What is Contract Brewing?

Contract beer brewing is an agreement whereby a company brews and packages beer for another company. This kind of agreement offers a lot of flexibility. Our partnerships vary from very hands-off to a much more hands-on, two-way relationship. Originally, this type of agreement was most popular amongst lager brewers, although, in recent years this kind of business relationship has been picked up by craft breweries.

Why Choose This Kind of Agreement?

Contract brewing is particularly popular amongst craft brewers because it can help in keeping costs low. It means that there’s potentially less reliance on needing to invest in expensive, brewing, bottling, canning or kegging equipment. What’s more, it allows the smaller business to benefit from the experience and expertise of the bigger business. Furthermore, contract brewing allows for the beer to be brewed to a consistent quality thanks to the contract brewer’s quality process.

In addition to the manufacturing process, a brewing agreement presents commercial advantages. For example, a contract brewer might also have a label designer onsite which will help make the product stand out. Another advantage of beer brewing from a commercial point of view might be the craft brewer having some input in product development. This means being able to get the product to meet exacting requirements.

Involvement in product development or benefiting from help with marketing solely depends on the agreement in place. So it is important to make sure the agreement contains such clauses to be able to make the most of the contract brewers’ expertise in all those areas. Therefore it is important to take extra care when negotiating a brewing agreement.

As the name suggests, here at The Contract Brewing Company, we can help you with all your brewing, canning, bottling and kegging needs. Get in touch today on 01751 484 002 to discuss how we can help you scale or fill in the contact form and will call you right back. Happy brewing!