I can't speak for a homebrew club specifically, but as an organizer of a bicycle club with a shared workspace and a member of a community workshop, here are some things we struggle with:
- shared storage space is subject to the tragedy of the commons. If there are no guidelines for limiting usage, it gets filled up quickly with stuff that people eventually abandon. Our approach is that the available space is first-come-first-served, your stuff must all be labeled with your name and the date it was left, and it will be chucked if it's been there longer than 6 months. Even this approach is problematic: people ask for exceptions frequently and also simply forget to label their stuff. When brewing, you'll need storage space for all of that beer as it ferments. Carboys will be locked up with batches that require different aging times. That barleywine may take up space for a year. So will that mead, or the hard cider that gets fed honey in dribbles in order to get the perfect balance of sweetness.
- tools go missing all the time. People forget them in odd places because they're focused on the project, not the tool.
- Almost nobody respects community tools and property with the same sense of attachment they have to their own personal property.
- Community equipment will not be cleaned to everyone's standards. It will eventually be cleaned to the standards of the dirtiest community member.
- Rules and policies are useless if they're not enforced. Enforcing rules is a delicate matter and requires lots of social intelligence and tact, and even when done well can result in hurt feelings. The enforcer(s) are not always well-liked as a result -- respected, perhaps, but not liked.
- When the club was based in someone's basement, it was impossible to access tools and in-progress projects without making arrangements with the homeowner. Being gatekeeper is not fun. Even a standard weekly "open basement" time becomes a chore for the gatekeeper. Whoever donates their space to this project is taking on a lot of responsibility and committing a lot of time to the club, so it needs to be worth it for that person.
And as a homebrewer:
- Don't allow lambic-style beers or brewing with brettanomyces yeast. This yeast and the organisms in lambic have evolved to infect beer by being airborne. Once they are in your brewery, they are virtually impossible to eliminate from the environment, and all beers will eventually become infected with them and have strange flavors as a result.
- Beer brewing consumes a large amount of water during the cooling stage. This will show up on the utility bill.
- Make sure there is a good insurance policy; there is a huge liability issue. Brewing beer can be dangerous. Alcohol, heavy containers of hot liquids, large glass containers, wet surfaces, pressurized gas, burners and tanks of fuel have the potential to combine in new and exciting ways.
- Brew outside or in an open garage, not inside; cleanup is easier and there's less chance of spilling gallons of liquid indoors.
Here's the thing about beer brewing equipment, though -- it's cheap -- like, really cheap. Within the first two or three batches it will pay for itself. And after that, by exercising your frugal muscles beer can be as low as 25 cents a pint!