Beverage technology for brewers: what else your brewhouse can make
Soft drinks, alcohol-free drinks, seltzers and kombucha all run on kit a brewer already understands. We map the six categories, compare starting in your brewery with building new and set out a 90-day pilot.
Why a brewery is already halfway there
A brewhouse is a machine for dissolving, boiling, cooling, fermenting, clarifying, carbonating and packaging liquids under hygienic control. That covers most of what a soft drink, a seltzer or a kombucha needs. The differences sit in three places: the licence, the cold chain and the quality system. This series takes each drink in turn. This guide is the map: what each category asks of you and how to pick the first one to try.
The six categories at a glance
- Soft drinks. Syrup, water, acid and CO2. Kit: mixing tank, water treatment, carbonation, filler. Licence: FSSAI only, but inside a bonded brewery the excise office has a say. Shelf stable with good hygiene or pasteurisation. See soft drinks and alcohol-free drinks in a brewery.
- Alcohol-free drinks. Hop water and dealcoholised beer. FSSAI's Alcoholic Beverages Regulations, 2018 (compendium version IV, 27 August 2025) define a non-alcoholic version of an alcoholic beverage as 0.5% ABV or less, made by fermenting and then removing the alcohol. Alcohol-free beer is set at 0.0% ABV. These need pasteurisation, since there is no alcohol to protect them. Our non-alcoholic beer technology guide covers the removal kit.
- Low-alcohol and mixed drinks. Beers and blends at modest strength. Same brewhouse, tighter blending control. See low-alcohol and mixed drinks production.
- Flavoured beers and shandies. FSSAI lists flavoured beer as beer with permitted flavours that meets all other beer requirements. Closest to what you already make. See flavoured beers and shandies.
- Alcopops and hard seltzers. A neutral base, then flavour. Needs nutrient and pH control, carbon filtration and usually a new excise approval. See alcopops and hard seltzer production.
- Kombucha and water kefir. Living cultures, strict pH limits and alcohol that creeps in the bottle. Cold chain or pasteurisation is mandatory in practice. See kombucha and water kefir production.
Start in your brewery or build new
Start in your existing brewery when the drink shares your kit and your licence class: flavoured beers, shandies and low-alcohol beers first, then seltzer if your state excise office approves the category. The cost is mostly time on the brite tank and the filler. The risk is cross-contamination, so a kombucha culture or a sweet soft drink needs its own vessels, hoses and a tighter CIP regime.
Build a new set-up when the product is non-alcoholic and you want it outside bond, or when volume would block your beer tanks. A separate food unit with its own FSSAI licence keeps the excise questions simple. In consulting work we often see the bonded premises, not the kit, decide the question. Ask the state excise office whether you may make a non-excisable product inside bond before you plan anything.
How to choose the first one
Score each candidate from one to five on four things, then add up the scores:
- Shared kit. How much can run on what you own today?
- Margin drivers. Excise or no excise, ingredient cost, pack format and price point. A non-alcoholic drink avoids excise but sells at a soft-drink price.
- Licence complexity. A flavoured beer may need only label approval. A new alcoholic category needs state excise approval. A non-alcoholic product in bond needs both offices to agree.
- Shelf life and cold chain. A pasteurised seltzer survives an Indian summer warehouse. An unpasteurised kombucha does not.
The honest answer for most brewpubs is a flavoured beer or shandy first, because it tests demand on kit and paper you already have.
A 90-day pilot plan
- Weeks 1 to 2. Write the licence question to excise and FSSAI. Pick one product and one pack.
- Weeks 3 to 6. Bench trials at 1 to 20 litres. Fix the recipe, the process limits and the release tests.
- Weeks 7 to 8. One pilot batch on production kit. Log every number.
- Weeks 9 to 12. Hold samples warm and cold for shelf life. Sell in the taproom if your licence allows and record repeat orders, not compliments.
Cost every step per litre against your beer. Our cost per litre guide gives the method.
What we would measure from day one
Whatever you choose, the same few numbers decide whether it works: pH, Brix or gravity, ABV, dissolved CO2, dissolved oxygen, micro counts, cost per litre and sell-through. Put them in one sheet per batch from the pilot on. Six months later that sheet tells you which product earns its tank time, which is the decision most breweries make on instinct. Rules and approvals vary by state and change, so confirm every licensing step with your state excise office and FSSAI.
Common questions
Can a brewery make soft drinks in India?
Often yes, but the premises are usually bonded for excise. Ask your state excise office whether a non-alcoholic product may be made there. Then get the FSSAI licence that covers it.
Which new drink is easiest for a brewpub to add?
Usually a flavoured beer or shandy, because it uses the same kit and sits in the beer category. Check label approval with excise first.
What counts as non-alcoholic under FSSAI?
FSSAI's alcoholic beverage regulations define the non-alcoholic version of an alcoholic beverage as 0.5% ABV or less, made by fermenting and then removing the alcohol. Alcohol-free beer is set at 0.0% ABV.
Do I need a separate set-up for kombucha?
Not always, but it needs separate vessels and tight cleaning because its acetic culture can spoil beer. Excise rules for non-alcoholic products in bond decide the rest.
