After a 10 years in the industry(as of March) and 3 years as a Head Brewer, I find myself a brewer without a brewery. Loaded up the last stuff that was going to be transferred to another location, turned off the lights and locked the building up. It wasn't out of the blue, the pub closed nearly a year ago and I was just brewing for a satellite location till they could figure out shipping across state lines, still sucks since this was my first Head Brewer gig.

Not a great time to be trying to find a new job, definitely not the only brewer in the area that's looking and even if I was willing to commute an hour away there aren't a ton of/really any openings at the moment.

The break will be nice, have more than few projects that need done at home and always good to have more time with the kid, but feels really unsettling to not have a clear plan for the future.

Anyhow, it'll sort one way or another and if it doesn't lead back to the brew stand for awhile I'm sure the home brew system will get back into action.

Good day brewers, I’m curious if any of you have had experience with the Stout 10bbl electric skidded brewhouse. Specifically, if you know the volume loss in the plumbing of the system. MT loss, BK loss etc?

TIA Cheers,

Has anyone with solid experience (+5 years) done the IBD Ops Man course? Is it worth it? Looking to add weight to my role as it’s constantly changing and I’m being moved about into having a say in different departments.

Brewery assistants / production mascots

I'm running an ABE craftcan 35. I have been able to get it down to around 30ppb(~40ppb shaken) pickup but occasionally it that might get up to 90ppb pickup (~100ppb shaken). These are a few of the areas I've looked at to reduce DO:

1. FOB: (this machine uses a CO2 jet as it's filling to create foam). If that's needed for the specific beer I will use it for the minimum time to create a good FOB. I recently tried adding around 2ibu of tetra on stransfer to BBT to improve the quality of foam and had my best DO numbers yet.

2. Fish eye bubbles: Tetra may help with this, but in the past the filler has been prone to filling with fish eye bubbles. Not sure how to eliminate this. Wild goose selltheu DO buster which includes a foam scraper to break these bubbles before the lid drops on. That seems pretty interesting. Anyone have experience?

3. Can purging: increasing it from 3.5 to 5 sec didn't seem to reduce DO. I've read that a slower purge by restricting the CO2 flow might be worth investigating to reduce gas mixing. We have a CO2 tunnel but I haven't adjusted that yet.

4. Carbonation: i leant towards a higher carbonation previously to help reduce DO. I reduced is a bit because I thought the finished product was too carbonated. I never saw very obvious impact on DO but I think the ability to form a better FOB helped.

5. Fill speed: this machine uses an inline pressure sensor to maintain consistent tank pressure and fill speed. I can adjust the pressure to change the flow rate but I haven't worked outt if there's anything worth changing.

Keen to hear the experience of others and any tips which might help me.

Cheers

Hey brew fam,

I’m an entrepreneur and beer enthusiast currently working on a microbrewery/taproom concept focused on creating a unique experience. I’m considering locations in Greater Vancouver, leaning toward Surrey, Langley, or Delta.

I’m still in the planning phase and would love some honest feedback from anyone who has opened or worked in a brewery. I’m especially interested in insights beyond just production, such as tasting rooms, events, and fostering a sense of community.

Here are some specific questions I’d appreciate input on:

• What kind of startup costs did you face for the brewing system and taproom?
• What concepts or experiences successfully attract customers? What ideas turned out to be overrated or didn’t work?
• What realistic profit margins can I expect for beer, food, merchandise, and events?
• Are there any major do’s and don’ts you would recommend when starting out?
• What’s an ideal size for a small but functional brewery and tasting room?
• What value-adds have helped you grow, such as events, local collaborations, or unique programming?
• Are there any tech or equipment innovations you’re excited about lately?
• Do you know any reputable brewery consultants or designers worth reaching out to?

I welcome all feedback, whether it’s things you wish you knew earlier or niche insights that made a significant difference. Thank you in advance!

P.S. I’m not looking to get rich off this, it’s a passion project and creative outlet I want to do right.

Anybody care to share their SOP for this? We just got a new chem from Loeffler to try this out and they gave us a few parameters, just trying to find some industry best practices. Thanks!

German Pils coming at ya

Does anyone use PBW in their keg cleaning process? I have been using PBW for cleaning in my IDD automatic keg washer and haven’t noticed any problems so far. Has anyone ran into any problems only using PBW?

I've used it at small scale and it worked out great, but I'm pressed to do it now commercially and am not sure on the dosage and am torn on the method...I'll be doing 10-12 bbl. Previously I took it to the kitchen and pot cooked the living bejeezus out of it, stirring constantly until I had a proper mush, then added to a corny and transferred on top to age before transferring back. That was about a 5#/bbl ratio though and there's I'm really hoping not to do the same thing with 50+ pounds. I was thinking of cutting it, bagging it and hanging it in the Kettle at -60 and that being the end of it.

I have a couple barrel sours that have gone too acetic. The flavor is really good but not for drinking so I was thinking of helping them go the rest of the way to vinegar.

Is that a horrible idea or not?
Anyone have experience turning your beer into vinegar? Like do I just need to hit it with some O2 or give it an extra acetobacter inoculation? Equipment/process suggestions?

Hey folks. I run a micro kombucha producer in the Uk. We’re pretty small but growing and primarily sell directly through our website and at farmers markets, food fairs etc. we’re starting to get traction, website sales are growing and the events calendar is filling.

At the moment I’ve been bottling by hand and using a hand capper for the crown caps. It’s pretty labour intensive and my hand capper has snapped. I can still cap bottles but very slowly and it’s becoming unsustainable to carry on this way. Does anyone have a recommendation for an automatic capper? Something where I can just put the bottle under the cap/machine and it would do it for me would be great. Any help appreciated.

Accidentally made an ice beer, looks like one of the solenoid valves jammed. Never had any issues since the system was installed so I’m a newbie at dealing with this sort of thing. Is this the sort of thing where I can likely take it off and fix it? Order a new part? Call a pro? What kind of pro?

Stuck in Anaheim next week near the convention center. What, besides Monkish, are your top recommended breweries taprooms to visit?

Hello,

We have been experiencing packaged beers foaming over only when cold after 2 months or so in the can.

Has anyone else had experience with this? Has anyone solved this problem?

**Beers are not infected. There is no hop creep in the can.

Been using Five Star Products for all our cleaning needs but I'm looking to switch it up as acid #6 has been hard to get a hold of?

I'm new to the East coast so just looking for any recommendations on suppliers in the Connecticut area.

Birko? Chemstation?

Anyone know a good supplier for a couple pallet run of shrink sleeve or printed cans?

I can only seem to find suppliers that have 5-20 pallet minimums.

I’m having so much fun 🤩

Got a head scratching problem that you can't get to the bottom of? Just solved something that took a while to figure out? Teach us Obi-wan!

|| || |Moeller Brewing - Monroe & Anna, OH - Assets No Longer Required by Moeller Brew Barn| |NO ON-SITE BIDDING| |Featuring:4-Vessel JVNW 50 BBL Brewhouse with HLT and CLT, Flottweg Centrifuge, RO System, SLS-20 AC1500 Flash Pasteurizer, (7) 100 BBL (3,600 Gallon) Cone Bottom Glycol Jacketed Fermenters, (3) 200 BBL (7,200 Gallon) Cone Bottom Glycol Jacketed Fermenters, (3) 100 BBL Glycol Jacketed Brite Tanks, 5,000 and 2,000 Liter Foeders, Meridian Grain Silo, Feedpro Grain Metering System, Glycol Chiller, Boiler, Scissor Lift, Wulftec Pallet Wrapper, and Brewery Support. , HYSTER, YALE, TAYLOR, TOYOTA, CATERPILLAR, ROYAL, NISSAN, & MITSUBISHI Forklifts 30,000-3,000-lb. Capacity • (2) Kalmar Ottawa 4x2 Spotter Trucks (NEW AS 2018) • 2020 Raymond Order Pickers • HYSTER & Raymond Electric Pallet Jacks • Propane Tanks| |For more information... https://www.myronbowling.com/current-auctions/moeller-brew-barn?utm_source=mbb&utm_medium=rd&utm_campaign=p|

Hi guys, Apologies if this is a dumb question.. in the UK here and working in logistics, from a H&S perspective, are there any legal requirements for the storage of empty keg for our client? They would be stored outside banded to pallets. I have search but can't see anything relating. Any help much appreciated.

Looking at getting a Palmer 12/4 rotary filler. Does anyone use one? Would you recommend it? Anything to watch out for?