OPERATORS, EXECUTORS, AND CONSULTANTS.
Consultants for beverage, food, and process manufacturing: built and run by operating owners.
When the plant has to start up right, we are the team holding the seams together. Controls, equipment, procurement, commissioning, and operations, under one accountable group.
02 / Who we are
Operating partner · Lifecycle delivery
We are the team that plans, builds, and guides the plant, then stays through startup.
Production projects break at the seams. A great recipe lands in a facility that cannot run it. Equipment arrives before utilities are ready. Controls get specified to a stale process diagram. A startup date slips because no one was tracking the dependency that was going to slip it.
We hold those seams together as your owner-side operating partner across automation, controls, equipment, procurement, commissioning, and operations. You hire us because the project needs to start up when it said it would and run the way it was supposed to run.
Role
Owner-side operating partner, fractional COO services
Coverage
Automation · Equipment · Operations
Scope
Planning through operating
03 / Practice
CAPABILITY LANES
All of our domains. One accountable team.
Each one is a real specialization with real deliverables. Pick the work you want us to do.
01 Automation
Industrial automation
PLC, HMI, SCADA, IO-Link, CODESYS, IFM. The kind of automation work no competitor in the craft beverage space brings to a project.
Automation practice →
02 Controls
Controls and commissioning
Panels, instrumentation, FAT and SAT, startup, and operating handoff. Less rework, fewer surprises after the equipment lands.
Controls practice →
03 Process
Process and sanitation
Recipes, sanitation, material handling, packaging, and scale-up. Tied back to how the plant actually runs.
Process practice →
04 CIP
CIP system audit
Clean-in-place audit and design. Sanitary process plants that pass inspection and stay clean under load.
CIP practice →
05 Facility
Facility and utilities
Layout, utilities, equipment placement, capacity. Reviewed at the desk so the project does not pay for the mistakes later in the field.
Facility practice →
06 Equipment
Equipment procurement
Sanitary process equipment, valves, pumps, instrumentation, and packaging kit. Sourced against the project rather than against a vendor’s roadmap.
Equipment practice →
07 Commissioning
Project management
Schedule, technical second-look, startup, and operating handoff. Owner-side accountability through validated production.
PM practice →
08 Operations
Operating support
Retainers, on-site reviews, troubleshooting, optimization, and continuous improvement for plants already running production.
Operations practice →
09 Beverage
Beverage manufacturing
RTD, non-alcoholic, dairy, and broader beverage manufacturing. Process and packaging tied to scale.
Beverage practice →
10 Recipe
Recipe development
Formulation through commercial scale. Beer, RTD, non-alcoholic, and functional beverage product development.
Recipe practice →
11 Brand
Brand development
Beer brand strategy, packaging design, and commercial positioning for breweries launching or repositioning a label.
Brand practice →
12 Federal
Federal and government
Execution for government and regulated buyers. Capability statement and contracting posture on the destination page.
Government practice →
04 / Industries
Brewhouse to clean room
Many domains. One operating logic.
Brewhouse, distillery, winery, dairy, food line, clean room, water treatment, packaging hall, regulated facility. What differs is the recipe and the equipment. Our expertise covers it all.
01 / Breweries
Craft and regional breweries
Three barrels to a hundred thousand. Brewhouse, glycol, packaging, controls. Operator-led work from concept through first commercial batch and past it.
Brewery practice →
02 / Distilleries
Spirits and distillation
Pot stills, columns, mash, barrels, TTB. The kind of facility that does not forgive a sloppy still house.
Distillery practice →
03 / Wineries
Cellar and crush
Crush pad through bottling line. For wineries planning, expanding, or fixing what last harvest revealed.
Winery practice →
04 / Beverage manufacturers
RTD and non-alcoholic
Ready-to-drink, blended, carbonated, dosed. Process and packaging for the categories where shelf life is decided on the floor.
Beverage practice →
05 / Food manufacturers
Hygienic food processing
Plant layout and hygienic process for the kind of audit that finds where the line was actually wiped down.
Food manufacturing →
06 / Dairy processing
Pasteurization and culture
HTST, batch culture, packaging. Where the difference between a recall and a routine batch is one CIP cycle.
Industries served →
07 / Pharma & nutraceutical
GMP-grade process
GMP, validation, deviation control. Where the document and the floor have to match, then keep matching.
Industries served →
08 / Cannabis & extraction
Extraction and recovery
Hydrocarbon, CO2, ethanol. Solvent recovery, distillation, formulation. Regulated facilities where the plant and the licensing have to keep agreeing.
Industries served →
09 / Water & wastewater
Treatment, RO, filtration
Treatment processes, pumps, valves, piping, flow meters, sensors. Utility water and wastewater for plants and municipalities.
Industries served →
10 / Chemical processing
Process and instrumentation
Process and controls for chemical plants. Where the wrong instrument and the wrong reactor share a fault line.
Industries served →
11 / Packaging & warehousing
Lines and logistics
Packaging line integration, warehouse process, and operations support. Throughput is decided by the slowest changeover.
Industries served →
12 / Federal & government
Federal and government
Execution for government and regulated buyers. Bring the solicitation; the capability statement page carries the rest.
Government services →
05 / Featured
Reference, practice, and tools
Featured wisdom, practices, and tools.
The reading, the practices, and the calculators owners reach for when a project is being planned, scoped, or fixed.
Wisdom · Reference
How to start a brewery, in twenty-four months.
A staged operator’s roadmap from formation through first commercial batch, capital staging and the regulatory milestones that gate everything else.
Read article →
Wisdom · Reference
Automation ROI for breweries.
Where the payback hides in a brewery rebuild, and where it does not. A field-tested read of how automation actually moves operating economics.
Read article →
Wisdom · Strategy
Procuring equipment without a vendor lock-in.
A framework for picking equipment partners on five-year capacity, automation, and maintainability scenarios, not just upfront price.
Read article →
Service · Practice
Automation and controls.
PLC, HMI, SCADA, IO-Link, CODESYS, IFM, panels, instrumentation, FAT and SAT, brought into the project before the equipment lands.
Open the practice →
Service · Practice
Process and sanitation.
Recipes, sanitation, CIP, material handling, packaging, and scale-up tied back to how the plant actually runs on the floor.
Open the practice →
Service · Practice
Project management and commissioning.
Schedule, technical second-look, startup, and operating handoff. Owner-side accountability through validated production.
Open the practice →
Tool · Calculator
Glycol system calculator.
Size a glycol loop for a brewery or process plant against real operating assumptions, not vendor cut-sheet defaults.
Open the tool →
Tool · Analyzer
ROI analyzer.
A quick model for capacity, automation, or equipment investments, tied to operating reality, not to a sales sheet.
Open the tool →
Tool · Planner
Capacity planner.
Match brewhouse, fermentation, packaging, and utility capacity at production scale so nothing chokes at the wrong stage.
Open the tool →
06 / Where to start
Find the right page
Where do we start?
Find your project on the left. The page on the right is where to start.
| If the project question is | Best route | What you find there |
|---|---|---|
| What kind of work does Solon take? | Services → | Automation, controls, equipment, facility, commissioning, and operations as separate practices. |
| Does Solon work in my industry? | Industries → | Brewery, distillery, winery, RTD, food, and regulated production, each with its own language. |
| Has Solon done a project like mine? | Case Studies → | Project context across breweries, beverage producers, and process plants. |
| What do past clients say? | Testimonials → | Direct comments from owners who hired Solon for production work. |
| Can Solon take federal or government work? | Capability Statement → | Current federal contracting posture and the certifications on file. |
| I want long-form reference on a specific topic. | Wisdom → | Field reports, reference guides, and regulatory deep-dives written by practicing operators. |
| I am ready to talk through a project. | Contact → | Bring the project stage, what is already decided, and where the risk is showing up. |
07 / Proof
Named clients · Verbatim quotes
Thirty years. Sixty engagements. International scope.
Did the plant start up on schedule. Did the recipe scale. Did the controls hold up after commissioning. Below: the clients who hired us, the projects we put scope to, and the operating experience behind it.
30+ yrs
Combined operating experience across the principals
Millions
In project scope delivered for production owners
60+
Client engagements across the practice
International
Project footprint: corporate engagements plus principal experience across multiple countries
What clients said, in their own words.
07.01 / Testimonials
Central Machine Works
Design judgment
“Solon Consulting are experts in designing successful breweries and provide top tier services from grain to glass. No one offers better options to meet customer demands at affordable rates.”
Scott Rynbrandt
Head Brewer · Central Machine Works
Oddwood Brewing
Responsive support
“Matt, Kirby, and the Solon team are who you can call, that will always get you taken care of, no matter what the brewery needs.”
Cory Herbert
Head Brewer · Oddwood Brewing
Starbase Brewing
Ground-up build
“Solon Consulting essentially built our entire brewery from scratch. All of the work was completed efficiently and was very high quality. Matt and Kirby are both extremely professional and we really enjoyed working with them. We plan to continue using Solon for any brewery needs in the future.”
Nate Argroves
Owner · Starbase Brewing
Istrouma Brewing
Field support
“Solon was exactly what we were looking for to get our brewery on the right path. During construction, they showed incredible work ethic and were able to succeed with the available resources. When it came to operations, Solon Consulting also showed an invaluable amount of experience and knowledge with the ability to convey it.”
Dean Vosloh
Head Brewer · Istrouma Brewing, Baton Rouge
FMN Brewery
International launch
“Solon Consulting’s expertise and support were instrumental in our success. We couldn’t have done it without them.”
Pavlos Sierros
Owner · FMN Brewery, Greece
Austin Cocktails
Production installation
“Solon Consulting saved us with expert installation services and knowledge that went beyond any of our previous consulting partners. They went above and beyond to ensure we were producing the best product possible.”
Wagon Wills
Operations Manager · Austin Cocktails
Named projects: breweries.
07.02 / Brewery
Case 01 / Brewery
Old Gregg Brewing
Pflugerville, Texas
Facility, controls, PLC and HMI, procurement, fractional COO, owner-representation, commissioning, and operations across the build and the lifecycle.
Case 02 / Brewery
Balanced Rock Brewing
Two sites · The Colony, Texas
Two-site facility work for The Colony expansion. Chiller sizing, sanitary sewer and plumbing, HVAC and boiler, local-permitting advisement, controls, and operations support.
Case 03 / Brewery group
Pouring With Heart · Stay Put Brewing at 73 Rainey
Austin, Texas
Rooftop chiller, glycol loop, controls, equipment, procurement, and umbrella operations support across the brewery group.
Case 04 / Brewery
The Brewtorium
Austin, Texas
Glycol header redesign, keg washer repair, and automation rebuild. Targeted operating-pressure work, not a ground-up build.
See our work with Augusta Vin, Still Austin, and more in our Case Studies page.
See case studies →
Food and beverage manufacturer project work is documented on the case-studies page.
See case studies →
Our customers are our best reference and our decades of operating experience, and international scope set us apart. More on the testimonial and case-study pages.
08 / Common questions
Before a first call
Questions clients ask before the first call.
Q.01What does a first project review look like?
A scoped technical conversation about project stage, what has already been decided, where the technical risk is starting to show up, and what kind of work actually moves the project forward. The deliverable is clarity on next steps, not a sales pitch.
Q.02Which industries does Solon work in?
Breweries, distilleries, wineries, RTD and non-alcoholic beverage producers, food manufacturing, dairy, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical manufacturing, cannabis and extraction, chemical processing, water and wastewater systems, packaging and warehousing, and government and regulated facilities.
Q.03How does Solon get involved in a project?
We work on hourly project work, monthly advisory or project management retainers, on-site engagements, and direct equipment procurement. The structure gets set in the first call once we understand the scope, stage, and risk.
Q.04Can Solon take federal or government work?
Yes. Bring the solicitation, NAICS, set-aside posture, and required deliverables. The capability statement page has the current contracting posture if you want to see it before we talk.
Q.05Does Solon take projects outside the United States?
Solon’s confirmed international corporate engagement is FMN Brewery in Greece. The principals also bring pre-merger international experience that belongs to them as individuals, not to Solon corporate.
Q.06How does Solon handle equipment selection and procurement?
Equipment selection is scoped against the project: process fit, utility requirements, hygienic design, controls interface, and operating reality. Procurement is handled directly with technical oversight on specifications and qualification, so the equipment that lands is the equipment the project actually needs.
Tell us where the work is.
Bring the project, the constraint, or the call that needs to land. We will work it with you.