With more businesses becoming dependent on technology and software, it’s important to know your options when selecting suitable tech for your brewery. Brewery management software helps brewery owners and managers to keep track of their stock, production, assets, sales, and distribution for hassle-free operations.
With the right software, you can focus on more critical aspects of your business, like turning a profit and forging relationships with your staff and customers. In this article, we review four platforms that can help streamline your day-to-day and manage operations in your brewery business.
What is Brewery Management Software?
Brewery management software is an app or program that helps brewing companies control brewery production and administrative tasks like managing and running the business.
Most brewery management software is created for the actual brewing process. It helps brewing teams track the entire lifecycle, from measuring inventory and stock levels to monitoring brewing tanks and ensuring that production runs smoothly.
But, while some brewery software only covers tasks related to beer production, others allow managers and owners access to back office administrative operations as well. We’ve included both in this list to give you a feel for what’s out there.
Best Brewery Management Software in 2022 (Reviews)
Ekos
If you’re looking for brewery software that doubles as business management software, Ekos is a solid pick. It has both beverage production and back office management tools in one dashboard.
Top features of the platform support processes around inventory management, production, beer sales, and tracking kegs, to name a few. You can do things like assign production tasks to your team, manage and tweak recipes, and access maintenance logs and production data.
One area where Ekos is particularly strong is providing business data and insights for decision-making. You can access more than 150 automated reports, as well as track operations, inventory, and sales in real-time. The software also integrates with your POS and accounting systems to give you a better financial overview of the business.
As it’s cloud-based, your team can access the software from any location and department. It also supports an unlimited number of users, so you can scale it alongside your business.
Top Features:
- End-to-end brewery management
- Track the brewing process from start to finish
- Add unlimited users and functionality
- Real-time views of operations, inventory, and sales management
- Integrate with existing accounting and POS software
- Manage multiple locations from one platform
- Over 150 pre-built reports
Kegshoe
Kegshoe’s keg tracking software is an inventory management app for craft breweries and beer producers. The platform helps you manage and track your kegs - from production through distribution.
When you sign up for the Kegshoe software, you receive free barcode stickers for the kegs. Scan them to get an overview of where the kegs are at any given point, whether in storage, production, sales, or delivery. This way, you can keep an eye on stock, improve turnover times, and recover lost kegs quickly to keep your business flowing.
If you’d like to take monitoring a step further, KegLink sensors provide insights into an individual keg’s location, movement, temperature, and tapped-to-empty consumption. You’ll receive automated pickup notifications and be able to reduce waste for your customers.
Not only can you use Kegshoe for keeping tabs on inventory, but it also offers comprehensive reporting and analytics tools. You can set sales goals through the CRM and mobile app and examine all the data to motivate your team with sales insights.
Both iOS and Android apps are available for download. You can also sign up an unlimited number of employees onto your Kegshoe software to scale it with your business.
Top Features:
- Keg tracking capabilities - from production to distribution
- Comprehensive reporting and analytics
- Unlimited user accounts
- iOS and Android applications for tracking on the go
- CRM management for increased sales and revenue
- Integration capabilities
VicinityBrew
VicinityBrew is a game changer in that it’s designed specifically for flexible brewery management at the recipe level. While other brewery software only allows you to track linear processes, VicinityBrew lets you adjust your process from one batch to the next. This means that you have more versatility in creating different products.
Similarly, you can use VicinityBatch’s ingredient variation to change your recipes depending on your product. You can change your ingredients and quantities without having to create new logs for each of your different brews. It’s an excellent feature for craft breweries that want to try out new recipes!
VicinityBrew also tracks bulk production and allows full variation over each production run. It can manage integral brewing runs and produce comprehensive reports at each process stage.
For a more cohesive workflow between the various departments, this software offers tools for accounting, assigning employee tasks, and data entry.
Top Features:
- Manage all of your daily operations from one comprehensive platform
- Allows for process and ingredient variation
- Tracks bulk production
- Produce reports at each stage of production
- Includes tools to eliminate exhaustive manual tasks
Beer30
Beer30 is a modular brewery management system you can customize to suit your business. It’s been designed to streamline operations around inventory management, beer production, and sales and distribution. Select features you need and add them to or remove them from your dashboard as required.
You can access functions and reports relating to raw material inventory, tank management, fermentation analysis, barrel aging, and keg tracking, to name a few. These can help your team work optimally through data-driven decisions.
With it being cloud-based brewery software, you can update information in real-time from any location and on any device. Of course, it also comes with integrations that span departments and help bring aspects of brewery management together. For example, XERO and Quickbooks integrations give better visibility of your brewery’s financial situation, while Fermly and Fermecraft integrations support better brewing production.
Top Features:
- Accounting integration
- Modular software and flexible features to suit your business
- Digital data entry and tracking
- Real-time business and brewing updates
- Track costs and assess profit margins on products
- Front and back office management capabilities
Ollie
For breweries looking to improve their operations, Ollie is a game-changing software that offers a range of features to simplify and enhance brewery management. With its user-friendly interface and comprehensive features, Ollie is a top choice for breweries in a highly competitive industry.
Ollie can support efficient inventory and recipe management, streamline production planning, and manage sales and distribution to improve customer relationships. To maintain the highest standards of quality, Ollie also offers quality control features.
By tracking brewing parameters, conducting tests, and monitoring batch consistency, breweries can deliver exceptional brews every time. Ollie brewery management software is a valuable asset for breweries of all sizes. It empowers businesses to streamline operations, improve product quality, and maintain compliance effortlessly.
Top Features:
- Inventory Tracking
- Recipe Formulation:
- Production Scheduling
- Sales and Distribution
- Quality Control
- Compliance Management
Conclusion
Brewery management software brings together the production and business process to help producers in the brewing industry work smarter. The software you sign up for ultimately depends on the size of your operation and how much you aim to do in the peripheral.
If your brewery plans to expand into hosting events, we recommend checking out Perfect Venue as event management software. It contains everything you need to save time and make more money. Watch a demo or try it out for free today.