Spare brewing capacity

Stage 1 of 5

Validate

Is this a real problem for a customer you can reach, who wants it solved?

What the founder did: called 10 brewery owners and head brewers across Michigan. 8 had either turned away a contract batch or let a tank sit empty in the last quarter. Today it runs on texts to friends, and two had lost a deal because the reply came a week late. 7 of 10 said they'd pay a booking fee of 3–5% of the batch to have it handled.

What the guide flagged: the founder wanted to cover every kind of shared equipment: canning lines, kegs, cold storage. Canning already has mobile canners who come to you, and kegs have rental companies. Empty fermenter time was the only thing nobody was matching. The guide also flagged that contract brewing needs its own federal paperwork, so the board should point to it, not try to file it.

Why Go: a money-losing problem both sides confirmed, a fee most of them named themselves, and a founder who personally knows the first 40 breweries. Weak spot noted: the whole market in one state is a few hundred breweries, so this is a regional business, not a national one, at least to start.

Stage 2 of 5

Define

What's the smallest thing you can build that proves value?

What got cut: the first list had 10 features, including equipment rentals, a jobs board, ingredient group-buys, reviews and in-app payment. It came down to 3: a brewery posts open tank time with size and dates, another brewery requests it, and both get a booking summary to take to their own paperwork. Payment happens between the breweries, as it does today.

Why Go: the three features replace the texts and the week-long wait, which is what every caller complained about. The target is concrete: 5 booked batches in the first two months. And the plan fits in about a fifth of the budget, with room for a second version.

Stage 3 of 5

Build

Can you build it with AI tools without losing control?

Build path chosen: an AI app builder with email notifications, no custom code. A small web agency quoted $8,000 for the same thing. The hardest part was dates: tanks free up for odd lengths of time, so the availability screen was rebuilt twice before it matched how brewers actually plan.

What the guide flagged: breweries were wary of posting their open capacity where competitors could see it. Before launch the founder added one setting: a listing is visible either to every brewery or only to ones the host has approved. Three of the first five hosts chose approved-only.

Stage 4 of 5

Launch

Is it safe to put in front of real users, and how will they find it?

What the guide flagged: the readiness check found that any signed-in brewery could see other breweries' booking requests by changing a number in the web address. That would have leaked exactly what hosts were worried about. It was fixed, and tested with a second account, before launch.

What happened at launch: announced at the state brewers guild's fall meeting and in two brewers' forums. In the first three weeks, 19 breweries signed up, 11 posted open time, and 4 batches were booked. 3 host breweries agreed to pay the 4% fee from their next booking on.

Stage 5 of 5

Learn

Is it working, and what should you do next?

What the numbers said: four batches booked in three weeks, against a target of five in two months. Every booking so far came from breweries the founder called personally; none came from the forum posts. The average batch was worth about $6,000, so each booking earns roughly $240 at 4%.

What the guide flagged: growth so far is the founder's phone, and that doesn't reach past Michigan. Before adding features, the guide pointed Learn at one question: will a brewery in Ohio or Indiana that has never met the founder post a listing? That decides whether this stays a side business or grows.