How Much Money Do I Need to Start a Distillery | Talking to Brewbird
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- I sit down with Vanessa Braxton, the first female African-American Master Distiller in the United States. She is the founder, master blender and distiller at Black Momma Vodka in New York. After working as a structural engineer for two decades, she decided to open a distillery in her retirement. She used all her retirement savings, and some of her husband's savings to finance her dream of owning a drinks brand. 2022 marks the 10 year anniversary of her distillery.
In this video, we discuss everything money, from how Vanessa financed her distillery to the costs involved with the day-to-day operations of Black Momma Vodka. #howmuchitcosts #distillerycost #masterdistiller
I'm Miss Brewbird, a Canadian girl training to be a distiller. I'm also tickled pink that you've found your way here. If you are interested in learning more about the drinks industry this is the channel for you. Hit that subscribe button for more videos about distilling, brewing, and nerdy drinks stuff. Cheers!
Website: missbrewbird.com/
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Music by Brentin Davis - Flint Story - thmatc.co/?l=4...
Hey all! We actually spoke for almost 2 hours, so here is a link to an extended version of our interview in podcast form: open.spotify.com/episode/160WaViMtmayqg5fiCzmQF?si=28a5bd03f6934324
Vanessa is a will not take no for an answer type of lady, impressive! She is down to earth and brings it home that getting into a distiller is not cheap. She made $76 her first year after investing over a million dollars, and that was ten years ago.
Thanks, Brewbird! Looking forward to listening to the long form podcast in the morning. Great content!
This is exactly how i started. Bought my equipment little by little and been busy for 2 years with my licence, i finally received it a month ago. Some small final things before we launch hopefully soon
Congratulations!
Word of advice, stock up on Tri Clamps, prices just went up again. Order barrels in advance there's a shortage on barrels right now. Bottles are out of stock everywhere, so talk to suppliers to get on list now or order what you can now. Welcome to exciting times of owning a distillery, 😍😘
@@blackmommabrands Thanks very much
Same here started 2 years ago received licence now in stage of bottles arriving stills are set up.
😲 $1,050,000. No wonder people distill illegally. Congratulations on getting your distillery up and running. I love to see someone start a successful business.
Exactly and the government want their money first before you sell one single bottle, 😄. It took alot of time but it sells itself now. Im happy for my kids to learn this industry.
Man I laughed the whole time; Thank you for the talks about real issues Vanessa! I hope your business booms out there!
As always, thanks for the great interview Brewbird! I’m always excited because you make your own content and don’t just try to redo things others are doing.
Thank you so much.. Appreciate your comment and from your mouth to gods ears ,my business will boom out there,! Fr fr 🤣😘😘😘
Thanks, that's a great compliment! Yeah she is so fun to talk to, so much personality.
TWO MILLION!? I'm £40k (GBP) into ours in the UK but we're absolutely tiny with only a 280sqft unit and a 100L, 50L and 30L still lol. We're licenced to do everything including whisky but currently just doing gin & vodka to get some much needed money back into the bank. Rum will come this summer. Good luck Vanessa!
Nice one keep it going looking forward to getting going have 2 x 400 litre stills and a couple small stills for product development for gin
What an amazing woman and to take such risks with your retirement funds borders in crazy but I have so much respect for someone willing to take those risks in order to start a self-owned business where you only report to yourself. Best of luck with the business. I’ll be on the lookout for your product in Florida.
That was so awesome! Love chatting with Brewbird and sharing my experience. Im gonna try to get her to start a distillery in the US, 🤣😘 but not in expensive NY. Peroidt ! 😂😂
Thanks for telling your story/making history, and Miss Brewbird interviewing you. In the process of releasing my own drink. Miss Brewbird should definately start her own distillery, I see a gap in the market, I spoke to at least 50 UK distillers to find 2, and 1 in Oregan.
You have way more guts than me 😊
Sounds like you have achieved loads for your brand, well done! Keep on kickin ass
Great interview. I loved learning more about how you got started.
Way to go, Vanessa! Watching your video now! Love this!
When she tells her husband her plans and he's like 'What???" LMAO. Love hearing these startup stories and all the struggles and successes too.
Best video ever! I have been thinking of these questions you asked. Thank you
You are so welcome!
This is why we chose to produce in Africa. A $2million dollar starting point is a non-starter for many of us in America. Koval had the money to step out in front of the Craft resurgence in the US. Thank goodness there are other options.
Thank you for sharing this discussion. It all rings true.
Thanks for listening
Great interview!! Love the inside look
you're welcome!
Very interesting and informative stream! I need to see if I can find this here in Texas because I definitely want to support this lady! 👍🏽👍🏽
I. Love. It. Period. Thank you for sharing this information & video. It was packed with information.
Thanks! Always nice to hear.
Interesting vid. It seems every country has there own pros and cons of starting a distillery! USA seems to be a rather $$ place to setup!
Our setup in Asia, was cheaper however probably more head banging against a wall with zero guidelines!
which country?
@@damani1711 Macau
Yes here in the US, everyone is trying to get a piece of your pie, lol .
Evertime you release a brand you have to pay some government entity to register the label. and if you want to sell in another state, you have to pay to be there. Each state has its own licensing rules and regulations and cost .
@@blackmommabrands I can imagine the hard work to jump through a hoop for each state!! Respect on the commitment! Must of been a hell of a task!
Great interview! Very interesting to hear how these costs and restrictions compare with other places around the world.
Very informative and fun! Thanks for sharing your experience. Best wishes.
Thanks both of you for this great interview. Congrats on your success Vanessa!! :) Brewbird, it would be interesting to have a canadian interview from perhaps distilleries of different provinces!
Awww, thank you sooooo much. It was so much fun! I loved chatting with Brewbird .
Great suggestion!
If the problem is the money, forget about distilling! My first thought would be, how can i manage to start a Distillerie, without beeing forced to produce gin, for getting a quick results!
Sorry, commenting again!! Thank you again! Just finished the video. Can’t wait to tune in to the whole podcast! Looking forward to learning all I can, and I especially appreciate your thoughts on diversification for your business. I can see how rare being a female in such a male dominated industry is, I cannot imagine the extra hill as being a woman of color on top. Love this! Again, thank you and can’t wait to learn more!!
I just started my distillery in Brazil.
During the plague prices jacked up (construction went up 2,5x in price because of chine paralising production) and my construction + equipment cost was around 400K BRL (ab 80k USD) plus accountant, not much, somehting like 50usd/month before sales get goint, just to keep the records clean.
I didnt have the money so i got another distillery to make my recipe at ab 20k BRL (4k usd) for the first 650bottles (bottled, labelled and all). Will sell those to build the above mentioned distillery.
Edit: at my scale i'm in a taxation regimen called Simples Nacional and all my taxes (production, selling, earnings...) are in a single percentile that varies according to revenue (4,5% - 30% i think)
I should have watch this before starting my own 😩 hahahaa
Congratulations,
Just watch your cost on everything. question the price and always look for a better price, there's so many options now online for price comparison. Also if you do a continuous still at least you can add to it later.
Always everyone is going to ask for free sponsorship....tell them no. Let them pay for it .
And try to stick to your local area first. Also buy Tri Clamps and other items now ie bottles, barrels and valves ingredients etc . Cause prices giing up .
@@blackmommabrands Thanks a lot for the tips. I'm from Chile, not too much to get from. The only great thing here is that the laws on alcohol and regulations are really flexible. The rest Is almost everything custom-made. Warm regards! :)
@@yoguimasterof69 Thats great , so many places outside of the US has flexibility and reasonable cost in the alcohol industry.
Hey Brew Bird, so let me ask you, what's your thoughts on You or anyone else who might be thinking about Starting a Distillery after Hearing from your guest? And after you have done all your research and working with the distilleries you have what do you think about the 2 Million your guest said it cost her.
Thanks in advance,
Austin
Hey sweetie, it cost me 1,050,000 back then. Today its costing about average 2 million today with building equipment, ingredients and etc in the US especially in NY. Now everything is getting more expensive corn, gas, utilities. Its so ridiculous Austin . I see why people do moonshine, lol
@@blackmommabrands sweety that's exactly what I was talking about when I said what do you think about now that you've heard from this Lady that she said 2 MILLION! I totally understand and I think everyone else does too that especially now with prices so high on everything, I guess my point is, is right now even a good time to even consider starting a Distillery anywhere besides the Woods 😂 I'm from Georgia and Tennessee and yes I'm very Familiar with Moonshine lol. It goes back 5 Generations on my Dad's side of the family. So I would be a 6th Generation Distiller/Moonshiner. I too have been considering starting my own Distillery but the high cost of everything right now is the reason now is not the Time for me but the Future looks bright :)
@Black Momma Brands I'm so impressed with what you have done starting your own Distillery and your 9 years in it that's amazing for anyone. You are a Awesome Inspiring Person in whom all of us can look to just to see what can be done with hard work and Dedication.
Yes 1050000 back a few years ago well 9-10 years is easily 2 Million or more now so yeah your spot on! Thank you for the interview with Brew Bird and thank you for your Reply! I hope you will be doing some more videos with Brew Bird possibly a tour of your Distillery? You are an awesome person my friend! I appreciate you sharing with all of us 😁 💜 ~Austin
@@austinwhitaker6439 Awww, thank you , your lucky to be the 6th generation at least you learned a valuable skill , art and tradition within this industry. Respect goes to you! I would say take it slow especially getting your equipment. And if you can get a piece of real estate (cheap) nothing fancy and no where expensive. That alleviate paying rent and at least having your own. I learned to moonshine in 1987 in college from some engineers from Virginia, lol
Been hooked every since . I told my kids, if you know how to make it you cant go completely broke, lol shoot 😍😘
@@blackmommabrands Thank you so much 💖 I was definitely Lucky and Blessed to Learn this Art this Tradition and especially from My Daddy. I fell in love with Making liquor at 5 years old lol. It gets in your veins and it becomes you it's crazy but true. People used to put moonshiner's down and now your Considered Special and very sought after especially with 5 Generations behind you lol.
Hey at least you learned how! I was thinking you probably had a Daddy or uncle that taught you but hey you are in a Spot Moonshiner's are all seeking to be where you already are and you told your kids right, if you can make liquor you'll always be able to make a couple of dollars and never go hungry... Your doing your kids the biggest Favor in the world in my book, youve already created a future for them and their children and that my friend is impressive by anyone's standards!
I subscribed to your channel and I look forward to watching you Build an Empire for your children and grandchildren 😊🙏
You made my Day 😊
Edit: I can't thank you enough for your very invaluable information and your Tips on my Future Distillery! I will never forget you! I will definitely meet you someday 😊
See you on your channel!
Austin~
Hi! Yes, I think as Vanessa said in her interview it is best to try and build a brand first with a contract distiller, and then think about actually opening your own distillery since it is so expensive and regulated.
Very informative! I’d like to know if we can visit that distillery or if it’s purely production.
Good question, its purely production and now I have a Cafe around the corner with a Tasting Bar. So when we have tastings I would bring people by when Im not in production .
That is absolutely crazy how prohibitively expensive it is to start companies like this. It's absolutely inspiring though seeing that she saw that wall standing in her way and she scaled it and put a ladder down for others in her community. Amazing.
It really is! Starting a distillery, winery, or brewery is all really expensive.
How i open small distillery industry
hello, i want to buy a distillery, what is your recommendation? am from Ethiopia
Buying a distillery? I don't really have any recommendations on that, sorry.
I like her
yeah she's so fun
Hey beutiful how have ya been ? I allways look forward to seeing what your up to , your a smart chic i love yer vidios.
I've been busy but good, thanks!
How did she get her money?
As I stated in the video from retirement ...from working as a structural civil engineer