So that should be that. Right?
Wrong.
It is just a matter of scaling up from
5-gallon brews to half-barrel to full barrel and on up. Yes?
No.
At a nuts-and-bolts level, to be
commercially viable, the brewing process has three requirements:
accuracy, consistency, and efficiency. You have to hit every
parameter of the recipe (grain bill, mashing temp, pre-boil volume,
OG/FG, etc.), every time you execute it, and with as little waste as
possible in terms of materials, energy, labor, etc. Just those first
two steps up from 5 gallons proved to be challenging. Think about
the changes in the equipment for mashing and brewing. That changes
the thermodynamics of both processes. The volume of water changes
how long it takes to heat and cool water, grains, wort, everything.
What about the mechanics of SAFELY moving vessels, platforms,
ladders, and such in a 120-square-foot space? All those changes have
to be accounted for, adjusted to, so that everyone is executing on
their tasks at the right time, in the right place, brew session after
brew session. There were a couple of rough brew sessions after we
made major changes in the brewing process.
But we got better, and better still.
Now we work like a well-oiled machine again on volumes of beer that
are starting to approach commercially viable. Will there be new
challenges when we scale up to multi-barrel volumes? Sure! The
equipment will be very different from most of what we are using now.
At that point, we’ll probably need some professional training
because screwing up can cost serious money and cause serious
problems. But we’ll get the new and improved proess down and get
the beers flowing. Hopefully, to a bar or restaurant near you.
Beer! -- Cupcake
