For the past couple of decades, most smaller craft brewers had a fairly simple choice to make when scaling up production—how large a new system to buy. While breweries in the 50,000+ bbl range had a multitude of automation and design options to choose from, such custom process designs were cost-prohibitive for smaller craft brewers who primarily ended up with two-vessel systems.
But over the past few years, we’ve watched innovation at the top of the industry filter down to smaller and smaller systems, leading to revolutionary new options for craft brewers who no longer have to think “new larger mash tun and kettle” every time they need to expand their production. In fact, with today’s craft-beer consumption patterns, having the flexibility to brew more distinct beers more quickly or brew more of a single beer depending on market circumstances is a considerable advantage.
Here, we outline some of the ways leading manufacturers are making it possible for small craft brewers to think outside kettle size and find production gains in modular brewhouse additions and other unexpected places.