Setting up your brewery may be a dream come true. You may be in a rush to put everything into place. Your business plan looks good. Your staff is ready to roll. You have potential markets. You have the right recipes for brewing the best craft beer around. It all looks promising. Yet, unless you carefully select your brewery equipment, the dream could turn into an expensive nightmare.
Getting It Right: Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions
You want to get it right the first time. You need it to work. Unless you have a vast array of experience in selecting the right brewing equipment, you will need to do your research. Begin with basic online and hard copy works on the topic. You will find a wide variety of materials, documents and plans online.
Look at the plans for brew houses and the basic equipment they use. Make sure you are not comparing apples and oranges. As a small beginning brewery, you may not require the same size or capacity production tools. At the same time, keep their models in mind when you choose your equipment. It will force you to think of expansion and future prospects. This, in turn, will have you selecting pieces of equipment that are compatible with any future expansion plans.
With a more concrete picture of what you think your brewery should resemble, make plans to visit breweries that are similar to the one you plan to open. Look at how they have set up their brewery equipment. Pay close attention to the various components. Have they opted for manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic equipment? Are they using a traditional brite tank system for carbonization or have they chosen an inline carbonator instead? How computerized is the overall brewery? Looking at the lay out and content of the brewery will help you to firm up or change your previous plans derived from earlier research.
During your visits, ask questions. As long as you are not seeking to discover craft brewing secrets, you should receive some honest and open answers. Whatever the answers, you can mull them over and consider how they will help you improve your basic brewery plans. Asking questions is one way to discover more about how a brewery actually operates. It takes you beyond the theoretical into the practical.
Catalogues, Magazines, Sites and Reviews
Companies that produce and sell brewing equipment do post descriptions, and list characteristics and relevant details about their various products. Online magazines and blogs provide more data and write blogs, hubs, articles and reviews. Be sure you read them all. Whenever possible, check out the machinery in action. You have to be extra careful when choosing. Unlike vehicles and many other products, you cannot test-drive them before purchase.
Buying Brewery Equipment
The cost of brewery equipment, even used items, quickly adds up. Considering your budget is probably limited, you simply cannot afford to make any mistakes. Take your time in purchasing the right items. Talk to the experts and visit similar operational breweries. This will give you an idea of what to consider when it comes time to put your knowledge to work and by your brewery equipment.
