Anybody Can Brew Beer: Turning Pro Part 11

Everything from installing the boiler to sweeping the floors needs to get done. For example, I spent last week framing out the walls for the mill room and gluing parts together for the glycol system piping. This week I will be installing the flex auger from the mill room to the grist case over the mash tun. The list of stuff to do is seemingly endless.

A handful of people have stopped by the brewery for a visit, (even though they know we’re not brewing just yet) and some of them seemed surprised to see me covered in dirt and sweat, holding a hammer or pushing a broom. (Or perhaps I was far dirtier and smellier than I realized.) I think they have this vision that opening or running a brewery is just a matter of having the moneyand telling other folks what to do.

I suppose a brewery can be built and run in more of a hands-off way, but I doubt that is the best way to do it. Sure, I understand that not everyone has the skills needed to do every task in a brewery and it is
important to balance the length of time it takes to do things yourself versus the cost of lost opportunity to sell your beer. It is certainly important to bring in the professionals where logical, so the job gets done right and it gets done as quickly as possible. However, I also believe it is important to be involved in the process and get your hands dirty at every opportunity.

When it comes to the construction and outfitting of your
brewery, the more involved you are, the deeper your understanding of how things
work and how to maintain them. Stuff breaks in a brewery and the more knowledge
you have, the more likely you are to be able to engineer a solution that gets
you brewing again quickly. And I think a hands-off attitude in brewery
construction can also influence the brewing process itself. When the person
calling the shots doesn’t know the brewery and its idiosyncrasies, it seems
beer quality often suffers.

Of course, just being involved isn’t always enough. Having a passion for brewing and a love of craft beer is critical too. In my travels I came across a brewpub where the new owner/brewer had recently purchased the business “because it seemed like a good opportunity.” I asked him if he had been a homebrewer previously and he said that he didn’t even like beer. His experience was in restaurant finance. His preference was for wine and malternative drinks, so I guess he probably didn’t realize that the beer he
produced was mediocre at best. He then told me that his only training to brew was from the previous owner, who spent a day with him showing him how to do it. When I asked him if he considered employing a professional brewer he said, “No, brewing is so easy. Anybody can brew beer.”

Sure, anybody with money can probably open or buy a brewery and anybody with a day to spare can be taught to brew beer. However, quality beer takes more than money and a desire to cash in on the craft beer boom.

There are a lot of little and not so little things to do before your brewery is ready to produce beer. Everything from installing the boiler to sweeping the floors needs to get done. For example, I spent last week framing out the walls for the mill room and gluing parts together for the glycol system piping. This week I will be installing the flex auger from the mill room to the grist case over the mash tun. The list of stuff to do is seemingly endless.

Written by Jamil Zainasheff