This transcript was generated from the episode audio and may contain minor errors.
[Music]
Microbrewery tours expand to hops and brewing classes. Hey, what's up, friends? Welcome back to the podcast. In this week's Throwback Thursday segment, we're gonna explore how a microbrewery tour guide in Chicago turned their passion for craft beer into a hands-on business. All right, all right, Throwback Thursday, it's all about taking an in-depth look at someone whose story has evolved considerably since we first featured them.
Last week, we went to San Jose, California. We heard from an educator, learned how they scale their DIY science kits. They've created school partnerships and workshops to deliver hands-on STEM experiences to hundreds of kids every month. Now today, as noted, we're gonna go to Chicago, go to the world of microbreweries. How does somebody go from being a beer guy, self-described beer guy, this is Frank, and he's like a beer guy who wants to make money using his passion or with his passion.
So if somebody out there has something they're excited about, it might not be beer, it could be something totally different. What do you do? What are some ways you can go from idea to income? And we'll explore that in lots of different ways through these case studies. I'm gonna pass the microphone over to Frank.
I'll be back at the end with a few words of wrap up. [Music]
I'm Frank, a beer enthusiast from Chicago. And my love for craft brewing started during weekend visits to local microbreweries with friends. Back in 2018, I turned that passion into guided microbrewery tours for tourists and locals who wanted to explore Chicago's booming craft beer scene. The tours were fun and profitable.
But after a few years, I wanted to do something more hands-on, something that would let people dive deeper into the art of brewing. That's how I started offering hops growing kits and home brewing workshops. When I started the microbrewery tours, I kept it simple. For $40 a ticket, participants got to visit three breweries, sample flights at each stop, and hear stories about Chicago's craft beer history. I partnered with breweries that offered discounts on flights in exchange for bringing them customers, which kept my costs low.
Each tour netted about $400 in profit after covering transportation and snacks. The tours were popular, especially with bachelor parties and beer-loving tourists. But I began noticing a recurring theme. Many participants were curious about brewing their own beer. They'd ask questions about hops, yeast, and equipment.
Some even joked about starting their own breweries. That curiosity sparked an idea. What if I could help people take the first steps toward brewing their own craft beer? In 2021, I decided to test a new offering, hops growing kits. Each kit included seeds, soil, a small trellis, and detailed instructions on how to grow hops in a backyard or even on a balcony.
I sold the kits for $40 each and marketed them to my existing tour customers through email and Instagram. To my surprise, I sold 50 kits in the first month, netting about $1,500 in profit. Seeing the success of the kits, I launched my first home brewing workshop, a three-hour in-person class where participants learned the basics of brewing as simple pale ale. The $100 ticket price included a starter brewing kit with malt, yeast, hops, and detailed instructions. My first class sold out with 10 attendees, bringing in $1,000.
Between the hops kits and workshops, I'd created a whole new revenue stream. As demand grew, I introduced virtual brewing workshops, shipping brewing kits to participants in advance. These were especially popular with corporate teams looking for unique online activities. I charged $120 per attendee for the virtual experience, which included shipping the materials and access to a live Q&A session. By the end of my first year, my brewing workshops and hops kits had generated $25,000 in revenue.
I now run monthly in-person in virtual workshops, sell 200 hops growing kits a year, and still organize the occasional microbrewery tour for nostalgia's sake. The business brings in about $4,000 a month in profit. And I'm currently developing an advanced brewing course for enthusiasts who wanna take their skills to the next level. I'm continuing to experiment with new ideas to keep things fresh. [Music]
Awesome, Frank, really appreciate those updates.
Listeners, I appreciate you as well. This was episode 2,952. If I'm not mistaken, sometimes it's hard to keep track 'cause there's an episode every day. We've been doing it for going on eight years. Let me know what you think, who you'd like to see featured from our archives, thousands of episodes, in fact, and it's always completely free.
I encourage you to subscribe or follow on Spotify, Apple Music, or wherever you like to get your podcasts. Any complete set of archives is available freely on sidehustleschool.com. That's all for today. Much more is coming up. My name's Chris Guillebeau.
This is "Side Hustle School." [Music]
