With the continuous development of bar culture, beer, as one of the most popular drinks in the bar, has a direct impact on the customer’s consumption experience due to its quality and taste. Bar beer equipment plays a vital role in this. From the storage, cooling, and transportation of beer to the final pouring into the glass, every link cannot be separated from the support of high-quality equipment.
Table of Contents
Overview of Bar Brewing Equipment
Bar brewing equipment is a small beer brewing system. Compared with large industrial brewing equipment, bar brewing equipment is smaller and more flexible in operation, suitable for personalized, small-volume craft beer production. This equipment not only meets the bar’s needs for homemade fresh beer but also improves customer experience, allowing consumers to experience the brewing process up close, enhancing brand characteristics and market competitiveness.
Brewing equipment for craft beer bars
Brewhouse System
- Mash Tun: Mix malt and water under heating conditions and convert starch into sugar.
- Lauter Tun: Separate malt grains and wort to ensure the clarity of wort after mash.
- Kettle tank: Used to boil wort and add hops for bitterness adjustment, while killing bacteria and enzymes.
- Whirlpool tank: Used to remove solids remaining after boiling and improve the clarity of wort.
Fermentation equipment
- Fermentation Tank: Stainless steel tank with controllable temperature and pressure, suitable for fermentation of different styles of beer.
- Bright Beer Tank: Used for beer maturation, clarification, and carbonation, making the taste smoother and more stable.
Cooling system
- Plate Heat Exchanger: Used to quickly cool the boiled wort.
- Chiller: Maintain the low temperature of the fermentation tank and cellar.
Filtration and packaging equipment
- Beer Filter: removes suspended matter and improves beer clarity.
- Filling Machine: used to fill bottled or canned beer.
- Capping Machine: seals bottle caps to prevent oxidation.
How to choose the right bar beer equipment?
Determine the size of your bar
- Small bar: You can choose a small beer barrel with a basic beer column, and 2-3 taps can meet the needs.
- Medium-sized bar: It is recommended to use a cooling coil + beer column system, 4-6 taps can meet the supply of a variety of beers.
- Large bar: A complete delivery pipeline system, booster system, and large storage cold storage are required, and the number of taps can reach more than 10.
Choose the right beer-filling system
Beer supply in bars usually comes in three ways: bottled, kegged, and home-brewed, and different ways have different requirements for equipment. Keg beer needs to be equipped with a beer head, beer tower, gas supply system, and cooling equipment, while bottled beer needs a refrigerator or refrigerator to maintain a suitable temperature. If you choose home brewing, you must have a complete brewing system, including a malt crusher, mash pot, fermentation tank, filtration system, and cleaning equipment. In addition, considering the freshness and taste of beer, the bar needs to choose suitable cooling and gas supply equipment, such as carbon dioxide cylinders and nitrogen mixing systems, to maintain the best flavor of beer.
Choose the right draft beer machine
Draft beer systems mainly include direct cooling type and cellar type. Direct-cooling draft beer machines are suitable for small bars or mobile bars. The equipment is compact and flexible to use, but it can only support a limited number of barrels. The cellar system is suitable for medium and large bars. It requires an independent refrigeration room and can connect multiple barrels to ensure stable beer temperature and pressure. In addition, the gas mixing system will also affect the foam and taste of the beer, which needs to be selected according to specific needs.
Cold storage and storage equipment
The temperature at which beer is stored and served has a huge impact on flavor, so the refrigeration system is a key consideration when purchasing equipment. For bottled or canned beer, you should choose a temperature-adjustable refrigerated display cabinet to ensure the optimal storage temperature and enhance the visual effect of the bar. For the draft beer system, you need to choose the right refrigeration equipment according to the size of the bar. Small bars can use built-in coolers, while large bars need to be equipped with professional cellar refrigeration systems to ensure that multiple barrels are kept at the optimal temperature.
Budget
The choice of bar beer equipment also needs to consider budget and cost-effectiveness. Although some high-end equipment is fully functional, it is expensive, and basic equipment may not be able to meet the demand during peak hours. Therefore, bar operators need to find a balance between quality, price, and durability based on their financial situation. At the same time, you can choose scalable equipment to facilitate gradual upgrades in the future according to business growth to reduce the pressure of one-time investment.
Installation and maintenance of bar beer equipment
- Equipment installation: The installation of bar beer equipment is a key link to ensure the quality of beer and the normal operation of the equipment. Before installation, the integrity of the equipment should be checked to ensure that all parts are complete and intact. When selecting the installation location, the ventilation, heat dissipation, and operation convenience of the equipment should be considered, and direct sunlight and humid environments should be avoided to extend the service life of the equipment.
- Equipment debugging: Check whether all connection parts are firm to ensure that there is no looseness or leakage. Then, start the equipment and gradually adjust the temperature control system to ensure that the fermentation and storage temperatures are within the appropriate range. Air pressure regulation is also a key step. Too high or too low will affect the quality of beer, so it is necessary to make corresponding adjustments according to different types of beer.
- Equipment maintenance: Fermentation tanks, storage tanks, and delivery pipelines should be cleaned regularly to avoid bacterial contamination caused by the accumulation of beer residues. When cleaning, special food-grade cleaning agents can be used, and hot water or alkaline solutions can be used to rinse to ensure that there is no odor and dirt residue inside the pipeline.
- Common faults and treatments: If the beer has an odor or abnormal taste, check whether the storage tanks and pipelines are clean, and confirm whether the raw materials are fresh. If the equipment leaks liquid or electricity, it should be stopped immediately for inspection and continued use after the fault is eliminated. For more complicated equipment failures, it is recommended to contact professional technicians for repair to avoid equipment damage or beer quality impact due to incorrect operation.
FAQ
What factors should be considered when choosing craft beer equipment?
When choosing equipment, you need to consider the production scale, equipment material (such as 304 or 316 stainless steel), degree of automation, ease of operation, maintenance cost, and after-sales service. In addition, the energy consumption and environmental protection of the equipment are also important factors that affect the long-term operating costs.
What is the daily maintenance of beer equipment?
The daily maintenance of craft beer equipment includes cleaning and disinfecting fermentation tanks, mash systems, and pipelines, regularly checking the sealing of pumps and valves, maintaining the normal operation of the refrigeration system, and checking the CO₂ supply and pressure regulation system. In addition, pay attention to the electronic control system of the equipment to ensure that all sensors and control modules are working properly.
How to ensure the quality of beer when using craft beer equipment?
The key to ensuring the quality of beer is to strictly control the brewing process, including wort mash temperature, yeast addition, fermentation temperature and time, carbon dioxide solubility, etc. Using high-quality raw materials, cleaning and disinfecting equipment to avoid infection with miscellaneous bacteria are also the key to ensuring the quality of beer.
What is the service life of craft beer equipment in general?
If used normally and maintained regularly, the service life of craft beer equipment can reach more than 10 years. Stainless steel equipment such as mash pots and fermentation tanks generally have a long lifespan, while consumable parts such as pumps, valves, and hoses need to be replaced regularly.
Does the operation of beer equipment require professional training?
Yes, although some craft brewing equipment has been automated, it is still necessary to master basic brewing knowledge and equipment operation skills, such as mash process control, fermentation management, cleaning and disinfection procedures, etc. Therefore, it is recommended that bar operators or brewers receive professional training to ensure beer quality and production safety.