About six years ago, Oscar McMahon and Richard Adamson were mates who ran a beer club together.
Then Richard had an idea: imagine making a beer company that was as in touch with people as their beer club was.
"It was a simple sort of idea, and we thought why couldn’t we do that?" Oscar says.
They teamed up with three other investors and cobbled together $800,000 in start-up capital, launching with just eight small tanks in 2012.
Fast forward and Young Henrys has fostered a fiercely loyal following in their home patch of Sydney, but their ales, lagers and more are now available nationally too. 20 massive tanks have replaced their initial eight, and their most popular beer, the Newtowner, accounts for 60% of their sales.
Young Henry's co-founders Richard Adamson (center) and Oscar McMahon (right) Source: Supplied
But the biggest change since the early days?
"No one was really getting paid to start - everyone gets paid now!" jokes Dan Hampton, Young Henry's Head of Sales.
"The growth has been pretty insane, we've doubled volume nearly every year," Oscar adds.
"In the last year and half, we put a lot of time and effort into quality control, into our process and recipes, focusing on production times, yeast health and quality."
Brewing business
Young Henrys' growth mirrors the trend in the wider craft brewing industry in Australia. Since 2013, the sector has grown at an annual rate of 9.7%, according to research firm IBISWorld. Total industry revenue this year reached nearly half a billion dollars.
"[When we started] a lot of people were joining the market," Dan says. "There were 120 craft beer companies in Australia at the time - there's over 400 now only five years later.”
“Everyone seemed to be doing big, hoppy beers at the time - the anti of mainstream beer. We thought you don’t have to do that, just make good beer."
Punters down pints at Young Henry's beer hall in the Sydney suburb of Newtown. Source: Supplied
It’s a philosophy that's helped propel their success. But a good product is only part of the equation when it comes to keeping a growing business afloat.
Oscar says they were careful not to overcapitalise early on, keeping their equipment and facilities small until they had the sales and demand to justify investing in more space and bigger tanks.
"It’s a capitally intensive business - to start a brewery you need a lot of equipment, site works, power upgrades. You need to invest in lots of stainless steel."
Their latest investment has been an on-site lab to test yeast quality and consistency.
The Young Henry's brewery now houses 20 tanks. Source: Supplied
"The last five and a half years of what we’ve gone through is bloody tiring," Dan says. "It feels like 20 years, and my liver feels like it’s been a 100 years! But it’s pretty young for craft bear. You've got companies that have been around for 100 years.... A lot more doors are opening now for us, and we're here to stay."
Want to find out the secret to small business success? Tune into #BizSecretsSBS at Sundays 7am on SBS, stream on SBS On Demand, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
