If you’re starting a craft brewery, then one of the most important steps in getting your business together is establishing a brewery floor plan.
Once you have found a suitable location, your floor plan needs to be carefully laid out. This determines how your brewery will look and feel for customers, how you will operate the brewery, and what opportunities and limitations the brewery will offer.
There’s a lot more to creating a brewery floor plan than simply bringing in your equipment and fitting it into place. Instead, your floor plan needs to be carefully thought out based on numerous factors.
This guide will explore everything you need to know when setting up your brewery layout.
What is a Brewery Floor Plan?
A brewery floor plan is a map that displays the brewery layout. Every square inch of space that a brewery has available needs to be covered in the floor plan. Creating a brewery floor plan is essential when planning your brewery and how it will operate.
The first reason you need a clear brewery floor plan is for planning how you will build out the brewery. A floor plan is necessary for building permits in many states. As brewing technology requires plenty of space and specialized installations, you need to have a clear idea of where and how it will fit into your space.
The other reason for your brewery floor plan is to establish how your business will function. Your floor plan directly impacts how guests and staff will use and experience the space. An optimal floor plan creates a comfortable environment that functions seamlessly during a busy service. A poorly planned brewery layout could negatively affect your brewery operations.
What Should a Brewery Floor Plan Include?
If you’re starting a craft brewery, then your brewery floor plan needs to cover every single element that goes into setting up the brewery.
This should include the following elements:
- Your brewery equipment and brewing area
- The brewery kitchen and kitchen equipment
- The bar area
- Seating and dining areas
- Prep areas
- Storage areas
- Seating and waiting areas
- Offices and staff areas
- Restrooms
Of course, all doors, windows, stairs, and emergency exits need to be included in the brewery floor plan.
When creating this, it’s important to consider how the floor plan will affect the brewing process, receiving stock, and serving customers. These different operations will need to work seamlessly together, which is something that your floor space dictates.
Creating a Brewery Floor Plan
When building breweries, there are two options you can take when you create a commercial brewery floor plan.
First, you could hire a design studio to do it for you. Designers can help you develop a professional floor plan that considers the functional and aesthetic elements of the brewery. The downside of this is that it can be expensive, and you need to hand control over to someone else.
The other option is to do it yourself. You can use your vision and the right floor planning software to help you bring your brewery to life. You don't need to be an architect or interior designer, as the software will help to lay everything out for you. You just need to have a good understanding of the elements required in your brewery layout and an idea of how it will all work together.
How to Create a Brewery Floor Plan
The best brewery floor plan depends on your space, the brewery equipment you need, and how your brewery will operate. First, you need to understand what type of service the brewery will offer, then you can create a floor plan based on how much space you have available.
To help you get started, here are some of the key considerations to make when planning your brewery layout.
Brewing Area Floor Plan
Your brewing area is the heart and soul of your brewery, so this is a good place to start.
Including your brewery equipment in your brewery space provides a great sense of environment for customers. Instead of simply being a bar, having the brewing process take place in the same area is what will make your craft brewery a special place.
Make sure you understand local building codes when planning this. Try to have your brewery area separated for health and safety reasons, but still visible to your customers.
As brewery equipment costs a lot of money to get into place, you must plan this carefully. It will be very tricky to move the brewing area later on, so make sure you have enough space for your production capacity.
Bar Floor Plan
The bar or tap area is generally the main feature of a brewery. You’ll want this area to be central, and easily accessible from both the entrance and dining area. You also need to make sure that you can easily run beer lines to the bar area from wherever you store the kegs.
Consider how your bartenders will interact with guests, as well as with other waitstaff. Ensure there are different sections to the bar, like a beer section, a section for dirty glasses, a section for cocktails, and so on.
Kitchen Floor Plan
If your nano brewery serves food, then planning the kitchen is an important process.
The kitchen should be separate from other areas, and it will need plenty of space for large kitchen equipment. As it’s a commercial space, ensure there’s room for commercial extractor fans and a fat trap system.
You’ll also want to consider how orders will come through from the dining area to the kitchen, and how food will be served from the kitchen to the dining area. Think about how you will incorporate kitchen management software into the space too.
Seating and Dining Floor Plan
When planning your dream brewery, make sure you spend enough time focused on the seating and dining areas. You might want to break these up into areas for dining, and areas for waiting.
Ensure there is enough space between tables, and that the flow from the kitchen and bar areas will work well. Include space for your POS system and service station.
It’s important to understand how much seating your brewery will need to have to operate profitably. It’s generally understood that a 60/40 plan is ideal. This means 60% of your brewery space is reserved for customers, while 40% is reserved for your operations.
You’ll also need to establish what the maximum occupancy of your brewery will be, which will be limited by the local building codes. Although, offering guests more space than the minimum requirements will provide a more positive customer experience.
Other Areas
Think about all of the additional space your brewery will need. This could include a cold room, a storage and packing area for pallet trucks, office space, restrooms, a retail space, and any other areas that your business will need to include.
Consider the construction requirements for these spaces, and ensure they’re positioned in a way that does not affect your brewing process or service quality.
Important Considerations for Your Brewery Floor Plan
There’s a lot to consider when designing a brewery floor plan. Most importantly, you need to facilitate seamless operations between the production brewery and your customer service areas. This involves a few careful considerations.
Customer Considerations
When creating your brewery floor plan, you’ll need to design accessible spaces with your customers in mind.
Consider how guests will enter the brewery, order food and drinks, wait in line, or be seated at tables. Make sure the floor plan provides an intuitive flow so that customers are not confused by how the brewery functions.
It’s also important to consider how the floor plan of the brewery will add to its overall ambiance and environment. This plays a major role in shaping customer experiences.
Employee Considerations
Besides providing a comfortable customer experience, the brewery will also need to function seamlessly.
Make sure the floor plan provides enough space for employees to perform their jobs. This should involve an efficient flow between the main spaces (kitchen, brewing area, and service areas). Also, consider how employees will send orders and handle transactions.
Accessibility Considerations
Various accessibility building codes exist among different states and municipalities. You must comply with these building codes when creating your floor plan. Although, building codes are simply the minimum.
Consider how every customer will be able to access your brewery space and ensure you design a space that works for everyone. This will help you develop a more positive, well-loved brewery.
Conclusion
Carefully planning your brewery layout is essential. Your floor plan plays a critical role in the success of your business. If you leave out important considerations when planning it, this could impact your operations or customer experiences.
So, keep the considerations above in mind when planning your brewery layout. This will help you create a brewery that looks good, functions well, and provides a seamless customer experience.
If your brewery hosts events, you should consider using venue management software. Try Perfect Venue for free today.
