Category: Expert Topic Archive
- Software 17
- Sustainability 12
Expert Topic 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?
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Expert Topic California Bill Would Allow Spirit-based RTD’s to be Sold Alongside Beer and Wine
A bill in California supported by the Distilled Spirits Council (DISCUSS) would allow retailers with a beer and wine license to also sell spirit-based RTD’s, a move which would further blur the line that has traditionally existed between spirits and beer and wine.
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Expert Topic 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.
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Expert Topic Selecting the Right Brewery Process Management Software
Brewing Process Management software can be a godsend for breweries of all sizes, helping track nearly every part of the process and keeping operations on track. Like anything else with a brewery or small business, picking the right software is critical to getting business done and to ensure it will be able to grow with a brewer that chooses to do so.
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Expert Topic Security Steps to Keep Your Brewery Safe From Cyberattacks
Nearly every aspect of running a small business is online these days and the amount of bad actors trying to access information has never been higher. Brewers are well served by following basic tips to ensure their online resources are well protected.
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Expert Topic Budgeting for Brewery Software with Audra Gaiziunas
In this digital world software plays a big role in running a small business. Breweries are still creating a “handcrafted” product but increasingly relay on software and technology to run the day to day, minute-to-minute aspects of the business.
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Expert Topic Identifying a Point of Sale System That Works for You
Brewery taprooms are the front line experiences for customers and a major source of income for most breweries. Having access to a smartly designed point-of-sale (POS) system that manages all your customer service needs along with providing access to insights and data are no longer mere luxuries, they are business necessities.
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Expert Topic The Brewhouse of the Future (Part 2): Packaging
After a recipe is developed, the ingredients are carefully selected, a beer is brewed with care, and fermented properly, it is time for packaging. Brewers put a lot of thought into their packaging, not only design but function, durability, and how it takes care of the beer.
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Expert Topic A Conversation of Tipping in Breweries
Over the past several years, many breweries have reconsidered their service models – searching for the delicate balance that best maximizes the experience for both guests and staff. In doing so, this has also generated more conversations about best practices regarding tipping. In this panel, we will discuss different tipping models, their benefits, their challenges, and how conversations on tipping can result in greater success for your taproom.
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Expert Topic Tips For Brewery Automation
In an industry that revels in terms like “craft” or “handcrafted” there is also a fondness for automation. For brewers that started on small manual kits that required constant hands-on attention, there is celebration when budgets allow for pro-equipment where the machines are of the Ron Popeil school of thought.
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Expert Topic WTF, Data?! Numbers = Profits! w/ Pulkit K. Agrawal of The 5th Ingredient
Almost every brewery is tracking their data – whether it’s in a spreadsheet, paper logs, or an electronic brewery management system. As breweries start scaling, there are two key areas that brewers and owners start looking at for their products — (1) making consistent quality beer and (2) improving costs over time.
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Expert Topic How Does Raw Material Forecasting Increase Your Profit and Production?
As a brewer or brewery owner, there is a lot to consider when it comes to brewing your next batch of beer. What ingredients do you need? Where are you going to source your hops, malt, yeast, etc.? How much do you need of each? Without the right tools and processes in place, all these little tasks can build up into one big headache, especially when considering that ordering too many materials, the wrong ingredients, or low-quality ones can seriously hurt your bottom line and your final product.
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Expert Topic Lance Shaner of Omega Yeast Talks About Latest Innovations in Yeast
While hops get a lot of the attention from brewers and drinkers alike, and malt has intrigue, especially as the craft segment of that ingredient is on the rise, there is another area that deserves renewed focus.
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Expert Topic How Breweries Can Curb Fuel Consumption and Save Money at the Gas Pump
Small brewers have spent the last three years jumping from one business crisis to the next. Inflation is the current hurdle that most are struggling to clear, and that has been coupled with gas prices that were around $5 per gallon for most of the country and even higher in certain cities and regions.
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Expert Topic Changing Your Corporate Culture: Promoting Sustainable Practices In Your Brewery
Sustainability once felt like a New Age concept, one uttered by the impractical with little appreciation for the logistical challenges facing businesses. Those days are coming to an end as brewers acknowledge the impacts of climate change on their businesses are serious and require substantial efforts to combat.
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Expert Topic What’s New and On the Horizon for Hard Kombucha
Kombucha is a long established beverage with a lot of passionate fans, and in recent years a number of breweries have branched out to add it to their portfolios. With a consumer bent towards “better for you” drinks and an interest in probiotics and flavor diversity both traditional and hard kombucha are gaining momentum in the general consciousness.
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Expert Topic Craft Beer in 10 Years Panel Discussion
If beer was first discovered today, what would it be made with? What would it look like? How would it smell? How about those tasting notes? Innovation is arguably the secret ingredient for any brewery, but in a constantly changing industry, what would beer be like if we went to sleep and woke up in 2031? In this conversation we hear from five leading voices to discuss the expectations, evolution, and predictions on a beverage that plays a leading role in our lives.
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Expert Topic Considering Employee Ownership: Questions to Ask Before Undertaking the Initiative
For many, the idea of owning a business is part of the American dream and there are thousands of examples of that in the country’s small breweries. There are times when founders and owners want to add new people to the mix and considering bringing on existing employees as owners can have a lot of benefits.
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Expert Topic An Exit Strategy: Questions to Consider Before Closing Up Shop
The small business survival rate can be terrifying to people contemplating opening their own shop. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, approximately 20 percent of small businesses in this country fail within their first year of operation. By the end of year five, half have closed. And these stats were before the pandemic took its toll on already strained businesses.
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Expert Topic How to Recruit and Retain Exceptional Employees – An Interview with Pontoon Brewing CEO Sean O’Keef
As the brewing industry grows and becomes more competitive, brewing companies need to make sure they are offering competitive salaries and benefits to recruit and keep top talent. Sean O’Keefe, the CEO and co-owner of Pontoon Brewing in Sandy Springs, Georgia spoke with Beer Edge editor John Holl about his brewery’s approach to employee compensation.
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