Software

[liebz15]

I'm about to receive my building permit to start buildout of my 30BBL brewery. I'm making the profession leap from the boring, cubical world of civil engineering to the hands-on world of owning and operating a brewery. Does anyone have a recommendation for software that will hopefully allow me to track inventory, production, etc and possibly even include a POS system? We've been talking to Orchestrated Beer and while it is quite impressive, I'm not too keen on strapping us with another high monthly cost early on. Any feedback, questions, comments, or ridicule are most welcome.

Cheers!
Greg

[CharlosCarlies]

We've only been open for 8 months, but I'll take my shot at your question as I've done a lot of research into software because frankly, QuickBooks and spreadsheets suck!

For a brewhouse of your size, there is a possibility that Orchestrated might actually make sense...especially if you're not the best when it comes to bookkeeping type things like myself. We're fortunate enough to have one owner that's retired and does all the administrative/accounting work which basically ends up replacing a part time employee/bookkeeper for us. Whether that's worth the monthly fee is up to you, but I will say Orchestrated looks pretty damn badass and we'll definitely be going that route in the near future (especially if/when the owner I mentioned gets sick of it). The only thing keeping us from pulling the trigger was honestly the upfront costs for training/implementation. Their sales team did try to work with us a bit w/ payment plans, etc...but we just couldn't quite get the numbers to make sense (yet).

As far as other options, nothing really seems to even come close to Orchestrated from what I've read/understand. We looked into BeerRun, but it was still fairly expensive and not nearly as robust. We figured we'd be better off sucking it up w/ QuickBooks/spreadsheets until we can justify the cost.

And just for perspective, we're on a 20 BBL brewhouse w/ 160 BBL of cellar capacity.

[JLL]

We just signed up with Ekos Brewmaster. The price is very reasonable for a brewery our size (20 BBL brewhouse, estimated 3000 BBL for our first year), especially for a start up. Beer Run and Orchestrated were just too expensive for our scale for now. We're still working with Ekos setting up the framework, but will hopefully have it online this month to organize before brewing in Jan or Feb 15. I'll post an update once we are up and running.

[liebz15]

We've only been open for 8 months, but I'll take my shot at your question as I've done a lot of research into software because frankly, QuickBooks and spreadsheets suck!

For a brewhouse of your size, there is a possibility that Orchestrated might actually make sense...especially if you're not the best when it comes to bookkeeping type things like myself. We're fortunate enough to have one owner that's retired and does all the administrative/accounting work which basically ends up replacing a part time employee/bookkeeper for us. Whether that's worth the monthly fee is up to you, but I will say Orchestrated looks pretty damn badass and we'll definitely be going that route in the near future (especially if/when the owner I mentioned gets sick of it). The only thing keeping us from pulling the trigger was honestly the upfront costs for training/implementation. Their sales team did try to work with us a bit w/ payment plans, etc...but we just couldn't quite get the numbers to make sense (yet).

As far as other options, nothing really seems to even come close to Orchestrated from what I've read/understand. We looked into BeerRun, but it was still fairly expensive and not nearly as robust. We figured we'd be better off sucking it up w/ QuickBooks/spreadsheets until we can justify the cost.

And just for perspective, we're on a 20 BBL brewhouse w/ 160 BBL of cellar capacity.

Thanks for the reply. I spent last Friday visiting with a couple local breweries in my area. One uses OB and the other uses nothing but is planning to use Evos real soon. My thoughts are that OB is too robust for us but my partner has a good point in stressing that we could use it now and never have to integrate later. Also, we chatted with another not-so-local Florida brewery and they are using OB "mainly because no other software was able to organize their schedule well enough" for them. The woman in charge of OB for this brewery sang many praises of it's benefits.

I think we are leaning towards Orchestrated

[liebz15]

We just signed up with Ekos Brewmaster. The price is very reasonable for a brewery our size (20 BBL brewhouse, estimated 3000 BBL for our first year), especially for a start up. Beer Run and Orchestrated were just too expensive for our scale for now. We're still working with Ekos setting up the framework, but will hopefully have it online this month to organize before brewing in Jan or Feb 15. I'll post an update once we are up and running.

Thanks! Would love to hear how it goes. I think we will ultimately use OB but we do have time before a decision is needed so I'd love to read your update. Thanks so much!

[ejgarciaPanB]

EKOS result?

We just signed up with Ekos Brewmaster. The price is very reasonable for a brewery our size (20 BBL brewhouse, estimated 3000 BBL for our first year), especially for a start up. Beer Run and Orchestrated were just too expensive for our scale for now. We're still working with Ekos setting up the framework, but will hopefully have it online this month to organize before brewing in Jan or Feb 15. I'll post an update once we are up and running.

Hello, I was wondering how has EKOS worked out for you guys?
Thanks
Cheers

[Tim DHBC]

We have ekos at our brewery and it is great. It is web based so sometimes I have to hit refresh to see the changes take effect. I think that's about the worst I can say about it. It has Android apps for your phone. Sales see real time inventory. Tracks batches and ingredients. Tracks customers and leads. Manages barrels and blending and repackaging all with ease. And they update it and provide support. They just rolled out a keg tracking feature.

I have never looked into OB and beer run once I saw price points, so there is that bias I have I guess.

Whatever you go for I would go with it from the beginning and use it. Non of the work-around, I'll fix it later BS.

My 2 cents.