What is the difference between commercial brewers and homebrewer's

[fayderek14]

I know the obvious answers like size and equipment available but I'm just curious how commercial brewers brew differently than homebrewer's.

 

[Biergarden]

Are you thinking about going pro?

 

[TimelessCynic]

Impossible question.

Think about it this way... Homebrewers brew differently than Homebrewers. Basic principles remain the same throughout large commercial, micro and homebrew. Techniques and equipments differ in a million different combinations.

 

[Calichusetts]

Nothing and everything

 

[GoodDogShelby]

Process control. The pro, at least the good ones, have control over as many variables as they can. Think temperatures, water chemistry, and pH. That gives them better consistency batch-to-batch than most homebrewers have. They also manage their yeast's life cycle better than most home brewers. From pitching enough through controlling fermentation.

As a homebrewer, I am trying to, piece by piece, replicate this type of control. I think my beer is improving, but I have a long way to go.

 

[krackin]

Home brewers make better beer.

 

[PastorofMuppets]

commerical brewers are obsessed with efficiency.

 

[BrewLocal365]

It's a lot like a talented home cook vs. a professional cook in a restaurant. You'd get better equipment, tighter process, better measurements, and more control (all as a result of equipment + time commitment). But you'd also become beholden to your customers and accountants. Consistency and efficiency would be the names of the game. You would have far less leeway for experimentation and especially for happy accidents (some of the best beer!). That's not to day that pro brewers never get to experiment at work but in reality if the brewery is small then once it finds a customer base it's likely to stick with a handful of recipes that are known to the public and proven winners. If it's a larger brewery they will be terrified of alienating their customers. There are some these days, though, that thrive on experimentation and have a loyal customer base committed to traveling the journey with them. Pretty Things here in MA is one such brand. Their lineup is never the same.

 

[fayderek14]

Pretty Things here in MA is one such brand. Their lineup is never the same.

Another great brewery in MA with a ton of options is Night Shift in Everett.

 

[SimonHucko]

commerical brewers are obsessed with efficiency.

this is only really true of the big breweries, where an extra point translates to a lot of savings in grain. not that the little guys don't care about efficiency, but I'd say commercial brewers in general are much more concerned with consistency, especially the packaging operations.

the physical act of brewing beer doesn't really change, but the process gets more involved when you're dealing with hundreds/thousands of gallons instead of 5. pumps, CIP, dealing with large quantities of spent grain and hops, mopping, and the time involved to move all that liquid around are things home brewers don't really have to worry about. most professional brewers will tell you they're more like glorified janitors who spend some time drinking beer on the job.

this question or variations of it pops up pretty often here, and the answer is always the same. if you really want to know what pro brewing is like, find a local brewpub or small brewery and see if they'll let you boot up and help with a brew day. expect to do a lot of mopping, raking, and heavy lifting. good news is you'll probably get a beer or two out of the deal.

 

[iijakii]

It's a lot like a talented home cook vs. a professional cook in a restaurant. You'd get better equipment, tighter process, better measurements, and more control (all as a result of equipment + time commitment). But you'd also become beholden to your customers and accountants. Consistency and efficiency would be the names of the game. You would have far less leeway for experimentation and especially for happy accidents (some of the best beer!). That's not to day that pro brewers never get to experiment at work but in reality if the brewery is small then once it finds a customer base it's likely to stick with a handful of recipes that are known to the public and proven winners. If it's a larger brewery they will be terrified of alienating their customers. There are some these days, though, that thrive on experimentation and have a loyal customer base committed to traveling the journey with them. Pretty Things here in MA is one such brand. Their lineup is never the same.

Almost all craft breweries I know of do seasonals; that is the experimentation. A couple different summer beers, fresh hop ipa, oktoberfest, pumpkin beers, winter warmers, a big RIS, I'm sure I'm missing some other seasonals too. Then beyond the seasonals you usually get some new IPA or two every now and then with different hop combos etc.

 

[fizgig]

I am friends with a few local brewpub brewers, one thing we have going for us is ingredients, a lot of them are under contract to buy certain hops and locked into those agreements as multi-year deals (hop shortages and whatnot caused this, thanks ethanol), and often cannot get other hops. Other times, they would have to jack the price on the beer to use amarillo or citra instead of reg. C hops they get in bulk cheaply under contract so they don't do it. We can choose to make a $30 or $50+ dollar recipe easily, but they can't just make that decision lightly, and sometimes that can't at all. But they have glycol jacketed fermenters, pro volume yeast pitches, don't have to bottle anything, etc.

 

[Iceman6409]

I would like to add my two cents. One word - flavor. Period.

 

[BrewLocal365]

I would like to add my two cents. One word - flavor. Period.

I'm not sure which half of this thread that is in reference to!

It doesn't make a lot of sense regarding the home brewer vs. pro comparison.

Unfortunately it makes more sense in the context of the off-color Food Network debate that seems to have gotten underway.