Brewery Equipment Auctions Pick Up the Pace in a Summer of Opportunity
The craft brewing industry is never static, and with breweries expanding, moving locations or in some cases closing the doors, the auction blocks are busy.
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Complete brewhouse systems
Turnkey – Miscellaneous equipment
Pumps – A portable centrifugal pump is needed for the cleaning tanks. It can also be used to transfer the beer from one tank to another, or to turn a brew over on itself in situations such as dry hopping. Two portable pumps are much better than just one. And ask for spare seals.
Read more...Turnkey – System Installation
Installation assistance and customer support are critical components of a turnkey purchase. Installation assistance can vary greatly in scope. Make sure you understand, preferably in writing, what the seller plans to offer in assistance. What is the additional fee, and what will you need to reach out for additional outside help to accomplish. The list can be a short as a few electrical and plumbing needs. On systems larger than 20-bbl, many suppliers send a representative or team out to make sure the brewhouse is put together correctly and functionally. It’s not uncommon for a representative to expect a labor force to be provided to work under their supervision. This is an important area to go over closely with the supplier of a turnkey system to prevent as many expensive surprises as possible.
Read more...Turnkey – Hot side
Hot Water Source – A lot of hot water is needed to make beer. 170 degree water is much hotter than what comes out of your home hot water heater and requires special considerations to be used safely. The water can be heated via electrical heating elements in small to medium systems but steam or occasionally direct flame is needed for larger volumes of water.
Read more...Turnkey – Cold side
Fermenters – There are many choices regarding fermenters. They can be horizontal or vertical, dish or cone bottomed, jacketed or single wall. Doors can be on the top or on the side. The main requirements are that the tank can be safely cleaned and sterilized, that the tank be made of material that will not taint the beer, and that proper fermentation temperatures can be maintained. The most commonly accepted standard for craft breweries is an insulated vertical stainless steel tank with a cone bottom, a manhole on the side, glycol cooling jackets on both the cone and sides, CIP attachments, and an adjustable racking port. The cone bottoms allow for the efficient removal of yeast from the beer after fermentation. The glycol jackets and insulation make it possible to install the tanks almost anywhere.
Read more...Turnkey – What does it really mean?
By Jack Owen
Read more...Nano Brewery Expenses and Funding
The first question a prospective nano brewery owner should ask themselves is not “How much money can I expect to make?” but rather, “How much money can I afford to spend?”
Read more...Nano Brewery Equipment Introduction
Today’s prospective nano brewer has more options than ever before when it comes to equipment. Whether the increase in the number of companies making nano-sized equipment has grown as a result of the nano boom, or whether the availability of equipment has fueled the growth spurt is a chicken-and-egg question. Regardless, you will have plenty of choices no matter what size system you choose.
Read more...Nano Brewery Basics
The term “nano brewery” may be a fairly recent addition to the craft brewing lexicon, but the concept of small breweries with a pint-sized brew length is nothing new. Although Anchor Brewing in San Francisco might be considered the first American craft brewery, it was New Albion Brewing of Sonoma, Calif., that showed other entrepreneurs they could build a brewery from the ground up. New Albion opened in 1976 using a 55-gallon brewing system.
Read more...Selling your beer – the basics of self-distribution and brewery sales
The following article was posted on Feb. 18, 2015. It has been reviewed and updated as necessary by the ProBrewer editorial staff.
Read more...All About Nano Breweries
Nano Q&A
Nano brewery basics
Nano brewery expenses and funding
Nano brewery equipment
Finally, time to sell your beer