r/TheBrewery

Let me start off, I know. I've heard it all. I've seen it all. I know all the reasons that it's incredibly stupid to open a brewery. I'm watching breweries in my city die at the moment. I've been part of opening a few breweries at this point. I know the challenges, I know the difficulties, and as things have gotten harder and more expensive I know that it could be eve more challenging and difficult than before. I probably should be doing something else with the rest of my career. But I'm stubborn. I want to give it one last shot to see if being my own boss is what I was missing all along in this industry.

I want to hear from brewers who are owners that it can work. That you can start something small with a bunch of cheap equipment and DIY attitude. That if you have quality, tap room vibe, location, and marketing all dialed in that it could just work. That you can pay yourself a living wage by the end of year 2.

There is so much doom and gloom out there. Can someone that this is working for give me some light? Talk me into why this can still work.

I'm currently making sours with Sourvisiae and my boss keeps telling me to make them sweeter. As far as I can tell, my options for doing so are:

1. Back sweeten: I really don't trust this without pasteurization, which isn't an option. I know some people put a lot of faith in sorbate/metabisulfite but I'm not gonna rely on that without a pretty robust method of yeast removal (centrifuging and/or filtration), which I don't really have for my 5 BBL unitank setup.
2. Sweeten at serving: My boss doesn't want to do this for reasons that aren't worth getting into.
3. Lactose: My boss also doesn't want to do this.
4. Allulose or stevia or whatever: No.
5. Make an actual kettle sour: This seems like it might be a step in the right direction, but I don't think it'll achieve the results my boss is looking for (also I don't want to put in that much extra effort for a slow-selling beer that's gonna get a bunch of wonf dumped in it anyway).
6. C Malt: It would be funny to make a malt bomb and then sour it, but somehow I doubt that would go over well.

Is there anything I'm missing here? Should I just say "fuck it" and pump out beers that are 50% unfermented fruit puree? Hell, that might also solve the "problem" of having sours that don't look like Hawaiian Punch. (Seriously though, I'm hoping somebody has a better idea than what I've come up with)

I guess maybe that company went out of business. We still use them but we’re running out of parts like replacement faucets and co2 triggers. Any abandoned inventories out there?

Hey all,

I’m looking to buy an extra carbonation stone that would fit in my 3” tri clamp ports and I wondered if folks have recommendations on vendors.

Zahm and Nagel has what I need but it’s a bit pricey and I didn’t see a fully assembled, welded version on ABS commercial, glacier tanks, or GW Kent’s site as they are our normal vendors.

Just thought I’d check here for some advice.

Thanks again!

hi guys! anyone around Asia that’s attending to Brew Asia this year? :)

also, I’d love to meet some Vietnamese breweries. I’ll be there for the week and wanted to connect with more brewers.

thank you 🍻♥️

first runnings are black like ink. most beers, I can stick a flashlight behind it and get an idea. but not this one. after we cover the hop dam, I’ve got a sense of it but those first ten to fifteen minutes are a guess and they can turn into longer delays in the transfer to bk.

any thoughts? please be nice.

Anybody else running an old NSI brewhouse and have suggestions on removing the plates to the false bottom? It’s been a while since we’ve gotten under ours and regularly soak in caustic but it’s a real pain getting the plates up to clean properly under there.

I’m happy to provide more information if anyone has ideas.

Hey yall im finally in the market for some new boots. I prefer a slip on ankle height. Trying to Amazon/Google some but most of the ones I’m finding are $150+ do y’all know of any cheaper but will hold up relatively well?

If I have to drop the dough for a better quality I’m not opposed just trying to see what’s out there.

Thanks!

Hi there. Wondering If anyone else has ever seen this or experienced this. We will randomly get a half stack of 202 ardagh cans - and will seem to run into an issue where we are getting small pinholes on the side of the can toward the bottom. NEVER immediately either-it’s just random when it wants to start leaking slowly. I’m wondering if this has been an issue for anyone else? I’m noticing our cans look a little rough where those pinholes are starting to happen, and after making a million and two adjustments on our canning line and being 10000% positive nothing on our line is causing this, I’m starting to feel a bit crazy.

Confused Therapist - canned 3/12/26 code 1529

Completely soured. Acetic acid, ethyl acetate, bacterial, the whole nine. About as bad as I've ever tasted.