Benjamin Franklin once said, “Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.”
Home brewing is one activity we take pleasure in .Remember that? Some of you may have tried a hand at making your own beer in your teenage years – possibly nearly blowing up your Dad’s garage in the process. But now home brewing is back – but without getting messy.
Wilf Horsfall and Matthew Denham the cofounder of UBREW renovated idea of home brewing. UBREW is mounting to take advantage of the upsurge in craft beer over the past 4-5 years, It is opened to folks who have keen interest in brewing and but also enabling the next generation of microbrewers – who can’t afford to buy their own professional equipment – to produce and sell their beer.
How did it Start
Earlier this year, UBREW founders Matthew Denham and Wilf Horsfall foresaw an opportunity to bridge the gap between home brew and craft beer and the market responded by over-funding by over 300% to raise more than £12,000 in pre-sales. Matt and Wilf met at the Westminster Hub – an incubator for social enterprises- in the heart of the West End. But it was their compassion for beer, that enticed the hearts. They conversed about the challenges that could def y their ideas of home-brew out of kettle filaments and in their shoebox apartments.
Then the idea of UBREW – a space for hobbyist home-brewers to brew; oozed out to host a new generation of start-up microbreweries into business; and to get first-timers into their courses to learn how to brew.
From the Cofounder and Connoisseur
Matt Denham said: “We’ve built a great community of hobbyist and expert brewers alike – we want to enable our members to own their own brewery. We want to provide a space whereby we help launch the next set of craft brewers and continue the beer revolution in the UK.”
Wilf said “The pubco reform will give more freedom to pubs to sell draught craft beer and help give them an extra lease of life. We want to liberate the means of beer production.”
Nick Fletcher, founder of Summer & Winter Brew Fest and master homebrewer at Brewdog’s Bottledog store said, “UBREW will help give home brewers the chance to become the next generation of micro brewers with professional equipment and a community of expert brewers.”
“Crowdcube’s Accelerator Programme has proven to be a great success to date, so we’re excited to give investors the opportunity to get behind six young companies, like UBREW, at this important stage in a businesses’ development.” Luke Lang, Co-Founder Crowdcube.
What came in-between?
UBREW was absolutely encumbered with the initial support from the beer community – raising our target in the first two weeks and as a new-entry to the market, we would really struggle to get the grip. In the end we over-funded by 300% in late summer for our pre-sales raise.Due to the scale of involvement it was soon figured that ,it had actually outgrown the initial location and was branded as UBREW1.
“We had to work hard for several weeks to scour the right place for our first venture. In the end, We didn’t have to look very far from our perfect space in the middle of the Bermondsey Beer Mile -with around four times the original capacity we had planned for.”
However, it was obvious that it couldn’t be handled unaided and needed further investment to turn this into a reality. The founders asked to the members and gave them the opportunity to own their own brewery and many of them have already helped us to get to 45% in the first month of our 60 day campaign.
The Striving Strategies
London, like many big cities, we live in shoeboxes for apartments which have space barely enough room to swing a cat (we don’t) – let alone to brew with decent sized equipments. Craft beer and ales has gone far beyond being called ‘Old man’s ales’, with the kickass brands like Brewdog .Decent bottle shops are not quite on every street corner but there are increasing in number and also craft ales stocked in a rising quantity of bars across London.
UBREW would capitalize on these two counter-movements and create a craft beer revolution. Liberalizing the means of production, to enable those who can and want to brew at an affordable rate. It is also hoped that UBREW would be a part of the next Brewdog’s success story – launching new brands and getting people started brewing.
Competition to Overcome
There is lots of different people competing on aspects of similar business-model but not all of them come up, greatly. Some companies offer erratic brewing courses at their own brewery, there are others who allow outsiders to use some of their brewing supplies for a specific time , but not on a regular or commercial basis.
“We are also forming strategic alliances with producers and distributors – who potentially could be our competitors – so that we can better serve our members’ future interests and become a supply chain on their behalf. For example, if we can help one of our members get into a chain of pubs or a mail order company, then we will.”
Plans on Spreading Out
The first priority at the moment is to raise £75,000 to enable the delivery on the current orders, buy equipments and open upon a new home on the Bermondsey ,beer mile just around the corner from London Bridge.
There is a need to exceed the projections and prove the concept, before we expand into other locations in London. “We are then going to be looking at other towns and cities across the UK where there is an existing craft beer market and an appetite to brew before setting our sights on the world.”
There is a strong pedigree for beer in Europe but also a very strong scene in America, Australia and New Zealand – as well as Asia.
Managing the Cash flow
Monthly membership costs start from £40 for a twelve month contract (with enough time to brew 210 bottles = 19p per bottle) and all pre-launch memberships are shared between up to four friends. A course from a master brewer normally costs £85.
