What Questions Should You Ask a beer brewing equipment Supplier?
A beer brewing equipment supplier should be able to answer questions about capacity, tank volume, stainless steel, welding, heating, cooling, CIP, controls, utilities, installation, certification, testing, warranty, spare parts, and future expansion. Ask for drawings, component brands, utility figures, test procedures, and written scope rather than relying on general descriptions. A 10 BBL brewhouse represents 310 US gallons because 1 US beer barrel equals 31 gallons, so production planning must connect vessel size with actual batch scheduling and cellar capacity.
Start by asking how many complete brewery systems the supplier has manufactured since its establishment and how many are close to your planned size. A supplier experienced with 5 BBL brewpub systems may not have the same production knowledge as one regularly building 20, 30, or 50 BBL systems. Ask for at least 2 or 3 customer references with similar equipment, and request operating photos, layout drawings, and examples from installations completed in the past 3 years.
“Which brewery projects have you completed with the same brewhouse size, heating method, and automation level as the system I am ordering?”
The supplier should also explain whether it manufactures the vessels itself or purchases them from another fabricator. Ask where welding, polishing, pressure testing, electrical assembly, and final inspection take place. For a custom brewery system, knowing who performs each stage can make later service and documentation much easier.
Capacity should be discussed using working volume, gross volume, batch size, and annual production rather than a tank name alone. One US beer barrel equals 31 gallons, so a 10 BBL system is approximately 310 gallons per nominal batch, while a 20 BBL system is about 620 gallons. Ask the supplier to calculate output using your expected number of brews per week, fermentation days, cleaning time, and planned operating schedule for 2026.
A useful capacity table looks like this:
| Item | Ask the supplier to provide |
|---|---|
| Brewhouse | Working volume and gross volume |
| Mash tun | Diameter, height, usable volume |
| Fermenters | Working volume, total volume, cone angle |
| BBTs | Working volume and carbonation pressure |
| Glycol system | Chiller capacity and reservoir size |
| CIP | Pump flow, pressure, tank volume |
| Utilities | Electrical, water, gas, steam, compressed air |
Tank dimensions should be reviewed before the purchase order because floor area and ceiling height can restrict equipment selection. Ask for vessel diameter, total height, manway location, port locations, insulation thickness, and service clearance. A 2,000 L fermenter can have a much larger physical footprint than expected when the legs, valves, piping, insulation, and maintenance clearance are included.
Material specifications also deserve a written answer. Ask whether product-contact surfaces use 304 or 316/316L stainless steel, what thickness is specified for shells and heads, and which material is used for non-product-contact structures. Do not accept “food-grade stainless steel” as the entire specification because it does not identify the alloy or construction requirements.
Sanitary design should be discussed at the weld level. Ask how internal welds are finished, how corners and transitions are treated, whether product-contact welds are ground and polished, and what surface roughness specification applies. FDA guidance for food-contact equipment emphasizes corrosion-resistant, durable, smooth, easily cleanable surfaces and the reduction of open seams and similar features.
A useful question is whether the supplier can provide the stated surface finish as a measurable specification rather than a visual description. Ask for inspection records covering 100% of product-contact welds where that is part of the agreed quality plan, and ask what inspection method is used.
Heating should be evaluated from operating requirements rather than heater size alone. Ask for the expected heat-up time, boil time, heating medium, connected electrical load or steam demand, and the conditions used to calculate the figures. If the brewhouse uses electric heating, request voltage, phase, total power, and maximum current. If it uses steam, ask about steam pressure, boiler capacity, traps, condensate handling, and piping requirements.
Cooling requires the same level of detail. Ask how the glycol chiller was sized for normal fermentation, crash cooling, ambient temperature, the number of tanks operating at once, and future tank additions. A proposal based only on average cooling demand may not provide enough capacity when several fermenters are cooled at the same time.
For wort cooling, ask for inlet temperature, outlet temperature, wort flow rate, cooling-medium temperature, and heat-exchanger capacity. These figures allow the claimed cooling performance to be checked against the process you actually intend to run. In 2026, a supplier should also be able to document sensor types, control ranges, alarm settings, and temperature measurement locations rather than simply state that “automatic temperature control” is included.
The quotation should be broken into individual items. Compare the scope for vessels, pumps, valves, heat exchangers, controls, glycol equipment, heating equipment, piping, platforms, insulation, hoses, electrical panels, and CIP equipment.
“Please mark every included item and every excluded item on the quotation.”
This is also the right point to ask about freight, unloading, rigging, installation, electrical work, process piping, commissioning, travel expenses, customs charges, and local contractor work. A quotation that is 15% lower can become more expensive after several excluded systems are added.
Component brands should be listed where they affect maintenance or replacement. Ask for the brands and models of pumps, temperature sensors, PLCs, HMI screens, valves, electrical components, heat exchangers, and refrigeration equipment. Also ask whether substitutions are allowed and what technical standard an “equivalent” component must meet.
Automation needs a written function list. Ask whether the system controls only temperature or also controls pumps, valves, heating sequences, water additions, transfers, alarms, recipes, and cleaning cycles. For a PLC-based system, ask for the PLC and HMI manufacturer, recipe backup procedure, alarm history, user access levels, software backup files, and remote service arrangement.
Utility data should be supplied before construction begins. Ask for electrical voltage, phase, frequency, connected load, water pressure, water flow, drainage requirements, compressed-air demand, gas consumption, steam demand, glycol supply temperature, and ventilation requirements. At a commercial site, a small change in utility requirements made in 2026 can affect electrical service, plumbing, ventilation, or mechanical design.
Certification should be discussed based on the installation location. Ask which electrical, pressure-vessel, gas, boiler, or sanitary requirements apply to the supplied equipment and which certificates are included. The supplier should identify whether local inspection or field certification is required after delivery.
Testing should be written into the purchase agreement. Ask whether the supplier performs leak testing, electrical testing, sensor calibration checks, valve testing, control-system testing, pressure tests where applicable, and a Factory Acceptance Test. A practical FAT can include at least 20–30 individual checks covering alarms, interlocks, temperature inputs, pump commands, valve states, emergency stops, and programmed sequences.
Installation and commissioning should have separate definitions. Ask whether installation includes tank placement only or also process piping, glycol piping, steam connections, electrical wiring, control setup, calibration, startup, and operator training. If technicians travel to the site, confirm who pays travel, accommodation, local transportation, and service fees.
Documentation should include the drawings and records needed after the brewery has been operating for several years. Ask for P&IDs, equipment drawings, electrical schematics, manuals, maintenance instructions, spare-parts lists, component manuals, certificates, test records, and PLC/HMI backups. Keep electronic copies as well as printed manuals.
Warranty language should state when coverage begins and what it covers. Ask whether the warranty applies to vessels, pumps, motors, controls, instruments, and third-party components, and who pays shipping and labor for a replacement. A 12-month warranty beginning at commissioning is not the same as a 12-month warranty beginning at shipment.
Ask for a spare-parts list based on the installed system. Request recommended quantities for seals, gaskets, valve seats, sensors, pump seals, solenoid coils, electrical components, and other parts with long replacement times. For breweries operating 24–7 packaging or cellar schedules, even a component costing less than 1% of the project price can stop a production line if no replacement is available.
After-sales support should be defined in writing. Ask where technicians are located, what support hours apply, how quickly production-related issues are normally answered, and whether remote PLC or HMI support is available. You can also ask whether hgmc brewing can provide technical drawings, spare-parts information, commissioning support, and operating documentation as part of the project scope.
CIP deserves its own set of questions because tank cleaning depends on flow, pressure, spray-device design, chemical compatibility, temperature, and return piping. Ask for CIP pump flow and pressure, spray-ball or rotary-device specifications, tank volume, hose sizes, cleaning circuit design, and drain requirements. A supplier should be able to explain how the system cleans the brewhouse, fermenters, BBTs, heat exchanger, and process lines.
Ask about cleaning water temperature and chemical handling as well. The system should provide the required flow through the intended cleaning circuit without relying on assumptions made after installation. For larger systems, ask whether separate circuits are needed for the brewhouse and cellar and whether the CIP system can be expanded when additional tanks are installed.
Safety questions should cover pressure relief, emergency stops, hot-surface protection, electrical isolation, ventilation, and tank entry. OSHA defines tanks and vessels as examples of confined spaces when they meet the required conditions, and permit-required spaces require procedures for hazard evaluation, isolation, ventilation, monitoring, and rescue. Ask the supplier what safety devices are built into each vessel and which procedures remain the brewery operator’s responsibility.
Finally, ask whether the proposed system can support the brewery 3 to 5 years after commissioning. Request the maximum practical number of fermenters supported by the glycol plant, spare PLC inputs and outputs, available electrical capacity, additional CIP capacity, hot-liquor capacity, and expansion space. A supplier that can show these limits in drawings and specifications gives you much more usable information than a brochure listing only tank sizes.