Wisdom Series · Brewery Design
Brewery Engineering Design
Brewery engineering design starts from your production plan and peak volume and ends with a package your contractors can bid and your inspectors can review. The order matters, because each step sets the numbers for the next.
Where the math starts
Before looking at equipment, you’ll need your production plan and peak volume in hand. That’s the baseline. From there, the math dictates your brewhouse size and cellar tank count. That tank count comes straight from your tank turns, which is just the number of times a fermenter gets filled in a year based on fermentation time, cleaning, and turnaround. Once the vessel sizes and counts are locked, we calculate the utility loads. That covers steam or electric heat, glycol, compressed air, CO2, water, and wastewater.
Sizing the facility
Those utility loads tell us what the building actually needs to support the plant. We map out the building requirements for sloped floors, drains, ceiling height, door sizes, and floor loading for full tanks. Skip these steps, and you end up with undersized glycol, drains, power, or no room to add tanks. After setting the building requirements, we move on to permits and equipment procurement.
What you get from the design
The design work produces the exact documents required for bids and construction. We hand over a process flow diagram, an equipment list, and a utility load summary. You’ll also get the floor plan, equipment layout, piping and instrumentation scope, electrical load list, and a specification package for your installing contractor. These documents drive your permits. You’ll need them for your TTB brewer notice, building plans, TABC licensing, local building and fire review, and a wastewater discharge permit where required. Once the design is set, our engineering best practices for breweries list the checks to run before startup.
Send us the details
Run your own numbers first with the beverage plant design checklist and the brewery capacity calculator. Then send your production plan, peak volume and the building or site you have in mind. A Solon engineer reads every inquiry and replies by email, usually within one business day. Solon does process and facility design, equipment specification and procurement, and compliance and permitting support; your installing contractor does the installation.