Willingness to Travel?

As TTUJohn says you will NEED to get a brewpub license if you open right now. If the laws don't change before you decide to open up the Brewpub license would give you what you want to do it just restricts your capacity (which I don't think was a concern of yours) and it may restrict your ability to use distributers to ship your beer long distances...

For brewpubs nowadays you are not required to serve food but you are allowed to. I wasn't able to find any restrictions on how much packaged beer people can buy from onsite. I know Jester King sells their 750 bottles onsite. I assume that you could sell six-packs and cases of beer as well. Brewpubs can sell beer at the brewery for consumption on-site, at the brewery for consumption off-site, and they can sell their beer at retail outlets off-site.

 

But... But... Why can't I go buy a 24-pack of Miller Lite directly from the brewery?

 

My 2 cents.

I drive through Brownwood probably 6 times a year (3 r/t tips to Lubbock from Austin).

If there was a brewpub along the way, I would happily stop and have a beer just about every time.

Now, you have to go the brewpub route. There is almost 0 sense in doing anything else even if the laws change. With at 5-7.5bbl brewery, you likely will never hit that 10k bbl limit.

Along with that limit, the brewpub license will allow you to sell 3rd party beers, wine, and still sell beer to go.

Your business plan should never be "we will be so good people will travel to us to get beer"....that is not a reality. It never will be. Very few breweries achieve that status. Your goal should be just to make good beer and if you do make good beer, you will get more business. If it turns into something more, great, but never plan on it.

I have been to many of the smaller town breweries and I do not think a lot of them would survive as easily in bigger cities. Lackluster beers, no money spent in the taproom, not really an environment conducive to bringing beer crowds in. But, they still survive in those towns. People want to drink locally, they just may not realize it yet.

If you do this, make it a local bar. Do not make it a small town bar with beer signs everywhere, make it a nice taproom that is comfortable and actually put some effort into making it look nice. Then you have the brewery with a constantly rotating tap list. Keep it interesting and see what beers work with your clientele. Some may, others may not. You will have to have some lighter beer for your area.

But, brewpub is the way to go. Distribute to the ultra local areas, and then eventually, move on to a bit bigger of an area.

 

Basically agree with @aschwab, but whats wrong a small town bar vibe if you can pull it off? I wish more breweries had a corner bar/pub feel than the typical huge sterile warehouse feel...just my opinion