Max System Size for Single Brewer?

[BrickOvenBrewer]

Hello all. My first post here. Thanks for having me. Im currently brewing on a half barrel Sabco system at a pizza restaurant/ brewpub. The owners are looking to expand the brewery to possibly an eight barrel system, and have asked me if I could handle that sized system alone. Read, they dont want to hire any assistants and want to know how large a system I can manage with no help.

We will be packaging in kegs for serving in house and distribution to the other restaurants they own.

Full disclosure: I am a long time homebrewer who just happened to fall into this job. I have no commercial brewing experience other than the last year brewing on this pilot system. I am totally unprepared to be turned loose with an eight barrel system and left to sink or swim, but it looks like that's exactly what's gonna happen.

I'm sure this is the first of many dumb questions I will pose to this forum and I appreciate any help and advice I can get as I start the journey to becoming a pro brewer.

So what say you? How large a system can one man handle? Cheers!

[Thirsty_Monk]

Operating 8BBL brewery is a full time job. The biggest challenge going from 1/2 BBL system to lager scale brewing is just scale of it. Imagine you need to move 250 gallons of beer. Emptying 250 lb of spend grain. Cleaning it with CIP...

Good luck.

[SGB121]

2 cents

we operate a 10hl brew-pub (no off premise sales) about one brew day a week- with one FT and another PT to handle; ordering, milling, cleaning and keg washing & excise taxes.
If we had serving tanks it would be probably fewer hours.
If you doing any packaging/distribution- that will be more time-
I think you can do it if you have decent quality equipment - but ask for a raise & a semi-automatic keg washer.... won't hurt to have someone who can help - what if you get sick/hurt? - what's the plan?

[BrickOvenBrewer]

Hey Thirsty Monk. I'm running the pilot system on the weekends now. When we start the remodel I will be quitting my day job to go full time at the brewery. I understand the logistics of scaling up to the sizes I'm talking about, and I am confident that I'm up to the task. I will be doing a short internship at another regional brewery of similar size after the first of the year.

I'm asking about specific sizes because the owners are asking my input on the size of the system. In your opinion, can a single person brew and package one or two 8 bbl batches per week with a reasonable work load (40-60 hours a week)?

Would a smaller system (4-6 bbl) be a better choice for a lone brewer?

[Biggirish]

Just my thoughts

I operate a 10bbl brewpub by myself. I have 5 fermenters and 6 brite tanks. We just started doing off premises sales, and a specialty brew for a local bar. I do everything by myself. Some weeks are harder than others, and I have been sick, and i have been hurt, and when I am gone, nothing gets done. It can be done, maybe I am a glutton for punishment, because I also have another job as a bartender at a local bar. With good equipment, and good brewing practices, it can be done.

[gitchegumee]

Should be no problem...

8bbl is no more real work than anything smaller. Should be fairly easy if you don't filter and have a decent keg washer. Lots depends on how fast the beer sells. Experience would make it easier. I know folks that have run several small breweries at the same time with no help. You should do just fine if you learn as much as you can from others. Good luck!

[BrickOvenBrewer]

we operate a 10hl brew-pub (no off premise sales) about one brew day a week- with one FT and another PT to handle; ordering, milling, cleaning and keg washing & excise taxes.
If we had serving tanks it would be probably fewer hours.
If you doing any packaging/distribution- that will be more time-
I think you can do it if you have decent quality equipment - but ask for a raise & a semi-automatic keg washer.... won't hurt to have someone who can help - what if you get sick/hurt? - what's the plan?

Yes, an assistant would be nice. We'll see what happens... As for the ordering and paperwork, that will be handled by the GM of the store. He's got time..

Keg cleaning system. Good advice. Thank you. Raise. I've already taken care of that.

The owners are putting all their eggs in my basket and I'm not gonna argue. This is a dream for me and I intend to do everything in my power to make it a reality.

[BrickOvenBrewer]

Bigirish and gitchegumee, thank you for your input and votes of confidence.

[Thirsty_Monk]

Yes I think you can do easy 10 BBL brewery by yourself if you do not have to do any sales and deliveries to outside accounts. More automated equipment = better.

[Wayne1]

System size is not as important as through put.

Right around 1,000 bbls is about as much as 1 person can handle alone using a decent system, in my experience.

I have run a few 15 bbl systems without any additional help.

Once you get close to 100 bbls production a month, a part time assistant would be good thing.

[FatBrewer]

I ran a 25hl system by myself for 6 months, doing everything, from mash in to filtering and packaging.

It's tough, but not impossible so long as demand isn't too high.

[BrewinLou]

The Gordon Biersch brewer in town here is solo on a 15 bbl system with 30 bbl fvs and serving tanks.

[TiminOz]

The system size from 5bbl to 8bbl or 10bbl is much the same and everyone always wants more output once things get rolling. Go as big as they can afford with a good efficient system. Rakes and plows along with a semi-auto KW would also be a benefit. If you have the space and budget I would consider 2 or 3 brite serving tanks for your 1st, 2nd and maybe the 3rd best sellers. You save a lot of time by only racking off the last few kegs before refilling the tanks.

[BrickOvenBrewer]

Thank you everyone for your responses!

So it sounds like an 8 bbl system is perfectly reasonable for an experienced brewer( which I'm not). Lol. We dont sell ALOT of beer in house, so most will be distributed to the other stores they own (18 in all). A keg washing system is vital, got it. Thank you.

In addition to my apprenticeship at the brewery, I'm considering requesting a short short term brewery consultant to help with setup and getting me acquainted with pumps, CIP, rakes, chilling, carbing in brite tanks, keg cleaning/ filling etc. So much to learn! It's strange feeling like a noob again after all these years.

[callmetim]

Actually a smaller system would be more work because it takes more or less the same time to do a 1/2bbl batch as it does a 8 bbl batch. So if you're operating right now and brewing on the pilot system I assume you have some projections for volume. Yes no?

I would think the first concern would be over production. So you may start out brewing 4 bbl batches on the 8 bbl system shooting to brew once a week. You can increase size and frequency as needed.

Keg cleaning is a PITA but you can control that also by going to 1/2 bbls instead of 1/4 or 1/6. do the math - its 16 1/2 bbls to clean per week on an 8 bbl system. you should be able to fit that into your 40-60 hours per week.

As far as consultants I would be wary. We used to say a management consultant was an unemployed manager.

The most important skill you can acquire is problem solving. If you have someone holding your hand you'll never be independent.