Craft beer, like any business, is complicated and the future can be uncertain. While we’ve seen amazing growth in craft beer, there’s no guarantee that a brewery will be able effectively increase production and expand. I often think about the challenges that breweries face when they decide to increase their brewing capabilities. So when Craft Connect reached out to me, I had to learn more about how their services can help in these situations.
For those that work in the beer industry, I think Craft Connect offers some great resources to help you execute future plans, create partnerships with other breweries, and secure other resources along the way.
If you aren’t working in the beer industry, I encourage you to continue to read as we’ll talk about industry-related issues and concerns that are interesting to most independent beer fans.
Also, it’s important to me and Craft Connect that you know this is NOT a sponsored article. My only incentive is getting to spread the word about this great new service available to breweries.
What Is Craft Connect?
Beer is relatively straightforward. Four ingredients (water, malt, hops, and yeast) combine to create the beverage we love.
But the business of brewing can be quite complicated. There’s the process of securing brewing equipment, ingredients, loans, investors, and packaging. Every step of the way, there are opportunities to delay product from being made.
For most start up breweries, it takes years of planning, building and piles of paperwork to get their first beer brewed and kegged. If they are successful, people like and drink their beer enough that they find themselves needing to produce more beer than their current situation will allow.
However, expanding isn’t easy and there are many factors to consider before making that next step. That’s where Craft Connect can help.
Craft Connect is a “free to join” marketplace where brewers can find contract, collaboration, and tenant brewing opportunities. It is also a resource to buy and sell ingredients, materials, and equipment.
And many will question, how can this be free? Joining and interacting is available at no cost. There are small transaction fees as well as opportunities for consulting.
The goal is to make connections within the industry that can accelerate growth and collaboration. It’s kind of like the Facebook and eBay of independent beer.
Here are some of the items/opportunities that can be found on Craft Connect:
Brewing Opportunities:
Excess or Wanted Capacity, Collaborations, Contract Brewing, Tenant Brewing
Ingredients
Hops, Grain, Malts, And Other Items
Material & Equipment
Packaging, Barrels and Kegs, Brewhouse, Fermenters, Filtration Systems, Tap Room Equipment
As you can see, Craft Connect is just as much about providing physical items and brewing capacity as it is about connecting brewers to each other. It is a very collaborative industry so creating relationships is a high priority.
How Craft Connect Can Help
To demonstrate how Craft Connect can practically help a brewery, I’ve come up with a four scenarios. These are just a small example of the ways that this service can help breweries connect, brew, and grow.
Scenario 1
Brewery Wants To Collaborate with A Brewery Outside Their Area
We love brewery collaborations. There’s something great about having two breweries come together to make a beer. I rarely hesitate to pick up the latest collaboration beer that I find.
These collaborations often come about organically. The brewers meet and decide it would be fun and mutually beneficial to make a beer together. And when the breweries are in the same area, this can be very easy to arrange.
But what if a brewery is traveling to an event and they want to arrange a collaboration while they are in town?
Craft Connect can do that. Their network of validated breweries will guide you to find the right brewery, set up the details, and agree on the terms.
Scenario 2
Brewery Is Expanding Their Current Brewery But Needs Additional Capacity Until Equipment Arrives
Breweries often outgrow their current brewing capacity. When this happens, they may purchase more fermenters and possibly a new brewhouse.
This isn’t the kind of equipment that you can buy on Amazon and have delivered the next day. Nope, you have to wait months before receiving it.
Waiting for new equipment can be a major issue as a brewery attempts to keep up with growing demand with an already maxed-out brewhouse. While waiting on new equipment to be installed and tested, member breweries can use the Craft Connect marketplace to immediately find capacity at other breweries actively seeking partnerships.
This is mutually beneficial for both breweries.
Scenario 3
Brewery Wants To Test Out A New Market Before Building A Second Brewery
If a brewery has success on the East coast, they may desire to expand West. And while it is possible to increase production and ship product, many will consider a second brewery that is better situated to effectively deliver the beer into new markets.
But this is a huge risk as the new market may not like or want their beer. For this reason, it would be ideal to test out the market before investing millions of dollars.
Craft Connect is able to help breweries find partners in other markets that have the ability to brew and package the beer. In this way, a brewery can fulling test out the market to determine if it is worth the investment and risk.
Scenario 4
A Seasoned Brewery Recently Expanded Beyond Their Current Needs
When a brewery decides to expand, they look beyond their current needs and anticipate growth. So when the expansion becomes active, they will have excess capacity.
While they grow into their new capacity, they can leverage the Craft Connect marketplace to offer contract brewing to other companies.
This process allows them to lower the cost of goods and more quickly recuperate their investment. Furthermore, knowing that a service exists to help them find contract brewing partners can be a confidence booster in making the important decision about when to expand capacity and by how much.
Who Is Behind Craft Connect?
Craft Connect may be a new business but that is no reflection on the knowledge and expertise that is backing this project.
Launched in August 2017, Craft Connect was created by Founder Elias Spartis. In his previous life, he was the Head of Innovation and Design for the world’s leading packaging and machinery company for the beverage industry.
While there, he found himself working with countless breweries that were looking to expand. They faced the struggles associated with opening new location, making large expansions, and managing capacity & automation.
And so, Craft Connect was born to bridge the gap between breweries, allowing them to collaborate to solve operational challenges and continue to thrive together.
Connect With Craft Connect
Craft Connect is expanding quickly as they add new users to its platform. And of course, they are looking to spread the word and get more brewers connected to each other through Craft Connect.
If you work for a brewery and have questions about how to get involved, you’ll want to talk with Elias.
- Click Here To Check Out Craft Connect’s Site
- Email Them At Elias@Craft-Connect.com
- Give Them A Call (404)374-2735
From my perspective, it might be the best connection you make all year.
Related Post: Craft Beer Expansion: Success At A New Location
Final Thoughts
Seeing an industry grow is a lot of fun but there is a lot of time, money and effort that goes into it. Opening, expanding and operating a brewery isn’t easy and there are real risks.
Brewers have their own networks they can reach out to for help, whether it be extra hops, barrel-aging, or otherwise. But what do you do if you strike out with your network?
Craft Connect is designed to be the on-demand backup that helps breweries work together to reduce risk and accelerate growth.
The future is bright and Craft Connect is the kind of service that we need to join to ensure independent breweries remain viable.
