Category: Expert Topic Archive
Expert Topic 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.
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Expert Topic Questioning the Pros and Cons of New vs. Used Equipment
Take a scroll through social media these days, or browse the forums on this site, or simply open your email and you’re likely to come across previously used brewing equipment for sale or that is going up for auction. For the breweries where expansion or adding extra capacity is in the cards, there is a lot of choice and a lot to consider. What are some of the things you should consider when making the decision on purchasing something new versus previously owned? Here are some questions that can help you make the decision.
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Expert Topic 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.
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Expert Topic Assessing Lab Needs, What You Need, What To Wish For
Starting a brewery is an exciting, nerve-wracking, whirlwind experience for many, with much of the focus on finding the perfect location, keeping costs down during buildout, and crafting recipes and brand identities. Breweries also need to keep an eye on beer quality as the competitive beer marketplace won’t support off-flavors and aromas for long. That means focusing efforts on critical but less visible operations, such as testing your brewery’s beer.
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Expert Topic New Year, New Hops, New Flavors
A new year means another opportunity to get excited about newly named hops hitting the marketplace as well as a slew of innovations in the hop industry. There are nearly a dozen newly named hop varieties available this year and a push into oils that can play a big role in the hotly emerging category of hop water.
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Expert Topic Hops and Climate Change
Climate change has long been on the minds of folks in and around the beer industry. Whether relating to water use, recapturing carbon dioxide, managing spent grains, or even dealing with the fallout from storms, floods, and fires, the beer industry has soberly viewed weather related issues as challenges to be addressed. Access to quality raw ingredients is just another in a long line of climate based concerns.
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Expert Topic The Future of Fruit Beers
Chris Hodge has seen a lot of change in the 30 years he has worked in and around the American craft beer industry. Whether in his roles working for distributors and importers or as the CEO of Worthy Brewing, Hodge has seen trends come and go. After seven years in his role as Director of Sales for Oregon Fruit Products (OFP), he has watched craft beer’s relationship with fruit evolve.
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Expert Topic Exploring Alternative Brewing Grains
Throughout 2023 there were a number of grain conversations happening in the beer industry. Some brewers went all in on small batch grain while barely breeders continued to explore new flavors. Malts were smoked in a variety of ways, and corn and rice were embraced by small American brewers like never before. Among the conversations that stood out for me were about alternative brewing grains, specifically kernza and fonio. As a new year begins and brewers look to bring exciting flavors to the glass while keeping an eye on climate change, these grains could play a bigger role in beer production.
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News 2023 Hop Report Released – Production Up 2% From Last Year but Value Down 9%
Hop production for Idaho, Oregon, and Washington in 2023 totaled 104 million pounds, up 2% from the 2022 crop of 102 million pounds. Despite production being up, the total number of acres of harvested hops actually decreased by 10%. Although total acreage was down, growers had a better yield this year at 1,915 pounds per acre, up 221 pounds from a year ago.
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Expert Topic Innovation in Beer Transportation
Brewers control the quality of their beer right up to the point where it goes out the door. When a four-pack of cans, a sixer of bottles, or a growler leaves the brewery in a customer’s hands, a brewer’s job is largely done. But when beer heads out for distribution, that’s where things get complicated. Transportation, shipping, and logistics remain a challenge for most breweries, with heavy pallets loaded into heavy trucks that head to a distribution warehouse or even direct to accounts. We talked with one regional transportation company about its plans to innovate and shake up the business of transporting beer.
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Expert Topic Genetically Engineered Yeast Leads Innovation in the Category
When it comes to the raw ingredients in beer, hops get all the hype. Malt is increasingly shown the love, and water is universally respected. Yeast has its fans, and there is no underestimating its importance, but it doesn’t come up in conversation with brewers in the same way hops do.
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Expert Topic Brewers are Innovating in New Beverage Spaces
There was a period of time, and it wasn’t too long ago, when craft brewers were urging other brewers to stay in the beer lane. Focus on the beer, don’t think about flavored malt beverages, or other liquids, some industry leaders said. Be beer manufactures, stick to the mission, they urged.
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Expert Topic Innovation in Beer Packaging
Innovation in packaging has changed as the beer industry evolved. First it was simple packaging that did not leak, then it was tighter seals and ways to fill and transport. The materials became lighter and more robust. Shapes evolved, and manufacturers found ways to make everything run faster and smoother while delivering a usable customer experience.
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Expert Topic Asking For Help: Hiring a Brewery Consultant
It’s a little ridiculous all the hats a brewery owner has to wear just to keep their business going. Even before you first fire up the brewing system, you have to make hundreds of decisions, small and large. The initial planning stages can take months if not years, with questions about location, type of building and zoning restrictions, negotiating the lease, dealing with demo or build out, meeting electrical and plumbing codes, and then tap room design, managing employees, among dozens more topics, all before a single drop of beer is poured. Whether you’re only thinking about getting into the business or have been in operation for years, there is value in seeking out professional advice from brewery consultants.
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Expert Topic The Benefits of Recognizing and Helping Employee Mental Health
The last several years have taken a toll on everyone. The pandemic stressed out and stretched people thin. Unrest at home and around the world bombards news feeds, and economic factors are constantly top of mind. There is a lot of worry to go around, but often it feels like a personal burden.
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News Brewery Creates First Commercial Beer Using All Unmalted Barley
Cool Cousin Brewing in New York had made a beer entirely from unmalted barley, instead creating wort by adding an exogenous enzyme cocktail in the mash. The process is ostensibly to save water and carbon dioxide in the brewing process.
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Expert Topic Sustainability and Hops, Protecting Waterways and Preserving Beer
The Pacific Northwest is home to America’s most important hop producing region, one that locals work every day to promote and protect. Changes to the climate and concern over preserving the future viability of the storied agricultural land is leading farmers, brewers, and conservationists to team up to better inform drinkers of the importance of shielding its water sources.
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Expert Topic Sustainability Efforts in Craft Malt
Conservation begins on the land. As the craft malt space continues to make inroads with beer, many of the farmers are showcasing their sustainability efforts. This helps drive deeper connections with clients and customers and shows what small batch farming can really do when it comes to meaningful growth.
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Expert Topic Hop Water: The Next Wave of NA
The wedding was mid-day, held outside, the sun was blaring, and I had a long drive home ahead of me. While those staying locally enjoyed round after round of craft lager and IPA, I sipped my Victory Pils before switching over to review the thoughtful non-alcoholic options available to guests. Among the sodas and sparkling seltzers, one option caught my eye and captured my attention for the next few hours: Lagunitas’ Hoppy Refresher.
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News Six Craft Brewery Equipment Suppliers Merge into Lotus Beverage Alliance
Six U.S. craft beverage equipment suppliers have merged in a $100 million deal to create Lotus Beverage Alliance. The six merged companies are Alpha Brewing Operations, GW Kent, Twin Monkeys, Stout Tanks and Kettles, Brewmation and Automated Extractions.
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