Beer Hardware is located in the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. We started the business in November 2014 and we supply electronics from the USA for those home beer brewers that would like to build their own electrical control panels. We also supply other brewing hardware that is imported from the USA.
Who are we:
Everything starts with a story and this his how Beer Hardware was started. Between 2010 and 2013 I was working in Afghanistan as a remote site medic. Some days it was very busy and other days you had a bit of time browse on the web. I was browsing on Google and for some or other reason I came across one of the American Brewing Forums Home Brew Talk. Being away for four months at a time I had more than enough time to read about everything that I would need to know about home brewing.
Unfortunately working for four months at a time I would only be home for two weeks. Being at home for only two weeks and away for four months meant that I could not start brewing yet but I kept on reading as much as I could. Everything changed in 2013 when I started working in Iraq. The rotations were much better so I could start brewing. However I only started in the beginning of 2014.
I bought myself a gas burner, pot and everything else that I needed to make my first home brew. I did my first few beers but not long after I got tired of using gas. The noise, unable to control temperature correctly etc. I decided to do a bit of research so that I could see all the equipment I needed to go electrical. After reading many pages and drafting loads of wire diagram sketches I had my list with everything necessary to make it happen.
I searched high and low in South Africa and pretty much could not find what I needed or if I did find it I had to pay an arm, leg and a kidney. I decided to start looking for the products globally and found amazing products in the USA. I imported everything and with the cost of the products, courier and customs it was still much cheaper than buying it in South Africa.
Then I had this idea that maybe I should import these products on a larger scale and make it available in South Africa. After speaking to many people at that time doing craft beer brewing in South Africa I found that there would be a demand for these products and then chatting to my wife we decided that I should look into starting Beer Hardware.
I was then in contact with the suppliers in the USA and received bulk discount prices for all the products. The only thing that was still in the way was funding for the business. Buying products in bulk combined with courier and customs was lots of money and as we had no savings put away I decided to sell my motorcycle.
I then placed my very first order which was only electronics at that point in time and in November 2014 Beer Hardware begun trading.
I soon realized the market could be expanded as I then received queries for hardware components, etc. that was also not available in South Africa or if available at a very high cost. We then funded our next order for hardware with a personal overdraft facility and all the products sold like hot cakes.
Why Crowdfunding:
Unfortunately Beer Hardware is at the point where the demand for our electronics and hardware has exceeded our ability to supply due to financial constraints and the cost involved and only being cost effective when we can bring large shipments into the country.
With the crowd funding project there are three things that we would like to achieve:
1) Bring in larger amounts of electronics and brewing hardware from the USA.
2) Expanding the business so that we can stock brewing grains, hops and yeast, targeting the Cape Town Northern Suburbs.
3) Ultimately we want to open a shop in the Northern Suburbs as part of the online business.
About the online business:
We are located in Kuils River, the Northern Suburbs of Cape Town. Our future plans would include to opening “walk in” shop in the Northern Suburbs. At the shop you would be able to buy all your electronics, hardware and all ingredients that is needed to make craft beer.
Our milestones:
Due to the amount of funding that we need to meet our goals above, we would be doing the crowd funding in two stages. This would be stage one:
Milestone 1: Tipping Point:
Our first milestone would be R55,000. With this funding we would be able to import minimal amount of electronics from our supplier in the USA. This funding would also be used to pay for the Courier and Customs associated with the electronics shipment.
We would be bringing in a total of 80 electronic products, divided in 22 categories.
Milestone 2:
Our second milestone would be R350,000. With this funding we would be able to import our electronics from our supplier in the USA on a larger scale. This funding would also be used to pay for the Courier and Customs associated with the electronics shipment.
We would be bringing in a total of 700 electronic products, divided in 22 categories.
Milestone 3:
Our third milestone would be R450,000. With this funding we would be doing everything as per milestone 1 and 2. In addition to the electronics we would also be purchasing the following from a local bulk supplier in South Africa:
A) Total of 300 products, divided in 40 categories. This would include grain mills, STC temperature controllers, Hydrometers, brewing sugars etc.
If you would like to contribute to this funding project and you are not into beer brewing, then please let us know and we can discuss different reward options.
Founder/Owner: My name is Frikkie and I have been working as a Paramedic my whole life. I have worked in South Africa for a few years and for the last 6 years I have been working in Afghanistan and Iraq.
I am married to Ronel and she works in the vehicle finance industry.
We have a 13yr old daughter, 9yr old son and pigeon pair twins of 3yrs old.