Make a Home Brewery a Commercial Nanobrewery

Many home breweries are mere steps away from being commercial nanobreweries. Five-gallon home breweries can be made into nanobreweries, although a working capacity of at least {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} is recommended. Fifty-five gallon kettles can be used for larger nanobreweries that have a working capacity of one US barrel (about 31.5 gallons).

If you have plans to start a commercial nanobrewery or even a production brewery with a bottling line, it can be smart to use a large homebrew rig as the initial commercial system. And, when it’s approved, it will magically become a nanobrewery. It is true that nanobreweries often can’t produce enough beer to turn a profit that one can live off, and you won’t be distributing pallets of beer far and wide, but you can expand later and fulfill those dreams, or be happy brewing great local beer on your cool nanobrewery system!

Steps

  1. Consider why you want to use a nanobrewery. Of course you want to make commercial beer that the public can enjoy! Also, starting small makes sense because it can take over a year to get a brewery approved, and there is always the chance that your brewery won’t be approved due to location or the condition of the building that houses the brewery. And you do need to have a working brewing system in your brewery before the entire brewery can be approved. So why risk many thousands of dollars on a commercial brewing system and related infrastructure such as a steam boiler, piped glycol system, and industrial electronic controls when you can set up a homebrew system for the initial approval process? After your brewery is approved, you can upgrade at your leisure if desired. It can, after all, take many grueling months to put together a decent-sized microbrewery. If you agree that this is a good idea, you’ll need to know that you can’t simply roll, drag, or heft your RIMS (Recirculating Infusion Mash System), MoreBeer sculpture, or homemade setup into a commercial space and tell the inspectors to come on over. There’s some technical hurdles that you’ll need to overcome, and you don’t want to have to reschedule additional inspections, as that’ll lengthen your approval process considerably.
  2. Find a building for your nanobrewery. Breweries must be zoned properly and conform to local regulations, and it is very unlikely that it will be legal for you to operate a commercial brewery in your home. Generally, light industrial-zoned buildings and certain types of restaurants are good candidates, as long as they are not near schools or churches. The building will also need to have commercial wiring and floor drainage systems that are acceptable for food production operations.
  3. Adapt the building's floor if necessary. The floor of the building is a major consideration. Concrete floors are essentially mandatory. Any brewery that will allow liquids to drain onto the floor will need an approved system of floor drains in addition to the sink floor drain, and the floor must have a certain slope so that liquid will flow properly to the drains. However, when using a homebrew-sized system, a complex drainage system shouldn’t be necessary. Just be aware that if you upgrade your system you may also need to upgrade the drainage system. Check on what types of drainage systems are required in your area before leasing or purchasing a building. Some breweries have drainage systems installed and have their floors sloped after the building has been purchased or leased but before the brewing system is installed. It is acceptable to only have the area that’s under the brewing system and fermenters to be sloped and equipped with drains, so your building can be retrofitted when you expand, and while you’re brewing on the nano system in an area without nearby or elaborate floor drains. Areas where customers congregate should of course not have sloped floors.
  4. Conform to health standards. Breweries will be treated to a large extent as food processing facilities, but there is an understanding that beer does not pose the same risks as actual food products. It does not harbor pathogenic bacteria and viruses. Still, you will need to have one or more restaurant-style stainless sinks that have an air gap between the sink drain and the floor (there must be a floor drain where the waste water will exit), and a separate handwashing sink. If you want to avoid dealing excessively with the local health inspector and want to minimize the regulations that you need to conform to, don’t initially plan on serving beer at the brewery.
  5. Use materials that the FDA has approved for beer production. Equipment used should be made of safe, approved materials such as stainless steel. Copper is an acceptable material for use in breweries and wort can come into contact with it, although there may be some restrictions in terms of fermented beer coming into contact with copper. You should avoid brass because it generally contains lead, but small fittings probably won’t be questioned. Food-grade plastics and rubber such as polyethylene plastic, high-temp polysulfone plastic, neoprene rubber, and high-temp silicone rubber are perfectly acceptable. Always be sure not to exceed the temperature ratings of materials that are not metal. When using PVC or vinyl tubing, use types that have the statement "FDA approved" printed on them. Regular garden hoses are not acceptable! And glass carboys probably won’t go over too well with any inspector or the customer base.
    • Mash tun insulation may need to be removed, and most types of insulation should not be used on mash tuns that are heated with gas burners because they will melt or burn. It is wisest to simply use no Choose the Right Insulation Contractor. This being said, Reflectix is approved for temperatures up to 180F, and Armaflex (and other similar types of insulation) are generally approved for temperatures up to or exceeding 220F. Unheated infusion mash tuns will not exceed these temperatures. Reflectix insulation is FDA-approved for incidental food contact. This is primarily because its exposed surface is aluminum foil. Therefore, it’s logical that other types of insulation that are sheathed in foil, such as foil-foam-foil insulation, can be used for brewing applications. Armaflex and similar types of insulation are essentially “closed-cell” elastomeric foam, and have excellent R-values. It’s typically used to insulate pipes, and can be used in food processing facilities as long as it’s contained in an FDA-approved covering. Wood is insulating and is usually all-natural, and may be an acceptable, approvable insulation material. Plywood and pressure-treated lumber are exceptions, as is wood that’s been sealed or coated in anything except natural oils (mineral oil is a commonly used, FDA-approved wood-conditioning oil). And if the wood burns it won’t really be any more toxic than a wood-fired barbecue. And, if necessary, the wood can be clad in metal to shield it from flames (although too much heat may result in the production of charcoal). For unfired vessels, wood can also be used to clad other forms of insulation such as Armaflex. Wood is generally a better insulator than Reflectix, while Armaflex is better than wood. Pine has a higher R-value than many other types of wood, especially when compared to hardwood. Wood slats can be secured to the outside of stainless brewing vessels using metal banding.
  6. Use approved commercial and/or NEMA-enclosed watertight electrical components and systems. Breweries are wet environments and thus highly hazardous when electricity is a factor. There are different grades of NEMA enclosures. Type 4 and 4X are watertight and are typically used in breweries (digital temperature controllers are often in gray, approvable NEMA enclosures). Electronic devices can often be enclosed in NEMA enclosures and related NEMA conduit. Even if you use NEMA enclosures, if the local inspector sees electrical components or systems that don’t completely follow all applicable commercial codes, you most likely won’t be approved. Be sure that all of the electrical devices and systems, including the outlet boxes, fuse boxes, and wires, conform to relevant commercial electrical codes.
    • Many homebrew systems, especially gravity 3-tier systems, do not utilize or rely upon electrical components. This is perfectly acceptable. However, larger or more complex homebrew systems, such as {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} RIMS systems and many {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} systems, may use electric heating elements, electronic controls, and/or electric pumps. This being said, if your homebrew system has electronic components that are not NEMA-enclosed and/or commercial-grade devices, it is best to remove them entirely. Yes, your system might be compromised, but you can make it work.
    • Certain pumps such as the March Pump model 409 high-temp food-grade pump that have unenclosed non-NEMA motors may be an exception, depending on the local inspector's opinion. However, they must be grounded properly and used in an approved manner. Regardless, it is best to invest in some pumps with watertight NEMA motor enclosures.
  7. Get proper Use a Woodgas or Smoke Burner Stove and use adequate ventilation. Improperly used burners can produce lethal concentrations of carbon monoxide and present fire hazards. You’ll probably need to use indoor burners, so replace your burners if necessary and make sure they can be hooked up to the available indoor gas supply. If the brewing system is located next to a large cargo door that is capable of providing adequate Improve Your Quality of Air You Breathe, outdoor burners hooked up to outdoor-type propane tanks (barbecue tanks) should be fine. Use indoor restaurant stockpot stoves if you can’t replace the burners and don’t have the right ventilation. If a cargo door is lacking, it’s imperative that you have a vent hood installed that essentially covers all of the burners. That probably will mean that you’ll need a large vent that covers your entire brewing system. Also, it may be important to vent the vapor that is produced from the boiling wort using a ventilation hood.
  8. Prevent grain explosions. Some simple nanobreweries just use malt extract instead of grain, but like the vast majority of commercial breweries, you’ll probably be milling grain. It is common knowledge that grain dust causes explosions. The open flames that will occur when you’re brewing will present a potentially major explosion hazard, as will unenclosed electric motors. So it is best to have a separate, ventilated milling area away from the brewing area. This area is also where the grain should be stored, as any grain that’s near burners or sparks is a potential fire hazard as well as an explosion hazard. If your mill it motorized you’ll need to use an enclosed, explosion-proof motor or you’ll have to mill by hand. Watch out for those little rocks in the grain though, they might make some sparks and set off an explosion. If your brewing space isn’t big enough for a milling/grain room, the inspector may decide to limit the amount of grain that you can have on the premises at any one time.
  9. Implement Model Alcoholic Fermentation strategies. As for fermentation, you can simply use refrigerators with small stainless steel homebrew conicals if you want to minimize expenses as much as possible. Blichmann and MoreBeer fermenters as well as other cold-side home brewing products such as counterflow and brazed plate chillers should be perfectly fine. The step up from {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} conicals and refrigerators this is a walk-in cooler with conicals, but make sure that you have the cooler professionally installed and wired to relevant commercial standards. It is perfectly acceptable to use plastic poly fermenters as a lower-cost alternative to stainless conicals. A third option is a small glycol-cooled commercial conical with a standalone, portable glycol system that is designed for use in breweries or Go Wine Tasting at Wineries. Portable glycol chillers can be hooked up directly to a tank without the need for a complex system of permanent glycol lines. But if you do use a 3 or 5 bbl fermenter, make sure you can fill it adequately. This will likely mean stacking consecutive brews during one long brew day.
    • If you want to set up a larger, non-portable glycol system from different components, it’s best to wait until after your brewery has been approved. Then you can have fun with refrigerant, compressors, glycol reservoirs, pumps, and solenoid valves. A small bright tank or serving vessel will also be a great idea, and you can use it to rapidly carbonate your beer.
  10. Package beer using low-cost, simple methods. You won't be kegging or bottling large quantities of beer, so package beer much as you would at home. It is a good idea to use a simple gravity wine filler to fill 22 oz bomber bottles with flat beer that is to be bottle conditioned. Use a homebrew bench capper and/or {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} cornelius-type kegs. Commercial breweries have successfully packaged five-barrel batches using Colonna bench cappers and gravity wine fillers. Of course, five barrels is considerably more than what a typical nanobrewery will produce in one or even two days. A self-stopping sanitary demand pump, such as demand diaphragm pump, can be used to keep the wine filler full when it is connected to a fermenter or brite tank. Be aware that if commercial Sanke kegs are used, they will need to be cleaned using an expensive keg cleaning machine or using a potentially expensive centrifugal pump and cleaning solution reservoir setup.
    • Also consider how much space you’ll require to store bottled beer and kegs as well as empty bottles and kegs. Bottle and keg-conditioned beer (that is allowed to carbonate naturally in the kegs or bottles) will need to be stored for about three weeks.
  11. Practice proper waste disposal. Waste disposal can be a costly hassle. Microbreweries are often not permitted to send much of their liquid waste into the the city’s sewer lines. This isn’t just because the breweries use large amounts of cleaning chemicals. Yeast, which is dumped in large quantities, actually puts a lot of stress on sewage systems. Often, the only option is to keep an outdoor waste tank. Such a tank is filled with liquid waste and periodically drained by a waste disposal truck. An additional, isolated floor drain may also need to be installed that leads to the outdoor waste tank. Luckily, it may be perfectly acceptable for a nanobrewery to send their waste down the city drain, as long as approved chemicals are used. However, be prepared to execute this strategy if the inspector requests it.

Tips

  • Before seeking brewery approval and finding a building to house your brewery, fully research your local brewery laws and the government approval process. Obtain all relevant paperwork and speak with government officials.
  • If there is a nanobrewery or microbrewery near you, visit it and ask the brewers or owner about their experiences concerning the brewery approval process. Also discuss commercially-approved brewery equipment and the commercial brewing process in general.
  • In some instances, work will have to be done by a certified, approved professional (such as a certified electrician) in order to be approved by local inspectors or authorities. Always determine if the work must be completed by a professional beforehand.

Warnings

  • Do not modify, remove, or add brewery systems, such as electronic devices and burners, unless you know how to do so in a safe manner that meets local codes. When necessary, use the services of certified electricians and other such professionals who do know the local codes.

Things You'll Need

  • Suitable location
  • Adapted floor, drains
  • Food-grade fittings
  • Food-grade brewing equipment
  • Gas burners
  • Stockpot stoves
  • Ventilation
  • Stainless steel conicals
  • Glycol system
  • Kegging/bottling system

Related Articles

You may like

Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Make_a_Home_Brewery_a_Commercial_Nanobrewery&oldid=305781"