One of the Best Start-Ups in Germany Revolutionizes Home Brewing

MUNICH, GERMANY--(Marketwired - Jul 1, 2015) - The start-up company Customized Drinks GmbH from Munich, manufacturers of the customizable Brewbarrel homebrew kits, was among the finalists for the German Entrepreneur Award (Deutscher Gründerpreis) yesterday evening in Berlin.

The start-up company Customized Drinks GmbH from Munich develops and produces the Brewbarrel homebrew kits, with which you can brew beer yourself at home in just one week. The beer can be configured precisely according to your own tastes at www.brewbarrel.com. Firstly, you select the type of beer, then the intensity of the hops, and finally, the beer can be refined with different natural flavors and aromas. It is thus currently possible to create and brew over 100,000 different beers. The company was among the three finalists for the German Entrepreneur Award in the start-up category for its innovative product design and business model, as well as for the outstanding development of the business. The German Entrepreneur Award is the most important award for outstanding entrepreneurs in Germany. Dominik Guber, founder and Head of Sales said about the award ceremony: "This is further acknowledgment that we have created a new trend in home brewing and an individual beer-tasting experience with our product."

The start-up company has sold more than 70,000 Brewbarrel kits since sales began in the summer of 2012. Almost 40,000 of these kits were sold in the last financial year, which corresponds to an annual turnover of 1.3 million euros. Against a background of declining beer sales over a number of years, the entrepreneurs have managed to establish a totally new affinity with beer through their individual beer-brewing experience and have thus helped to significantly boost the home-brewing trend. Wolfgang Westermeier, founder and Head of Product Development commented: "Brewbarrel has made home brewing accessible to a broad target group and made an individual beer-tasting experience possible for the first time."

The homebrew kits have also been available on the English market since October 2014. More than 10,000 English-language kits have been sold since sales began. Founder Ping Lu commented: "The sales launch in England went significantly better than planned." The entrepreneurs want to increase sales further in England this year and also enter into markets in other European countries. They aim to achieve an annual turnover of 10 million euros by 2017, and increase their workforce to between 25 and 30 employees from the current figure of ten. Alongside the internationalization of existing products, a key element will be the introduction of new product lines.

About Customized Drinks GmbH:
Customized Drinks GmbH was founded by three students from the Technical University in Munich in May 2012. After the founders noticed time and again that there was a comparatively limited diversity in the choice of beer, the central idea for the business was born: "Increasing beer diversity in Germany and enabling an individual beer-tasting experience." It quickly became clear that this path would lead them to home brewing. However, all of the existing home-brewing solutions were very complicated and time consuming. Founder Dominik Guber remarked: "We wanted to make it possible for everyone to easily brew their own beer with a guaranteed level of success." The founders thus spent a long time refining their idea and developed "Braufässchen" after conducting numerous experiments.

Everyone can create their own beer today from over 100,000 possibilities and according to their own individual tastes in three intuitive steps on the website www.brewbarrel.com. All of the ingredients are then subsequently carefully weighed and delivered to the customer's home together with an empty five-litre barrel, a matching pressure valve and simple operating instructions. The beer can then be prepared for fermentation in just a few minutes. The self-brewed beer is finished after just one week and can be freshly served from the barrel. From the very beginning, the key priorities for the founders were the satisfaction of the customer and the use of high-quality raw materials. Founder Wolfgang Westermeier commented: "We want people to have a fantastic experience with Brewbarrel, learn about brewing and be able, in the end, to enjoy a delicious beer that precisely matches their tastes."

The majority of the barrels are still sold in Germany under the brand name "Braufässchen". However, the product has also been available since autumn last year under the international brand name "Brewbarrel" from the English web shop www.brewbarrel.com, which the founders are using to help push forward their plans for internationalization: "We are currently in the process of opening up the European market and are also holding discussions in parallel with potential partners about launching onto the American, Canadian and Australian markets." A large proportion of the investment for this internationalization has been generated by the company itself. The start-up company was already able to achieve a positive cash flow just one and a half years after it was founded. The company already has ten employees and produces the homebrew kits in a modern production facility in the heart of Munich. Alongside the internationalization of its products, the company also aims to achieve further growth through the sale of other raw materials and high-quality food additives such as flavors and aromas for the home-brewing sector. All materials for journalists: http://www.brewbarrel.com/materials-for-journalists

About the German Entrepreneur Award (Deutscher Gründerpreis):
The German Entrepreneur Award is the most important award for outstanding entrepreneurs in Germany. The award is presented every year in the categories students, start-up, high achiever and lifetime work. The German Entrepreneur Award has been presented by the partners stern, Sparkassen, ZDF and Porsche since 1997. The German Entrepreneur Award is supported by a distinguished Board of Trustees, sponsors and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy. The finalists receive coaching from the management consultants Porsche Consulting GmbH that is individually tailored to their requirements. In addition, members of the Board of Trustees for the German Entrepreneur Award act as sponsors for each finalist over a period of two years, making their expertise and experience available to them. The companies also receive media training from ZDF and access to the alumni network of the German Entrepreneur Award.