8 Brewery Success Stories [2024]

Pat Walls

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Updated: March 11th, 2024

Start A Brewery

If well-planned, a brewery can be a profitable business. However, starting a brewery is not a walk in the park.

Opening a brewery requires a lot of planning, involves many decisions, and is capital intensive.

If you have decided to start a brewery, you must comply with the legal requirements. Then, understand the startup costs involved in starting a brewery.

Your brewery business plan must indicate the brewery concept and outline the brewery funding plans.

Here are some real life success stories of starting a brewery:

1. Progress Brewing ($1.44M/year)

Diego Benitez, the founder of Progress Brewing, came up with the idea for his craft brewery while working in academia and as a technology analyst. After brewing beer at home with his colleague, Kevin Ogilby, and conducting extensive research on the brewing industry, they decided to open their own brewery. Despite facing challenges with permits and limited capital, they successfully launched the business in August 2013 and saw continuous growth, with a projected revenue of $2 million in 2019.

How much they make: $1.44M/year
Current team size: 5

How This Entrepreneur Started A $2M Craft Brewery

Progress Brewing, a craft beer company in South El Monte, saw continuous growth of 12-14% every month for 16 months straight and hopes to break $2M revenue in 2019 with a focus on high-value non-hype beer, excellent customer service, and providing an overall enjoyable experience.

About

Diego started Progress Brewing over 10 years ago

Revenue

Diego grew the business to $120K/month

Read this case study

Read by 7,150 founders

2. Varionica ($672K/year)

Davor and Matija started brewing beer as a hobby in college and fell in love with creating unique styles that couldn't be found in Croatia. Encouraged by positive feedback from friends, family, and bar owners, they took the leap and opened Varionica, becoming craft brewing pioneers in Croatia. Despite facing challenges, they persevered, adapting their business model and expanding their reach through a webshop and partnerships with retail stores. They have since won industry recognition and expanded their exports to the UK and Germany, with plans to enter more markets.

How much they make: $672K/year
How much did it cost to start: $10K
Current team size: 8

How We Started A Six-Figure Craft Brewery [From Croatia]

Croatian craft brewery Varionica shares how they started with only 22 kegs and an old Opel Astra, grew to produce roughly 40,000 liters of beer per month, and expanded successfully during the pandemic through an online shop and retail store partnerships.

About

Matija started Varionica about 10 years ago

Revenue

Matija grew the business to $56K/month

Costs

It cost Matija $10000 to start the business

Read this case study

Read by 4,978 founders

So... can you actually make money with a brewery?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

Part of

Starting A Brewery: Everything You Need To Know

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So... can you actually make money with a brewery?

Of course. There are millions to be made in this industry.

But how?

Research real, profitable businesses and see exactly how much money they make.
Study exactly what works, and what doesn’t.
Take action, because now you have the roadmap.

Join Starter Story and build your next big thing:

Start Now

6. Ab-Inbev

Ab-Inbev strives to be the best. From farm to the brewery to market, they have been taking pride and ownership in every step and have been crafting great beer from the best natural ingredients. They also promote smart drinking and are working towards changing social norms & making a positive impact through their community work.

Where they're located: Cotosaz, Pastaza, Ecuador
Website traffic: 580K/month

7. The BrewDog Shop

Brewdog is dedicated to bringing you the best craft brews and they're working hard to create the best, funky, sour beers. They offer great quality and variety to suit different tastebuds and their beers are great to celebrate every small & big moment of your life.

Website traffic: 810K/month

8. Athletic Brewing Company

Athletic Brewing Company offers a great variety of beers and to drink them you won't have to compromise with your health as they are non-alcoholic. Their mission is to positively impact customers’ health, fitness, and happiness and communities and the environment. They want to lead the revolution in beer for the modern adult, changing the beverage industry as a whole.

Where they're located: ميرنكني, Anjouan, Comoros
Website traffic: 300K/month