Cutting cost of goods without changing the beer

Start where the beer disappears

Cost of goods is what it costs to make the beer you sell. The cheapest saving is often not a cheaper ingredient. It is beer you paid for and did not sell. Every litre lost between the mash tun and the customer carries its full cost. Measure that first.

In consulting work we often see brewers focus on the price of malt. Meanwhile the losses at lautering, in the fermenter and at filling can cost more than a price negotiation could save. We make no promise about your brewery. We tell you where to look.

Measure yield at every step

Take one brew and record: grain weight, wort volume and gravity into the kettle, wort into the fermenter, beer out of the fermenter, beer filtered or transferred, beer packed and beer sold. The difference between each pair is a loss. Express each as a percentage of the volume before it.

Typical places to look: lautering and sparging efficiency, kettle trub and hop absorption, fermenter trub and yeast take-off, filtration or centrifuge loss, filler start-up and shut-down waste, plus packaging rejects. Our guide on break-even shows how losses raise the volume you need to brew.

Brewhouse efficiency

Efficiency compares the extract you got with the extract the grain could give. A poor crush, an unsuitable grist, wrong sparge temperature or a rushed lauter leaves sugar in the spent grain. A small gain in extract on every brew adds up across a year. Check the mill gap, the sparge water temperature and the pH of the runnings. See brewhouse efficiency for the method. Do not change the grist to chase efficiency without tasting the result.

Purchasing

Buy to a specification and check each delivery against it, since the moisture and extract of malt change what you get from a bag. Group orders to save freight. Compare the delivered cost per kilogram of extract, not the price per kilogram of grain. Ask two suppliers to quote. In a hot, humid climate store malt dry and hops cold, because stock that spoils is the most expensive stock. Never change the supplier of a key ingredient without a test brew, since a cheaper malt can change the beer. Ask each supplier for the certificate of analysis for the lot. Keep a retained sample from every delivery. If a batch goes wrong, you can then show which delivery it came from and claim from the supplier.

Packaging and handling

Packaging is often the second largest cost after the liquid. Check the waste in cans, lids and labels, count breakages and check the order quantities against use. Look at the pack design for savings that the customer will not notice, such as a lighter carrier. Keep keg losses down with a tracking system and deposits for kegs that leave the premises. Look at fill height as well. Overfilling by a small amount on every can or keg gives beer away for free. Underfilling brings complaints and can break labelling rules. Check fill volumes at the start of each run and at intervals through it.

Energy, water and cleaning

Brewing uses heat for the kettle, cold for fermentation and storage, with a lot of water for cleaning. Capture heat from the cooling wort for hot water where possible. Check for steam or glycol leaks and insulation gaps. Reuse final rinse water for the first rinse. Measure water use per litre of beer, as a high figure points to leaks and over-long rinses. Many breweries use several litres of water for each litre of beer, so the figure alone says little. Compare your own number month to month and chase any rise. Never reduce cleaning to save money, since an infected batch costs far more.

Where we stop

We do not cut costs by shortening maturation, cutting hops or switching to cheaper adjuncts without a decision on the style. Those change the beer. The savings above leave the recipe and the flavour alone. Sort the list by money at stake and effort. Start with the largest. Measure again after each change. Then compare with the earnings of each beer in which of your beers make money.

Common questions

What is the fastest way to cut cost of goods?

Measure losses at each step from mash to sale. Beer lost is paid for and never earns anything, so reducing it is often the quickest saving.

Will cheaper ingredients save money?

Sometimes, but they can change the beer and cost customers. Test any change in a trial brew before you commit.

How do I know my losses?

Record volumes at each step for several brews and calculate the difference as a percentage. Averages over a few brews are more reliable than one.

Can you promise a saving?

No. What you find depends on your plant and your practice. A review shows where to look.