Getting others to brew your beer for you

Guys -

This must go against every reason why real home brewers brew beer, but I was wondering if anyone ever heard of a service that takes your ingredients/order and makes the beer for you. After the beer is done fermenting they will package and ship your beer back to you. There are a lot of folks who have trouble with consistency from batch to batch, patience, and all the little things you may mess up on while brewing your own beer.

Anyone know of something out there or think it would stick with beginner brewers?

JB

Hi JB,

I'm really new to this but I've never heard of a service like that.  Sounds like an interesting business idea, though.  I could see people that enjoy craft beer but don't want to brew possibly paying premium for a custom brewed recipe for special occasions or whatever.  I wonder what kind of liquor license that would require?

I'm still doing some research, but as long as the brewer who receives the order has a license, I think you would be good. I think this would be more for the failed, impatient, beer goer, but could also be for beginners who just don't feel like putting in the effort to brew their own beer. I think the problem is scaling the business with all the custom orders.

Let me know if you or anyone else has any thoughts.

When I lived in Boulder Colorado I remember hearing of a business that did exactly that.  That was long before I started brewing, so I never bothered to check the place out.  I worked at a bar and grill where the owner had his own recipe on tap that was brewed for him there. Last I hear the bar and grill burned down.  Don't know what happened with the brewery.

My lhbs used to have a wine making service.  You'd come in and pick out the kit. 

If you took it home and made your own wine with your own equipment it was the normal set price. 

If you used their equipment, they would assist you from the time you opened the package, through bottling.  They had an up charge for this in house service.

I asked about 6 months ago why they weren't doing it anymore, and they said it wasn't profitable for them.