Following the Long, but Right, Path to Opening a Brewery

Passion is critically important when it comes to opening and running a brewery, but Michael Pallen, the owner and brewer of Mikerphone Brewing, a nano-brewery based in the Chicago suburbs, says that there are other things to take into account. For homebrewers looking to take the jump to the professional level, he offers some advice.

“Where I had the benefit was that I could incubate the brand. For 5 years before we went pro, I had glassware and T-shirts and a blog as a homebrewer. I used Facebook, and from the outside, people thought I was a real brewery, but I was just homebrewing in my basement. People were wearing our T-shirts from day one and going to festivals. I’d get snapshots of people wearing our logo at Dark Lord Day, and I’d get excited about that.

“It was great having the ability to shadow at Spiteful Brewing (Chicago), 18th Street Brewery (Gary, Indiana), Pipeworks Brewing Co. (Chicago), and Pig Minds Brewing Co. (Machesney Park, Illinois). All those brewers would bring me in and put me to work for them as an assistant brewer for a week at a time, sometimes months at a time. I was able to get my feet wet and understand not just that we can all make beer—because sometimes that’s the easiest part—but how to plan schedules, how to market the product, how to run a business, how to engage customers, how to make sure we’re doing the right things, and how to manage our money.

“In the beginning, you’re blowing through money so fast. Every day leading up to opening my own brewery was just bleeding money. I think we were down to our last dollar the day before opening.

“If you have the time before opening, take the time. Start seeing your brand out there. Attend events and get your name out there. Come into it, and then in a year or two, have a solid plan, and you’ll also have a core base of followers who are excited for you. If you just come out as another brewery, you’re just another brewery.”