What These Craft Beer Experts Feel is Important for New Breweries in 2025

In our annual Expert Outlook article (read it here) we shared three ideas that any craft brewery owner or manager should be thinking about for the coming year. Those same people shared some “Words of Wisdom” for new brewery owners and how to plan when starting a brewery or launching right now. Here are some insights that they shared.

Taproom Focus & Customer Experience

• Tyler March, Co-Founder/Head of Operations — Wild East, Brooklyn: First off, expect the unexpected and always be ready to pivot if needed. Make exceptional beer and carve out a niche for yourself that will help you stand out. Focus on your taproom and rely on distribution sparingly. Think outside of beer and what your taproom will offer as an experience for people who aren’t coming just to drink beer. Keep a tight reign on your finances and manage your cashflow in a conservative fashion. 
• Andrew Fabry, Founder — Badger State, Green Bay, Wisconsin: Focus on your tap room as if it will be the sole source of revenue above all else, then add and build from there. Hybridize your beverage selection. Do not rely on distribution. Take care of your people. Put above and beyond time and effort into your branding and into your liquid. Make sure you’re ready to do this for the next thirty years!
• Rob MacEachern, CEO — Denver Beer/Formation: Brewing great beer isn’t enough. There are so many great brewers out there, and opportunities to enjoy amazing beers in every market across the country. The experience you provide- both for your customers and for your employees – is what can set you apart from the competition. And never stop trying new things. Craft beer has built itself on successfully challenging the status quo, on innovation, and on creativity. My biggest piece of advice is to focus on creating spaces in your taprooms that go beyond just serving beer. Offering an environment where people can gather for different reasons — whether it’s hosting events, working remotely, or enjoying food options — is critical to driving customer frequency. In today’s competitive landscape, it’s not enough to just have great beer; you need to be a destination that people want to return to regularly for various experiences. 
• Duncan Macfarlane, Co-Founder — Phoenix Brewing, Mansfield, Ohio: Consistent food options is a must for any brewery opening (now). Also, consider earlier daily hours of operations for your taproom.

Business & Financial Strategy

• Andrea Arabanos, Director of Sales & Marketing / Max Pittman, Director of Operations / Tina Hegg Raway, Controller — Castle Danger, Two Harbors, Minnesota: Quality and consistency of your beer will make the difference between repeat customers and customers who try you once, have a bad experience and never return again. Learn as much as you can and learn best practices from the successful industry leaders — you won’t regret it! Passion for beer alone will not keep your brewery alive — you need an excellent business model and business advisors. Partner with supportive, strategic people to help your brand thrive and don’t borrow more money than you can realistically keep up with during both good times and bad. The market for craft beer is mature now and we will not see exponential growth as we did over the past decade. In addition, don’t take on too many things at once — opening a taproom, making and serving food, packaging and distributing out into the market — bite off only what you can reasonably digest. Otherwise, you will risk being mediocre when your goal is excellence — or in worst-case scenarios…shutting down. 
• Kat Hess, Head Brewer — Wynkoop, Denver: Know your business! Gone are the days of “you build it, they will come.” Not only do you need to know where your money is going, you need to understand your process inefficiencies, what to contract and when, your best staffing strategy, and if you are making the right product for your marketplace. Also, trust me, you can never, ever, have enough cold storage.
• David Deline, President — Prost Brewing, Denver: My greatest recommendation would be to really identify your business model prior to opening and be realistic about the expectations of success. Are you a taproom-only brewery, distribution based, etc. There is so much good bier and limited shelf space. Identify who and what you are and stick with it.
• John Winter, Co-Owner/Founder — Lone Tree Brewing, Lone Tree, Colorado: Grow within your means. We have seen many breweries overextend themselves making profitability very difficult. Make great beer! Good is no longer good enough, everyone is good enough. You must strive to be better than average. I think at one time the value of marketing was lost to me. However, over the course of 13 years it has become an important part of our business and will remain so moving forward.

Employee Retention & Workplace Culture

• Wesley Keegan, Founder — TailGate Brewery, Nashville: It’s an interesting time in the industry, but I don’t think it changes what’s always been true: It is a business. And you need to run your business. We’re proud that we offer 100% paid healthcare to our entire team. We’re proud to offer best-in-industry wages. We’re proud that we’re growing. We’re proud that we have no investors. But all that comes from good business operations. Make a great product. Treat your team great. Listen to your consumers. And expect to work like crazy. Do all that forever, and you’ll be good!
• Andrea Arabanos, Director of Sales & Marketing / Max Pittman, Director of Operations / Tina Hegg Raway, Controller — Castle Danger, Two Harbors, Minnesota: Attract and retain top talent — consider a quality benefits package, and reflect often on the culture you are trying to build and how you show up in service to your team every day. Ensure the company is aligned with competitive wages for your employees. Providing education for your staff — including financial and industry education — will level up your brewery and serve to excite and inspire your whole crew. Being a brewery that invests back into its employees and plans for long term success will set you up for continued growth for years to come.

READ MORE: The 3 Pressing Topics for Any Brewery — Brewer Mag’s 2025 Expert Outlook

Branding & Market Positioning

• Rob MacEachern, CEO — Denver Beer/Formation: Another key lesson I’ve learned is the importance of understanding what the market truly needs, especially from a packaged product perspective. Early on, we all want to experiment with a wide range of styles, but over time, I’ve realized the value of focusing on a few core SKUs that resonate with your audience. Consistency in those products is essential—not only for brand loyalty but also for operational efficiency. You need to strike the balance between innovation and reliability, so your customers know they can count on your products being great every time. Finally, while beer quality is, of course, the foundation, I’ve learned that community, customer experience, and operational excellence are just as important in building a sustainable business. Be adaptable, listen to your customers, and be prepared to grow beyond what you originally envisioned. The industry keeps evolving, and so should your approach.
• Carmone Macfarlane, Co-Founder — The Phoenix Brewing, Mansfield, Ohio: Open with a strong branding plan and guidelines to share as your company grows and expands. It is important to keep your branding consistent over departments and time. Have an actionable “disaster” plan in place with assigned roles and responsibilities. How to protect your brand and your employees, who is reaching out to the press, who is addressing on social media, how would you recall products, etc. In the best scenario you will never need it, and in the worst scenario, you are at least prepared.