From Homebrewers to Craft Breweries - Daily, Seasonal, and Annual Maintenance Tips for Your Operation

Whether you’re a homebrewer or a craft brewery, regular maintenance is an essential part of the brewing process. It helps you brew the best possible beers, reduces the risk of accidents and contamination, and prevents costly repairs. Above all, it helps avoid dealing with big problems at the worst possible times.

With a few preventative maintenance tips and tricks up your sleeve, you can ensure that every brew day, fermentation period, and packaging session goes without a hitch.

Here are the essential maintenance tasks that every brewer should carry out.

Daily maintenance tasks

Commercial craft brewers can find something that needs tweaking daily. As a homebrewer, you’ll probably brew a couple of times a month, so you don’t need to spend each day carrying out maintenance on your equipment.

Here are the main pre- and post-brew-day tasks to add to your maintenance sheet.

Setting the malt mill

Check that the mill is correctly set up before you begin crushing the entire batch. This will prevent problems like stuck mash or low efficiency on the brew day.

Check gaskets, valves, pumps, hoses, and fittings

Running a water test allows you to check for leaks, and flushes out any dust or debris. Prepare your equipment as if you’re going to brew, add warm water, and run it through the entire system. Check each hose, valve, and pump for leaks and make sure that everything is working correctly.

Check weighing scales

The last thing you need on brew day is to discover your scales are out of power. Check them in advance and make sure the charging cable is working. Also, make sure you have spare batteries for the smaller scales needed for hops and water treatments.

Pressure-test pressurized vessels

If your brewery setup uses pressurized fermenters, check that they’re holding pressure properly before running the acid wash. Even a small gas leak can leave your beer under-carbonated. On a homebrew level, simply fill your fermenting vessel with gas or compressed air to around 1.5 bars; on a commercial scale, it’s best to use compressed air rather than CO2 to save costs.

Calibrate measuring equipment

Accurate readings are a must when it comes to creating quality beer. Make sure your thermometers, refractometer, and pH reader are calibrated properly before you need them.

Backwash the plate heat exchanger

A plate heat exchanger can become a hotspot for contamination if it’s not cleaned thoroughly. Backwash it with hot water as soon after transfer as possible, then give it a caustic wash for a proper clean.

Other daily tasks outside of brew days

Clean the inside of your fermenters

You’ll want to do this as soon as your fermenter is emptied and the beer is packaged. Organic matter is easier to clean when fresh, reducing the need for extra chemicals and the risk of contamination.

Check and clean sample valves

Sample valves can leak or become blocked over time. Whenever you take a sample, spray the inside of the tap with sanitizer to remove any small deposits of yeast or other debris. For larger fermenters, fit a butterfly valve first, then add the sample valve, rather than fitting a sample valve directly to the tank.

Check the pressure release (spunding) valves

Spunding valves are a great way for homebrewers and commercial brewers to carbonate their beer naturally —as long as they’re working correctly, of course. Keep them clean, and test them before you fill your fermenting vessel.

Seasonal brewery maintenance tasks

These maintenance tasks should be carried out every couple of months to keep everything running smoothly. Here’s what you need to keep track of.

Change water filters

Check and change your water filters regularly. Particle filters in particular can become clogged or discolored, reducing the quality of your brewing water.

Update your water report

Depending on where you live, water quality can change seasonally. If you’re looking to brew consistent beers, get regular updates from your water company and adjust your water treatments accordingly.

Deep-clean the brewery

Give all your vessels, floors, and walls a good, deep clean. Thoroughly scrub those hard-to-reach areas to remove malt dust, spilled beer, or anything else that might attract pests as the weather warms up. Empty any fridges and freezers to fully clean and sanitize them.

Packaging equipment maintenance

It doesn’t matter whether you’re using a counter-pressure bottle filler or a multi-head canning machine:  packaging equipment maintenance is essential. Every few months, dismantle the equipment, grease any relevant mechanisms, check that the gaskets aren’t worn, and keep an eye on any hoses that could be split or loose.

Service chillers

The chillers that cool your glycol and your cold store work 24/7, so have them maintained at least twice a year. For best results, carry out maintenance before and after the warm season.

Annual maintenance tasks

There aren’t many annual maintenance tasks as a homebrewer. Even at a commercial level, most tasks should be done more than once a year. However, there are a couple of tasks to be aware of.

Plate heat exchanger maintenance

A regular cleaning schedule is key to your plate heat exchanger’s upkeep. Once a year, it’s also worth stripping it down to inspect the plates and give it a deep clean if needed.

Service steam generator/boiler

If your brewery uses a steam generator or boiler, it will need annual servicing to prolong its lifespan. It’s always better to call in a professional servicing company than do it yourself.

Wrapping up

Preventative maintenance is the best way to ensure a smooth brew day and produce flawless beers. On a homebrew level, regular maintenance keeps your equipment in top shape and prevents the risk of infected batches. On a commercial level, it can also save you money and prevent unnecessary delays, while allowing you to brew consistent, high-quality beer.