ProBrewer Expert Topic • Volume 2025, Issue 02
Brewery Equipment – a comprehensive look at equipment for brewing and packaging
This month’s Expert Topic explores best practices for buying, maintaining and fixing your brewery equipment.
supported in part by Craft Kettle Brewing Equipment
Editor's Introduction to Brewery Equipment – a comprehensive look at equipment for brewing and packaging
The brewery is the heart and soul of the brewer’s business. Whether you are setting up a new brewery or maintaining an existing system, the process of buying equipment should be well thought out; not just to save time and money, but most importantly to make good beer. From budgeting to space limitations, thinking ahead, and having an appreciation for the art and science of brewing, the process should be detailed and careful to get the most out of your brewing equipment.
This month’s Expert Topic article will look at some best practices for brewery equipment, including budgeting, research, purchasing and training. There are also articles from the ProBrewer archives including how to outfit a quality control lab that meets your budget, deciding on new versus used equipment and hose maintenance in the brewhouse.
We also have detailed articles on how to add a pilot brewery, considering adding automation in the brewhouse, understanding online brewery auctions and much more.
Don’t forget to check out the ProBrewer Classifieds for all types of brewing equipment for sale both new and used and the ProBrewer Discussion Boards for a wide range of conversations around brewery operations and equipment.
Featured Articles in Brewery Equipment – a comprehensive look at equipment for brewing and packaging
Understanding Online Brewery Auctions
The emails seem to come a bit more frequently these days. Previously used brewery equipment going on the auction block. Get your bids ready. Own a piece of a brewery’s history and make it part of your future. Business auctions are nothing new, of course, but the last few years of trouble for the brewing industry couple with the sheer volume of brewers has meant that more stainless steel equipment than ever before is coming to the marketplace. (more...)
Considering Automation In Your Brewhouse
Brewing is often a physical job, one involving interactions with hot elements, slick surfaces, and heavy machinery. Craft brewers have long touted the “hand-crafted” nature of their lower volume operations, suggesting it somehow improves the flavor or character of the beer. When it comes to most brewery operations, however, the intense manual labor involved in moving liquid around a brewery just stresses the bodies of workers rather than improves a beer’s body or nose. (more...)
Beyond the Basics in Brewery Sanitation
By now, anyone even remotely associated with the brewing industry should know that sanitation is the key to success. Not only does it show a commitment to quality but it also keeps customers safe. There are tried and true standard operating procedures that good breweries follow to keep unwanted germs and microbes at bay, but what does the future of sanitation look like? (more...)
Setting Up a QC Lab with Neva Parker of White Labs
My favorite part of any brewery tour is seeing the lab. It’s not that I’m a science nerd or even particularly conversant in what goes on in these scientific sanctuaries. A lab is a sign that a brewery takes quality serious enough to invest resources in pursuit of it. (more...)
Adding a Pilot Brewery
When walking through a brewery, attention is often paid to the workhorse brewhouse, the large-barrel mash tun doing a yeoman’s lift and the large fermenters where the magic is happening. More and more these days there are little brew kits tucked in a corner or off to the side that are not as flashy, but are doing the heavy research and development lift, resulting in beers that could one day get a full commercial release. The pilot brewery. (more...)
Choosing Brewery Equipment: Lightning Round with Kevin Weaver of Brewmation
When selecting your brewing equipment, there are a number decisions to make that might not be obvious. Great beer can be brewed on any virtually any system, but selecting the right equipment for your brewery is dependent on your processes, your beer, and your budget. In this webinar, we’ll cover a range of topics to consider when shopping for your brewery equipment.
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