Supplier Viewpoint Crisp Malt’s Mike Benson offers his tried and tested tips for saving money in your brewery

Cost saving tips for your brewery

Using his 20 years of brewing experience, Mike Benson from Crisp Malt gives his take on ways to save money in the brewery…

With everything we’ve been through in the past two years - and are still going through now - saving costs is high on the agenda. I’ve put together a list of ways to save money, which can be used as a checklist. Sure, some of the recommendations will seem obvious, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have implemented them. A lot of these tips come from trial and error on my part over the years, and some of them will need a bit of trial and error from you. Every brewhouse and every operation varies, and clearly it’s a matter of finding out what works in your particular setting.

1) Measure, measure, measure

You need the facts at your fingertips. Get on top of the metrics. Measure, measure, measure. Then put everything on to spreadsheets. Use them to update monthly costs. Create comprehensive sheets for each beer. To get a picture of the true cost per barrel, don’t leave anything out. Once you have everything, count it every month - and check the usage is in line with production. Once you know your metrics, you can begin to play. Make minor adjustments, one element at a time, and you’ll begin to see where you can make those elusive savings. Want a template spreadsheet? Email sales@ crispmalt.com.

2) Malt and mashing

Use good quality, well modified malt. Good modification means it gives up its extract more easily and provides a better yield. Use your hydrometer or refractometer to take your last running down to 1.5 to 2 degrees Brix / 1.006 to 1.008 SG. Careful not to go lower, or you’ll be getting those harsh, astringent flavours and poorer head retention. Try replacing a small proportion of malted barley with malted wheat. It will save you money and increase head retention. 10% inclusion of malted wheat should give you a 20p per barrel saving. It all adds up. If you are already adding wheat, try torrefied barley. It offers greater savings, but be careful: it can be harsh at higher addition rates. If you are cold stabilising beer using sterile filters before packaging, it’s always worth using beta-glucanase in the mash. It’s a cheap enzyme to use and you can expect to see longer filter runs and longer filter life. So, more beer and less money spent on

expensive filters. Adding it could stop issues before you know you have any. Use Clear Choice Malt in your recipes. Why? • Lowering temperature is extremely energy intensive. Clear Choice allows you to get the same colloidal stability cold conditioning beer at +40C as you’d get at -10C. This hugely reduces energy consumption. And it improves flavour stability, which helps prolong shelf life. • It also allows you to cut out expensive haze stabilisers. How? Unlike other barleys, Clear

Choice barley has no proanthocyanidins, which are flavonoid polyphenols. These un-needed polyphenols are the ones that work with proteins to form chill haze. They create astringent flavours and reduce shelf life. Use Clear Choice, and hey presto, the benefits become transparent. You may not use PVPP, but your contract packers might do. Ask them to remove it from the product and the packaging cost. You may also see increased yields through better filtration.

3) Hops

When buying hops, don’t just go on the weight of the plants. Buy according to the alpha acid per kilo. Alpha acids will vary each season, and you will need to know the quantity of hops required to achieve consistent bitterness levels in your beer from one year to the next. Add dry hops in small batches two or three times during maturation, rather than putting them in all at once. This improves extraction. If you don’t have one, buy a flow meter. It will ensure your measurements are accurate and optimal – which will save you wasting resources. And money. If the powers that be won’t fork out for a flow meter, you can calibrate the tank for volume. From a set starting point, measure the distance to the beer. Fill 4 firkins and take a measurement again. The drop in height in mm is equivalent to a barrel of beer. It should be consistent until you hit a cone or dish - and you can use it to control hop or yeast additions. To measure water usage, you can install low-cost vane flow meters. These will help with optimisations. Rinse / sparge whole hops with hot liquor as you push them through the system. This will maximise your yield from them. Try high gravity brewing to increase capacity without the capital expenditure on new plant. You can get two different beers from one brew, or increase volume on a single brew. But approach with caution: quality control can be an issue. High gravity brewing gives you more esters, and there’s a risk of oxidised flavours. Ok, and the next one is definitely the maltster speaking, but I’m going to say it anyway. Brew more malt-forward beers. You can still achieve full and fabulous flavours, with an emphasis on balance and drinkability. Rather than using hops for astringency, use roasted or black malts to give that lovely bite.

4) Yeast

For brews of less than 4.5% abv, a 10-barrel plant should be able to achieve the same fermentation performance and flavours using 250gm of yeast, rather than 500gm. This represents a 50% cost saving. That’s providing you seal the bag of remaining yeast properly; keep it in the fridge; and don’t leave it too long before using. Re-use your yeast up to 5 times. If you’re on top of your hygiene, you can skim it off and collect in a bucket for the next brew. Get rid of the dark trub as that contains dead yeast. And store in pristine conditions at the right temperature. Again, don’t save it for more than7 days: preferably use it within 5 days. Re-pitching brings its risks.

Finally

I hope that’s helpful. We’ll soon be putting together advice for saving money in other parts of the brewery, so keep your eyes peeled. Good luck in the meantime.