. We will not buy a canning line until wholesale orders pass 20 barrels a month.

Approvals. We have listed every permit the national, state and city authorities told us we need, with the date applied and the expected decision date. We have allowed seven months between signing the lease and opening and budgeted rent for all of them.

Mistakes that sink brewery business plans

Underestimating the time to open. Licences, construction and equipment delivery rarely finish on the first date quoted. Fund the waiting months in the plan.
Sizing by the brewhouse. A large brewhouse with too few fermenters cannot reach the volume in your forecast. Do the tank calculation.
Assuming wholesale margins match taproom margins. A keg sold through a distributor earns far less per barrel than the same beer sold by the glass. Forecast each channel on its own line.
Opening day with no cash left. Ingredients, wages and rent come due before regulars form a habit. Keep a reserve and show it. The startup cost calculator helps you total the full list.
Great beer, no reason to visit. Describe who the taproom is for and what brings them back weekly, then test it with pop-up events or a guest tap before you build. This guide on validating an idea shows how.

Frequently asked questions

Is a taproom or a production brewery easier to plan for?

A taproom-led brewery is usually simpler to forecast because you sell direct, set your own prices and can count seats and visits. A production brewery depends on winning distributors and shelf space, needs more capacity and packaging equipment, and earns less per unit. Your plan should say which you are and why.

Can I start a brewery without buying equipment?

In some places you can pay an existing brewery to make your recipes, which is often called contract brewing, or share its equipment. This lowers the cost to start and lets you test demand. Check whether your local alcohol rules allow it and what licence you would still need.

How long does it take a new brewery to open?

It varies widely with the building, the equipment order and the licensing process where you are. Ask your regulator and your equipment supplier for current timelines, add a margin for delay, and budget rent and loan payments for the whole period.