Brewery Operations

Course Description

Brewery Operations is a course in which class lectures and lab time focus on operating a professional brewery. Topics include purchasing, receiving, and storage of raw materials, chemicals and cleaning supplies, and students develop standard operating procedures for safety, sanitation and quality control in a commercial brewery setting.

Within the SCNS taxonomy, HFT is the Hospitality Management prefix. Daytona State publishes this at 3 credits, offered spring, giving approximately 45 contact hours at the prefix convention.

This is the business and systems course of the brewing sequence, and it is the one that most closely resembles the actual job. HFT1287 teaches how beer is made and HFT2804 teaches the biology that keeps it consistent; this course teaches how a brewery is run — purchasing, inventory, scheduling, procedures, and quality systems. The deliverable named in the catalog is standard operating procedures, which is exactly right: a brewery that depends on one person's memory does not scale and cannot be inspected.

Daytona State does not publish a lecture and laboratory split for its HFT courses, but the convention across the prefix is consistent: every unsuffixed HFT course published at this institution runs at 3 credits and approximately 45 contact hours — 15 hours per credit, confirmed across twelve live courses without exception. The prefix's two C-suffixed courses (HFT2750C and HFT2867C) run at 20 hours per credit, which is what the suffix signals.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the operational structure and workflow of a commercial brewery.
• Describe the roles within a brewery and their responsibilities.
• Plan and schedule production against demand and capacity.
• Calculate brewhouse capacity and turnaround.
• Describe purchasing processes for raw materials and supplies.
• Specify raw materials and evaluate supplier quality.
• Describe receiving procedures and incoming quality checks.
• Describe storage requirements for malt, hops, yeast, and chemicals.
• Manage inventory, par levels, and stock rotation.
• Calculate raw material requirements for a production plan.
• Describe cost of goods and contribution margin in brewing.
• Describe yield, loss, and efficiency measurement.
• Write a standard operating procedure to a usable standard.
• Develop cleaning and sanitation schedules and procedures.
• Develop safety procedures and describe their regulatory basis.
• Describe a quality control programme and its measurement points.
• Perform routine quality checks and record results.
• Describe sensory panel operation and its role in quality control.
• Describe packaging operations and their quality requirements.
• Describe dissolved oxygen, carbonation, and fill control.
• Describe traceability, lot coding, and product recall.
• Describe waste handling, spent grain, and wastewater considerations.
• Describe regulatory and licensing obligations affecting operations.
• Describe maintenance planning for brewery equipment.

Optional Outcomes

• Describe distribution and the three-tier system.
• Describe taproom operations and their economics.
• Describe brewery business planning and capital requirements.
• Describe energy and water efficiency in brewing.
• Describe contract and collaborative brewing arrangements.
• Describe brand development and marketing for a small brewery.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Brewery structure and workflow
• Brewery roles
• Production planning and scheduling
• Capacity and turnaround
• Purchasing processes
• Raw material specification and suppliers
• Receiving and incoming checks
• Storage requirements
• Inventory and stock rotation
• Material requirement calculation
• Cost of goods and margin
• Yield, loss, and efficiency
• Writing standard operating procedures
• Cleaning and sanitation schedules
• Safety procedures and regulation
• Quality control programmes
• Routine quality checks
• Sensory panels
• Packaging operations
• Dissolved oxygen, carbonation, and fill
• Traceability and recall
• Waste, spent grain, and wastewater
• Regulatory and licensing obligations
• Maintenance planning

Optional Topics

• Distribution and the three-tier system
• Taproom operations and economics
• Business planning and capital
• Energy and water efficiency
• Contract and collaborative brewing
• Brand development and marketing

Resources & Tools

• Brewers Association (brewersassociation.org) — the craft brewing trade body; substantial free technical, safety, and quality resources, including its safety guidance.
• Master Brewers Association of the Americas (mbaa.com) — technical training and its podcast, which is genuinely useful and free.
• American Society of Brewing Chemists (asbcnet.org) — the analytical methods standard.
• Designing Great Beers (Daniels), Yeast (White & Zainasheff), and Water (Palmer & Kaminski) — the technical series brewers actually keep.
• The Oxford Companion to Beer — the reference for styles and history.
• Cicerone Certification Program (cicerone.org) — the beer-service credential; the entry level is inexpensive and directly marketable.
• TTB (ttb.gov) — free federal permit, labelling, and excise tax guidance; the authority for anything in this guide about federal licensing.
• Florida DBPR / Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco — free; Florida licensing and the responsible vendor programme.
• Local breweries. Florida's craft scene is large and brewers are unusually willing to talk — ask to tour, ask to help on a brew day, and take the shift work if it is offered.
• American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (ahlei.org) — industry certifications recognised by employers.
• National Restaurant Association — ServSafe (servsafe.com) — food safety and alcohol certifications; the alcohol certification is the one hiring managers ask about.
• Florida DBPR (myfloridalicense.com) — free; the authority on Florida beverage and food service licensing, and where to verify anything in this guide.
• Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (frla.org) — state industry body, training, and a job board.
• VISIT FLORIDA (visitflorida.org) and its research pages — free visitor volume and tourism data, useful for any coursework requiring market analysis.
• Hospitality Management and Supervision in the Hospitality Industry (AHLEI texts) — the standard course references.
• Work in the industry while you study. The single most valuable thing in this field — employers weigh floor experience heavily and it costs you nothing but the shifts.

Career Pathways

• Food service manager — SOC 11-9051.
• Lodging manager — SOC 11-9081.
• First-line supervisor of food preparation and serving workers — SOC 35-1012.
• Meeting, convention, and event planner — SOC 13-1121.
• Bartender — SOC 35-3011; waiters and waitresses — SOC 35-3031.
• Theme parks and attractions — a distinctively Central Florida employer at very large scale.
• Resorts and hotels — coastal Florida and Orlando in particular.
• Cruise lines — Florida is the largest cruise embarkation market in the world.
• Convention and conference services — Orlando and Miami are major convention destinations.
• Restaurants, bars, and breweries — including a large and growing Florida craft brewing sector.
• Clubs, golf, and private membership operations.
• Casino and gaming operations — see the note on Florida gaming regulation.
• Transfer to a bachelor's — Daytona State offers upper-division hospitality courses (HFT3373, HFT3700, HFT4064, HFT4253, HFT4277, HFT4809); ⚠ confirm which lower-division courses apply.
• Brewery operations, production, or cellar management — the pathway this course is built for.
• Packaging supervision and quality management.
• Brewery ownership — ⚠ see the licensing note; the regulatory and capital barriers are substantial and are what most prospective owners underestimate.

Special Information

⚠ A standard operating procedure someone can actually follow

• The test of an SOP is whether a competent new employee can execute it correctly without asking you. If they cannot, it is notes, not a procedure.
• Write the actual steps in order, with quantities, concentrations, temperatures, times, and the equipment named. Vagueness is where procedures fail.
• State what "correct" looks like and what to do when it is not achieved — the failure path is the part people omit and the part that matters.
• Name the personal protective equipment and the hazards at the step where they apply, not in a preamble nobody reads.
• Include the records to be completed, because an undocumented procedure cannot be verified or audited.
• Date and version every procedure, and control which copy is current. Two versions in circulation is worse than none.
• Have someone else follow it while you watch, saying nothing. This is the single most effective way to find the gaps, and it is uncomfortable by design.
• Review after incidents and after process changes, and keep procedures matched to what is actually done — a procedure everyone routinely ignores is a liability.

⚠ The economics that decide whether a small brewery survives

• Know your cost of goods per barrel and per package format. Breweries fail from unknown costs far more often than from bad beer.
• Yield loss is real money. Trub, tank losses, packaging losses, and returns all consume product that was fully paid for, and small percentages compound at scale.
• Taproom sales carry by far the best margin, which is why the taproom model dominates modern craft brewing and why distribution is not automatically growth.
• Distribution means selling at a lower price into a regulated three-tier system, and volume does not compensate automatically.
• Capital requirements are heavy and the equipment is illiquid. Used brewing equipment sells at a steep discount.
• Inventory ties up cash — and hops in particular are frequently bought on contract well ahead of use.
• Excise tax and compliance carry a real administrative cost, which small operators consistently underestimate.
• The Florida market is competitive and seasonal. Understand local demand before assuming a location works.

⚠⚠ Brewery hazards — a production facility, not a kitchen

• A commercial brewery is an industrial environment with hazards that a hospitality background does not prepare anyone for, and the serious incidents in craft brewing are consistent and well documented.
• ⚠⚠ Carbon dioxide is the one that kills. CO₂ is heavier than air, odourless, and collects in cellars, tanks, and low spaces. It displaces oxygen and people lose consciousness without warning. Monitors, ventilation, and never entering a confined space alone are not optional.
• Confined space entry — tanks and vessels — requires a permit, testing, and a trained attendant. Vessel entry has killed brewery workers, including experienced ones. Never enter a tank because it seems fine.
• Caustic and acid cleaning chemicals cause severe burns. Full personal protective equipment, correct dilution order, and never mixing chemistries — and know where the eyewash and shower are before you need them.
• Hot liquor, steam, and wort cause serious scalds. Mash and boil vessels operate at temperatures that injure instantly.
• Pressurised vessels and kegs store real energy. A keg is a pressure vessel; treat relief valves and gauges as safety-critical.
• Wet floors, hoses, and heavy lifting cause the everyday injuries — grain sacks, kegs, and pallet handling all need technique and equipment.
• Lockout-tagout applies to pumps, mills, and conveyors.
• Grain dust is combustible in sufficient concentration, and milling areas need appropriate controls.
• Hearing protection in the packaging hall — bottling and canning lines are loud enough to cause permanent damage.

⚠⚠ Brewing commercially is federally licensed — know this before planning a business

• Commercial brewing requires a federal Brewer's Notice from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), in addition to state licensing through Florida's DBPR/ABT and to local zoning and occupancy approval. All three, before a drop is sold.
• Federal excise tax applies to beer produced, with reduced rates for small brewers, and it carries recordkeeping and reporting obligations that are a real operational burden.
• Records are a licensing condition, not bookkeeping. Production, transfers, losses, and removals must all be documented, and TTB audits them.
• Labelling and formulation are regulated — TTB label approval, and rules on what claims may be made.
• Florida's three-tier system separates producers, distributors, and retailers, with specific exceptions for brewpubs and taprooms. What a brewery may sell, and to whom, is a legal question with a precise answer that has changed repeatedly in Florida.
• Home brewing is legal within limits and is not a licence to sell. Selling home-brewed beer is a serious offence, and students frequently do not realise this.
• ⚠⚠ This is a fast-moving area. Florida's beverage law has seen repeated legislative change on taproom sales, growlers, and distribution. Rule 11 applies emphatically — verify with TTB, DBPR/ABT, and an attorney before making any business decision.

⚠ The description mentions a laboratory but the course number does not

• Daytona State describes laboratory or production activity in this course, yet publishes it as an unsuffixed three-credit course rather than a C-suffixed combined course.
• Under SCNS Rule 22 the suffix is part of the course number, so the absence of a C is not cosmetic — it means the practical work is delivered inside the standard credit and contact hours rather than as an additional laboratory component.
• This matters for transfer. If a receiving institution carries the same subject as a C-suffixed course, that is a different SCNS number and equivalency does not automatically cross the suffix.
• It also matters for expectations. Practical sessions are part of the scheduled hours here, so the balance of classroom to hands-on time is set by the instructor rather than by a separately timetabled lab.
• Ask the receiving institution in writing before assuming this course satisfies a suffixed requirement elsewhere.

⚠⚠ Food and beverage safety — the failures that close establishments

• Foodborne illness outbreaks close businesses and end careers, and in beverage operations the hazards are less obvious than in a kitchen, which is precisely why they are missed.
• Florida food service establishments are regulated by DBPR's Division of Hotels and Restaurants, with certified food manager and trained food handler requirements. ⚠ Verify current certification requirements — they are set by rule and they change.
• Ice is a food. Ice machines are among the most frequently cited and most commonly neglected pieces of equipment in a bar, and scooping ice with a glass is both a contamination and a broken-glass hazard.
• Soda and beer lines require scheduled cleaning, and neglected draught lines are a genuine microbiological problem as well as a quality one.
• Garnishes are ready-to-eat food handled with bare hands more often than anything else behind a bar — the same rules apply as in a kitchen.
• Keep chemicals away from product, always, and never store a cleaning solution in an unlabelled container. Chemical contamination of a beverage is a serious and entirely preventable event.
• Know the safety data sheets for every chemical you use, and the required personal protective equipment.
• Wash hands properly and frequently, and stay home when ill — reporting illness is a requirement, not a courtesy.
• Glass, wet floors, and knives cause most bar injuries. Never handle broken glass by hand, and never put glassware in an ice well.

How Florida course levels affect transfer

The first digit of an SCNS number denotes the year of offering, not transferability. Courses at the 1000 and 2000 levels transfer transparently between Florida public institutions, and 3000 to 4000 is unproblematic since both are upper division. The boundary that actually matters is 2000 to 3000, where lower-division credit generally cannot satisfy an upper-division requirement. That boundary is live in this prefix: Daytona State offers both an associate-level hospitality programme and an upper-division bachelor's sequence (HFT3373, HFT3700, HFT4064, HFT4253, HFT4277, HFT4809), and a 2000-level course does not substitute for its 4000-level counterpart even where the subject looks identical.

HFT2822 is 3 credits and approximately 45 contact hours, offered spring at Daytona State, taught partly in a commercial brewery setting.

It completes the brewing sequence — HFT1213 → HFT1287 → HFT2804 → HFT2822. See those guides, and HFT1860 and HFT4064 for the beverage management side.