Microbreweries and Beer Making

Mr. Beer Premium Edition Home Microbrewery System

Amazon Price: $31.99 (as of 06/02/2012)

I got one of these as more of an experiment because like you, you've seen this a few dozen times in magazines or in random places and I looked at this and thought - this looks too simple to actually produce good beer.

Well, it's not that bad. I've brewed two batches, and they've been pretty decent. The instructions are pretty simple to follow (just don't confuse teaspoons and tablespoons like I did) and the starter beer is theoretically able to be bottled in a week, although I waited 3. And after a week of bottling (I waited 2 and a half weeks), you can chill the beer in the fridge and be ready to go in less than 3 weeks from time to brew but they recommend longer.

Coopers Brewery DIY Beer Kit

Amazon Price: $125.99 (as of 06/03/2012)

I had been thinking about brewing beer for years. I finally decided to get this kit after trying a Coopers beer that was brewed by a friend. This was a great introduction to brewing. This kit has everything you need to brew great beer and the process is simple. The initial mixing took about one hour, then a week later I filled the bottles in less than a hour. The beer is great and I will be brewing some of the other Coopers beers soon.

Brewing Up a Business: Adventures in Entrepreneurship from the Founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

by: Sam Calagione

Amazon Price: $20.32 (as of 06/03/2012)

I am a big fan of Dogfish Head beer and when I found out that brewer and entrepreneur Sam Calagione wrote a book about his company I was anxious to read it to see if Calagione had any interesting tips on the business of brewing and how he has made the Dogfish Head brand practically a household name among both beer geeks and beer critics. What I discovered with this book is that Sam Calagione has some good advice to offer brewing/restaurant entrepreneurs and others who have a pressing urge to start their own company. He has tried many different things, and his penchant for the unusual has proven to be a great success and it forms the backbone of his business.

Calagione spends the majority of this book discussing Dogfish Head Brewing from the early days of formation all the way to the point of maturity. He talks about his own business model and how it has helped transform his company. He talks about everything from innovation to employee morale to profit sharing to community involvement. He shows how his model of success has worked for his type of business and how the same model can be applied to other types of businesses as well.