Regional Brewery Feasibility Study

This page is a workspace to consider the feasibility of opening a "regional" brewery in Monmouth, IL to serve initially the Central Illinois region. Future plans to expand would include the 7 Midwest states (MI, IN, IL, MO, IA, NM, WI) but NOT "beer-rich" areas such as Chicago or St. Louis.

Areas of Operation

Area 1

Original operations will target "area 1":

Monmouth (9K population)

Galesburg (31K population, 16 miles from Monmouth)

Macomb (18K population, 33 miles from Monmouth)

Peoria (115K population, 67 miles from Monmouth)

Rock Island (38K population, 50 miles from Monmouth)

Moline (42K population, 50 miles from Monmouth)

Bloomington-Normal (78K/54K population, 110 miles from Monmouth)

Springfield (116K population, 120 miles from Monmouth)

Decatur (73K population, 150 miles from Monmouth)

Quincy (41K population, 100 miles from Monmouth)

Rockford (148K population, 165 miles from Monmouth)

Champaign-Urbana (86K/42K population, 160 miles from Monmouth)

Total Population Area 1 = 891K ~ 1M (including smaller communities)

According to http://www.infoplease.com/us/census/data/demographic.html 70% of the US population is over the age of 21.

• So 70% of 1M = ~700,000 adults in the above population.

According to Gallup poll, see link below, 41% of adults drink beer. For each drinker, they consume 4.1 beers (12 oz) per week.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/174074/beer-americans-adult-beverage-choice-year.aspx

• So 41% of 700,000 = ~287,000 beer drinker
• 287,000 each consume 4.1 beers per week = ~1.2M beers per week
• If each beer is 12 oz then 1.2M beers is equal to ~110,000 gal (128 oz) per week or ~5.7M gal per year.
• In brewery terms, 5.7M gal is equal to 185K bbls (31 gal) per year.

So, a US population of 1M will consume ~ 185K bbls of beer per year.

Brewing Operations

Brewing operations will be located in Monmouth IL adjacent to interstate 34. Brewing system will be based on 4-vessel system with fermentation capacity to balance production of 40% ale and 60% lagers.

Scenario 1:

15 bbl brewing system, brewing 1 per day, 5 day a week.

total production = ~4K bbls per year...or ~1% of beer market.

Scenario 2:

15 bbl brewing system, brewing 2 per day, 5 day a week.

total production = ~8K bbls per year...or ~2% of beer market.

Scenario 3:

30 bbl brewing system, brewing 1 per day, 5 day a week.

total production = ~8K bbls per year...or ~2% of beer market.

Scenario 4:

30 bbl brewing system, brewing 2 per day, 5 day a week.

total production = ~16K bbls per year...or ~4% of beer market.

Scenario 5:

50 bbl brewing system, brewing 1 per day, 5 day a week.

total production = ~13K bbls per year...or ~3.5% of beer market.

Scenario 5:

50 bbl brewing system, brewing 2 per day, 5 day a week.

total production = ~26K bbls per year...or ~7% of beer market.

Finances

Material cost per bbl = ~$50

Labor cost per bbl = ???

Capital cost per bbl = ???

overhead cost per barrel = ???

Sales per bbl = $300

Strategies

Brew 2-3 "flagship" ales / brew 4-6 "flagship" lagers / 2-3 "specialty" beer for general distribution

Contract brew for 3-5 smaller breweries

Can and bottle product

tap room on site

offer beers to ball parks (Quad Cites, Peoria, Burlington)

Guest brewers/resident brewer

Brew school/lab???