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Brewing Up a Business: Adventures in Entrepreneurship from the Founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Entrepreneurial dreams do come true! Starting with nothing more than a home brewing kit, Sam Calagione founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and made it America's fastest growing independent beer. This unconventional business story reveals how Calagione found success by dreaming big, working hard, and thinking differently-and how you can do it too.
"Rarely is a book as good as a beer but this one is. It's written with humor, humility, and passion, essential ingredients for any entrepreneur."
-Bob Guccione Jr. founder of Spin magazine and Gear magazine
"Brewing Up a Business will inspire both entrepreneurs and aspiring small business people to have the confidence in following their dreams."
-Jim Davis Chairman and CEO of New Balance
"Sam Calagione embodies the spirit of a true Delaware entrepreneur. Starting out as the smallest brewery in the nation, Sam's ambition, acute business sense, and vision have allowed Dogfish Head Craft Brewery to successfully enter an extremely competitive market as Dogfish Head continues to leave an indelible mark on the beer industry."
-Ruth Ann Minner Governor of Delaware
"Everything you want to know about succeeding in business you can learn from beer. At least you can if it's the remarkable story of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Brewing Up a Business is like a 'how-to' manual for entrepreneurs. With humor, creativity, and wisdom, Sam Calagione has crafted a new kind of business book that's as unique as his great beer!"
-Joe Calloway author of Becoming a Category of One and Indispensable
"Rarely is a book as good as a beer but this one is. It's written with humor, humility, and passion, essential ingredients for any entrepreneur."
-Bob Guccione Jr. founder of Spin magazine and Gear magazine
"Brewing Up a Business will inspire both entrepreneurs and aspiring small business people to have the confidence in following their dreams."
-Jim Davis Chairman and CEO of New Balance
"Sam Calagione embodies the spirit of a true Delaware entrepreneur. Starting out as the smallest brewery in the nation, Sam's ambition, acute business sense, and vision have allowed Dogfish Head Craft Brewery to successfully enter an extremely competitive market as Dogfish Head continues to leave an indelible mark on the beer industry."
-Ruth Ann Minner Governor of Delaware
"Everything you want to know about succeeding in business you can learn from beer. At least you can if it's the remarkable story of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Brewing Up a Business is like a 'how-to' manual for entrepreneurs. With humor, creativity, and wisdom, Sam Calagione has crafted a new kind of business book that's as unique as his great beer!"
-Joe Calloway author of Becoming a Category of One and Indispensable
280 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2005
177 people are currently reading
950 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
August 29, 2011
Like most people will tell you this is a book about business (and really marketing) and not about brewing or a brewery. Sam Calagione is a salesman and a marketer more than businessman or a brewer and everything he leaves his signature on lets you know that. This book is filled with stories and advice on brand building and doesn't focus as much on anything else. The blurb states "Starting with nothing more than a home brewing kit, Sam Calagione founded Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and made it America's fastest growing independent beer." but the lack of attention and focus on those aspects reveal the truth which is that Sam Calagione actually inherited and married into the wealth that allowed him to create two business he knew nothing about and keep them afloat while they lost money for years and years.
This book is entertaining and not without merit, but it is yet another tool in making the Dogfish Head/Sam Calagione brand.
This book is entertaining and not without merit, but it is yet another tool in making the Dogfish Head/Sam Calagione brand.
July 22, 2020
Although I did not really get any direct knowledge from it that I can really apply myself, this was an interesting read. I've been following Sam and Dogfish Head ever since I watched the Brew Masters show years ago and this is a good companion for that.
You can really hear Sam's voice when you read this, which also helps not to take it all too seriously. It comes from a good place, but you do get the feeling that you're reading a very subjective summary of the company's formation and first 15 years. That's not a bad thing, mind you, just something to keep in mind.
The book is both autobiographical and a business guide. I don't think it's strong enough in the latter part to recommend it specifically for people who want to start their own business, but for viewers of the show or lovers of the beers of the brewery this is a nice read.
You can really hear Sam's voice when you read this, which also helps not to take it all too seriously. It comes from a good place, but you do get the feeling that you're reading a very subjective summary of the company's formation and first 15 years. That's not a bad thing, mind you, just something to keep in mind.
The book is both autobiographical and a business guide. I don't think it's strong enough in the latter part to recommend it specifically for people who want to start their own business, but for viewers of the show or lovers of the beers of the brewery this is a nice read.
October 10, 2017
Business advice for new brewers with plenty of Dogfish Head origin stories mixed in. I really enjoyed hearing about all of their innovations after experiencing so many of them in Milton/Rehoboth Beach and thinking about the gap between the writing and the current state of the company.
I'm definitely not a business book person but I enjoyed some of the concepts Sam introduced.
I'm definitely not a business book person but I enjoyed some of the concepts Sam introduced.
December 29, 2018
I read this thinking it was just about the history of a brewery, but it's more a business/marketing book themed on his brewery. I recommend reading this for anyone starting their own business, regardless of the industry.
April 9, 2017
Good book, which lends a greater appreciation for Dogfish Head, and those that have had a part in its creation. Good tips for business persons and management, not just in the brewing industry!
March 15, 2025
The early chapters where the author talks about his interest in beer and the first year of starting his brewery Dogfish Head was my favorite part. Diving into marketing, sales, and management was less interesting, but just as importantly for a small business owner. I enjoyed it more as it was in the context of brewing, often giving real examples from his time as head brewer and founder.
September 15, 2011
Sam Calgione is definitely one of my heroes and as an entrepreneur myself this was a must read. I have been a homebrewer for a couple of years and i have always dreamt of what it would be like to own and operate my own brewery. Sam's book is not a recipe for success but the story about how he started and where he is today. I really dont feel like I learned alot but I agree with much of what was said. Calgione has a very hands-on approach to business and I am very impressed with his principles behind employee empowerment.
One of the things that I didnt find so engrossing was every time a business lesson was inserted into the material. I dont doubt Calgione's ability but sometimes it fractures his voice, which is really good up until he does that.What I really do like is when he tells a story, and i can tell you, there are a couple of good ones in there.
This is definitely a good read, even better if youre a homebrewer!
One of the things that I didnt find so engrossing was every time a business lesson was inserted into the material. I dont doubt Calgione's ability but sometimes it fractures his voice, which is really good up until he does that.What I really do like is when he tells a story, and i can tell you, there are a couple of good ones in there.
This is definitely a good read, even better if youre a homebrewer!
February 4, 2011
This was an OK book. I feel like when I picked it up I'd be reading a book that would help in the pursuit of opening up a brewpub. What I did learn, in fact, was how Sam Calagione loves himself and everything he has done with his own brewpub/brewery, Dogfish Head. There were a few things I could take away from this, but overall, I was disappointed. Plus, many of the pointers Calagione made were repeated over and over and over and over again. Thanks, Sam!
Finally, I would say that Mr. Calagione is really in it for the money, despite all the references in the book that say he is in it to give beer drinkers quality beer. Maybe I'd believe that if you weren't always doing things for sales -- see this book, the show "Brew Masters" and selling Dogfish Head Shampoo. Puh-lease!
Finally, I would say that Mr. Calagione is really in it for the money, despite all the references in the book that say he is in it to give beer drinkers quality beer. Maybe I'd believe that if you weren't always doing things for sales -- see this book, the show "Brew Masters" and selling Dogfish Head Shampoo. Puh-lease!
September 26, 2018
I liked this book a bit better than Sam's other book "Off-Centered Leadership." This book explains a bit of Sam's backstory along with how he started Dogfish Head, and how he came over entrepreneurship challenges. It's filled with great anecdotes about Sam's life as well as the startup-to-early-days of both the Rehoboth Brewpub and the Milton Brewery. As a Dogfish Head believer, those stories were great.
The business advice was reasonable. It's more philosophical than it is empirically practical. Instead of saying, "make sure your cash-to-debt ratio is no more than 1:2" or something, it talks about what balance sheets are, and the value of having a board to help you manage them. I am not currently and entrepreneur, but many of these concepts can apply generally to my position as work as well as how I approach my job. It's not written for someone with a business degree - it's explicitly written for someone who does not have that background.
The narration was good. Having watched Sam on TV multiple times, I felt like the narrator captured his essence and attitude. It really helped breath life into the text.
Recommendation? Yes for a Dogfish Head fan with any interest in business.
The business advice was reasonable. It's more philosophical than it is empirically practical. Instead of saying, "make sure your cash-to-debt ratio is no more than 1:2" or something, it talks about what balance sheets are, and the value of having a board to help you manage them. I am not currently and entrepreneur, but many of these concepts can apply generally to my position as work as well as how I approach my job. It's not written for someone with a business degree - it's explicitly written for someone who does not have that background.
The narration was good. Having watched Sam on TV multiple times, I felt like the narrator captured his essence and attitude. It really helped breath life into the text.
Recommendation? Yes for a Dogfish Head fan with any interest in business.
September 7, 2020
As many others mentioned, this is a business/marketing book first and foremost. I bought Brewing Up a Business hoping that Sam Calgione would share detailed stories about Dogfish Head and that they would be interwoven with business lessons, but that was not the case at all. While there were plenty of pieces of wisdom to be gained by reading this, it still felt like it came up short even from an average "business book" standpoint.
The book read almost like Dogfish Head propaganda. The few negative stories even felt like a person in an interview answering the question "What are your weaknesses?" with... "My one weakness is I work too hard."
Caligione also seems to be very obsessed with himself, and was not shy at taking shots at others throughout this book. Others seemed to enjoy his voice, but to me, it was off-puting.
Each chapter seemingly repeated the exact same lessons from earlier chapters just told in slightly different ways.
I'm personally a big fan of Dogfish Head's beer, and had high hopes for this book, but was left feeling very disappointed.
The book read almost like Dogfish Head propaganda. The few negative stories even felt like a person in an interview answering the question "What are your weaknesses?" with... "My one weakness is I work too hard."
Caligione also seems to be very obsessed with himself, and was not shy at taking shots at others throughout this book. Others seemed to enjoy his voice, but to me, it was off-puting.
Each chapter seemingly repeated the exact same lessons from earlier chapters just told in slightly different ways.
I'm personally a big fan of Dogfish Head's beer, and had high hopes for this book, but was left feeling very disappointed.
March 1, 2019
I had high hopes for this book, given that I consider Dogfish Head one of the two best brewpub chains in America (the other being Mountain Sun in Colorado). I expected the book to focus on Sam Caligione's experience creating Dogfish Head, but his story is buried in bromides for would-be entrepreneurs. This leads to a disjointed, incomplete, redundant and non-chronological story. This is a shame because Sam is a good writer with an even better story to tell.
One detail that I found curious: Sam mentions Donald Trump (I assume his book the "Art of the Deal") as one of his chief inspirations (p. 26). Really??? I had just entered U.C. Berkeley as a card-carrying Republican when the book came out and I assumed it was about a buffoonish used car salesman. The author of the book, Tony Schwartz, has admitted that every deal he wrote about was a sham. Harvard's negotiation journal just announced that not a single article has referenced the book in the past ten years!
One detail that I found curious: Sam mentions Donald Trump (I assume his book the "Art of the Deal") as one of his chief inspirations (p. 26). Really??? I had just entered U.C. Berkeley as a card-carrying Republican when the book came out and I assumed it was about a buffoonish used car salesman. The author of the book, Tony Schwartz, has admitted that every deal he wrote about was a sham. Harvard's negotiation journal just announced that not a single article has referenced the book in the past ten years!
May 1, 2020
Read the book by the founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Sam Calagione, about entrepreneurship and the business of craft beer. Traces the author’s path from juvenile hijinks while attending Northfield Mt. Hermon School to waiting tables at a beer bar in Manhattan to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where he opened his first brewpub, Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats. I was amazed to learn that Sam started out with a 10-gallon brewery and that he lobbied the state government to repeal laws prohibiting the operation of breweries in the state just in time to allow him to open his brewpub for the summer season of 1995. I like Dogfish Head’s motto: “Off-centered ales for off-centered people.”
November 28, 2023
Even though I didn’t know dogfish head brewery before, it was fun to learn about Sam’s journey and the beginnings of the brewery. I thought it was a nice mixture of talking about the challenges and opportunities that small business entrepreneurs face, talking about the craft brewery scene, and Sam’s personal life story.
What I didn’t like is that it got very repetitive, repeating over and over again the same talking points of the bad, boring and powerful big breweries and the importance of hiring and motivating the right people etc.
In the end it did really make me want to try their beers and if I’m in Delaware some day, a brewery tour is definitely on my to-do list.
What I didn’t like is that it got very repetitive, repeating over and over again the same talking points of the bad, boring and powerful big breweries and the importance of hiring and motivating the right people etc.
In the end it did really make me want to try their beers and if I’m in Delaware some day, a brewery tour is definitely on my to-do list.
November 27, 2018
Decent book with some fun stories about the history of Dogfish Head, but it gets a little too preachy and has too much of a self-help feeling at certain points. There’s not really anything I learned from a business standpoint other than pretty basic stuff. The flow of the book is also off at times. It almost seems as though the book was written and then the chapters were rearranged before publishing. There are a lot of points that are mentioned multiple times in an odd way. If you want a great beer pioneer book I’d suggest looking at Jim Koch’s book before this.
October 11, 2024
I was expecting this to be more of a story of Dogfish Head's history and such, and there's definitely some tidbits in there but it was more geared toward people who maybe want to start a business.
It was still a little interesting, and one of the things that resonated with me was that Sam Calagione states that he read about all sorts of things that didn't necessarily immediately relate to starting a brewery. That's something that clicked just because I also like to read about various topics because you never know when some of that info will be handy
It was still a little interesting, and one of the things that resonated with me was that Sam Calagione states that he read about all sorts of things that didn't necessarily immediately relate to starting a brewery. That's something that clicked just because I also like to read about various topics because you never know when some of that info will be handy
August 21, 2025
The book is well written, and I like the overall philosophy and the focus on product and people over profits on the page. Yet I acknowledge that time may have fiddled with the story a bit (and I also acknowledge that the entire original story may not have been told, but I'm OK with that). The last chapter might do with another update (e.g., how "good" a company is Twitter now?). And how has the merger with Boston Beer Company changed things?
May 17, 2017
Great for both entrepreneurs and brewers alike (or people who are one in the same - like me!). Sam is a hero and one of the few regional brewers who managed to stick to his guns, not get too big to lose sight of his brand, and has never shown an iota of pretentiousness like other brewers are known to.
The man knows his stuff and it's tested, tried and true!
The man knows his stuff and it's tested, tried and true!
January 3, 2020
being a beer lover who also has an inclination to start a career in the craft beer world, I really enjoyed this book. Sam has just enough mischievousness, heart and soul and creativity to be very likable and that in itself makes the story enjoyable. The fact that he made himself and his dreams such as success makes it even more enjoyable and inspirational.
October 19, 2018
Absolutely loved this well written story recounting the making of a brand. As some other reviewers have said long on the philosophical while being shorter on the practical definitely not a how to but more of this how I did which may or may not work for you. Good stuff.
January 21, 2024
A semi-interesting biography about both Dogfish head but really the craft beer movement in general. Sam is an especially driven entrepreneur who literally got the laws of Delaware changed so he could launch his brewery. Also worth checking out is the short lived TV show he had.
March 20, 2024
This is a wonderful read. Well written and engaging. It is a business book that happens to include brewery information. Sam does a great job of breaking down his journey of Entrepreneurship and relating his brewing experience into general business knowledge.
May 8, 2017
Essential when I was starting up my own brewery.
May 18, 2017
Inspiring more than practical. Full of mythmaking and dreams.
June 28, 2017
Great read for an aspiring brewer
Casual but insightful - provided a candid description of the trials and tribulations of a business that ultimately become extremely successful
Casual but insightful - provided a candid description of the trials and tribulations of a business that ultimately become extremely successful
August 23, 2017
exciting, enjoyable read, full of great insights you've been struggling to put in words, but felt long ago.
August 30, 2017
Excellent read
October 13, 2018
awesome read for book worms, beer lovers and entrepreneurs.
January 7, 2019
Really enjoyed the story of Dogfish Head and their initital troubles as they grew into the brewing empire they are today.
November 22, 2019
More of an autobiography than a how-to book.
March 20, 2020
If your creating with the squad or you just solo, this the book for us
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews