Pilot Project’s Playbook for Launching and Scaling Breweries

Pilot Project was created to support talented brewers in an industry with exceptionally high barriers to entry. Modeled after the music industry, Pilot helps launch and scale start up breweries by supporting recipe development, production scaling, business operations, marketing, distribution, and more. In this live conversation, Pilot Project co-founder Dan Abel will share how this model came to life, how it continues to evolve, and how he is working to change the structure of the brewing industry while offering insight into what’s next for both Pilot and beer more broadly.

Since its inception, Pilot Project has helped launch 20 beverage brands, including nationally recognized names like women founded Luna Bay Hard Kombucha and ROVM Hard Kombucha, Black owned Funkytown Brewery, travel inspired Brewer’s Kitchen, Indian led Azadi Brewing, Donna’s Pickle Beer, and others. Pilot has also supported Mash Gang’s expansion to the US from the UK and helped bring Mexico City based Cerveceria Paracaidista stateside. Today, Pilot operates breweries and tasting rooms in Chicago and Milwaukee, including a 70,000 square foot Milwaukee facility acquired following an $8M expansion focused seed round, plus a newly opened second Chicago location in Wrigleyville. Most recently, Pilot’s non alcoholic brand Years announced a partnership with John Mulaney.

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