Semi-Automatic Brewery
In a semi-automatic brewery plant, it includes brewing installation, training, and beer recipes that are used in the manual brewery. It relies on a more traditional way of microbrewing. There are many options for semi-automatic systems, and you can find systems with different capabilities in a wide price range.
However, it also means that you lose some control over the duration of the brew. While any brewery can brew beer, differences in production efficiency can make a huge difference. Using semi-automatic brewing equipment:
Pros:
You can start a brewery on a limited budget.
You can take a moment to enjoy brewing.
Cons:
It requires labor to complete the entire brew.
Temperature control is essential during the brewing process, which will require some “stand by the pot” time.
You still need to be present at least one stage of the brewing process: mashing, jetting, jumping, boiling, and cooling.
The brewing process will last at least 4 hours, not to mention the equipment CIP cleaning.
You may be brewing continuously throughout the day.
Fully Automatic Brewery
When you want to increase the business and scale of your brewery, then increasing the production capacity is something you must consider. Full automation allows you to preset everything in advance and only requires you to be present to load the ingredients and then finally transfer the prepared wort to the fermenter. If you have a great process or recipe, then fully automatic is the best option you can choose, as it will give you a uniform taste which will make commercializing the brewery much easier.
Pros:
Fully automated brewing process that automates all steps of beer brewing: mashing, spraying, hopping, cooling, and even cleaning.
Full automation not only saves you time, but it also gives you more control over brewing and saves your recipes.
Once you become more professional, you can adjust and perfect your recipes and get the highest quality beer.
You can brew 4, 6, or even 8 batches in one day.
It allows you to focus on other important things besides beer.
Less labor is required.
Cons:
The disadvantage of fully automatic brewing may be that the price of brewing equipment is too high.
Summarize
The question is how much time do you have and what is your budget? And whether your current production and sales capabilities are consistent.
If you are currently setting up your own fully automatic brewery equipment and have a small budget, you may wish to choose ACE brewing equipment. ACE’s team of engineers provides different solutions for the degree of automation of brewing equipment.
In conclusion, which option is better for creating a microbrewery business depends on the entrepreneur’s interests and goals. The advantages of the semi-automatic brewery are that you can make a variety of brewed beers, which is ideal if you are planning to open a microbrewery business that can handle small amounts of beer and operate as a neighborhood shop rather than a factory. It is also less costly as it uses traditional equipment that is cheaper than fully automated machines. This business can be run as a family-type operation with different roles.
In contrast, the advantage of fully automatic brewery equipment is the superior production rate it can deliver per batch. You can hire fewer people as the machines do most of the work. This option is suitable if you want to create a consistent brand and produce a large volume of beer.
