Thinking of building a brewery but don’t know where to start? Building a brewery involves several phases that require experience and expertise. Let’s take a look at the key technical phases involved in building a brewery.
Key Phases of Building a Brewery
Initiation and Feasibility
The initiation and feasibility phase is critical to the success of your project. During this phase, you need to conduct research, write your business case, secure funding, and find the right location and partners. A brief outlining the key project requirements, such as total budget, target patron number, food offerings, and more, should be prepared. Assembling the right project team with brewery experience and enthusiasm is crucial to the success of your project and will save you time and money.
Design
In the design phase, your team will put together a design that meets your vision. Coordination is key, as a brewery project has many components that must be considered in the design. The brewery itself, the cool room, kitchen, sound system, and other parts have specific requirements and need to be coordinated and documented. It is also important to check the design against your budget and ensure compliance with relevant standards and regulations.
Procurement
A successful procurement process is defined by finding the right partner at the right price. A comprehensive document with a clear scope of work will help prospective partners understand your expectations. Once you have found the right partner, the right contract outlining the obligations of each party and how issues will be handled should be drafted.
Construction
The construction phase is where your dream becomes a reality! Safety and coordination are key, and quality checks should be performed regularly. Programming of the works is important to ensure the site is ready for all third-party scopes, such as the brewery, to arrive. Contract administration, including assessing payment claims, variations, or extension of time claims, plays a vital role in making sure that your interests are protected. Early inspections with the builder help minimise the number of defects you have to deal with when you should be focusing on commissioning your brewery.
Handover and Commissioning
During the handover & commissioning phase, everything comes together, and you are only a few steps away from opening the doors to your brewery. Your team spends more time on site and familiarises themselves with the systems. The builder rectifies final defects and prepares all required documents for your final statutory inspections. Once the Occupation Certificate is issued and you have the Liquor License in place, you can finally open your doors and invite family and friends to celebrate.
Thirsty for More
Looking to dive deeper into the aspects of opening a brewery?
Tune in to the ‘Build me a brewery’ podcast episode with Benedikt Schikora from BSK Projects for more valuable insights.
Take a look at some of the exciting brewery projects BSK Projects have been involved with.
Ready to Start Building Your Brewery?
Building and opening a brewery on time and on budget requires experience, expertise, and a full focus. As Project Managers, BSK Projects specialises in delivering hospitality, entertainment, and tourism venues across Australia. We help you with the technical part of building your brewery, allowing you to concentrate on the operational part. We make complicated things simple and provide certainty on cost, program, and quality.
If you have any questions about your upcoming brewery project, drop us a line today and if you will be at BrewCon 2023 we’d love to meet you, visit us on stand 100. We are always happy to provide advice and help you get started!
Navigating the stages of a successful brewery project
