thelocalbrewery said:
Can I have an explanation as to how these $$ are determined?
As previously stated, the numbers are outdated. They're just a place holder.
Are you an existing brewery? What's your volume? That will help me frame an answer.
Is there a database of costing somewhere for brewing ingredients across suppliers? Should I assume this to be wholesale pricing? Help me understand what I'm seeing here.
There's no database. Most suppliers have pricing based on volume purchases. Every January, I spend the month inputting the new pricing from my suppliers.
Remember, you're using a homebrewing program to run just a part of your business. The costing of recipes is minor compared to the enormous expense load of any brewery business. Your first over/under mark of profitability is 5000 barrels, in the US. You're costs will continue to fluctuate until you're north of 100,000 barrels. If controlling your costs is important, then you'll use one of the full supply chain programs available to brewers.
My business model is a brewpub, so BeerSmith works as a costing model because I have a manufacturing to retail price differential and only one location to factor. It wouldn't work for me as a wholesale model because it can't figure carrying cost, multiple batching, blending or partial production costs. Nor can it figure apportioned taxes, a major cost for all brewers distributing in more than one state.
Costing your recipes will take some time. All of my recipes are costed against the prices of each supplier. In other words, I have the same Pale Ale recipe in a folder for BSG, CMG and Cargill. If I have to use a different supplier one month, it's no big deal to know what the order will cost.
I have everything in my recipe, except taxes. Grain & hops, of course; but also whirlfloc, nutrient, filter media and yeast (based on average number of batches/generations used, which is about 25+ batches, or 14 generations). If you're going to use if for costs, count 'em all! 8)