From heating water for mashing to keeping your tanks spic and span, your commercial boiler is an essential piece of equipment for your brewery. Whether making small-batch specialty craft brews or large-volume bottles for distribution, you always need a working boiler for the brewing process.
When brewery boilers break down, it means lost batches. Production grinds to a halt—you might end up with thousands in repair costs. The key to avoiding a catastrophe that requires brewery boiler repair? Preventative maintenance. Keep your boiler and your business running smoothly.
The Hidden Cost of Boiler Downtime in Breweries
Your brewery’s boiler is the heart of your operation. Without it, production is a no-go. When you don’t have steam, you can’t mash grains, sanitize lines, or pasteurize your product. In other words, no steam means no beer.
Several critical brewing processes run on steam heating power:
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- Mashing: One of the top brewery processes. Steam heats the mash tun, helping convert the starches into sugars for your amazing brews.
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- Cleaning & Sterilization: Another crucial process. Steam sanitization is preferred by many in the industry because it is chemical-free and efficient. Sanitize vessels, kegs, lines, and packaging equipment with 170°F to 185°F water for 15-20 minutes.
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- Pasteurization: Many craft brewers use steam for flash or tunnel pasteurization to extend shelf life and preserve flavor.
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- Packaging and Bottling: Steam is used for preheating and cleaning bottles and cans, especially in larger operations.
How much does a boiler breakdown cost your brewery? Well, a lot depends on the size of your brewery. For a mid-sized brewery, it could cost you anywhere between $1,000 and $5,000 an hour…and that doesn’t even include the cost of a ruined batch. A 30-barrel craft beer batch may contain nearly $1,500 in raw materials. If it gets contaminated because your sterilization system failed? That’s a big hit.
Most craft breweries can’t survive a $10,000/day cost, missed distribution deadlines, spoiled products, and production delays (especially if the failure happens right at the time of a canning or kegging run). That’s assuming you don’t need to purchase a new boiler and only need to spring for brewery boiler repair.
According to a study from Plant Engineering, 49% of unplanned downtime in process industries was caused by equipment failure. Boilers and piping can be among your top culprits.
What else are you risking with a boiler failure? It’s more than just a hassle. It’s a compliance and safety risk. You can get EPA violations if your operation’s emissions exceed limits or if faulty equipment leads to leaks and spills. OSHA fines can come up if safety standards aren’t met (for example, pressure release valve failures or improper venting). Not to mention health code violations, which everyone in the hospitality industry wants to avoid. If you can’t sterilize your equipment correctly, you could fail an inspection.
This can lead to a ripple effect in the brewing industry, like lost revenue from missing distributor pickups, and unfulfilled accounts moving into bad standing. In this competitive market, losing shelf space or tap handles—even temporarily—can damage your reputation with retailers and customers.
The bottom line is that reliable, effective commercial boiler systems are imperative for your brewing operations. For that reason, preventative maintenance is absolutely crucial. Taking time for preventative maintenance doesn’t just protect your equipment, it protects your products, profits, and peace of mind.
Boiler Preventative Maintenance Must-Haves for Breweries
So, what does preventative maintenance (PM) look like for a brewery? What do you need to watch, and how often? Let’s break it down.
The best way to keep up on preventative maintenance is to schedule and prioritize regular inspections and annual tune-ups. If you lease your boiler from Reliable Water Services, we can customize a PM plan to ensure you know when you need another tune-up and what to expect. One of the biggest reliefs of leasing equipment is that you don’t have to worry when it goes down. You have help and brewery boiler repair 24/7 with a quick phone call.
Generally speaking, you should do daily visual checks on all your equipment. That means listening for unusual sounds (like tapping, hissing, or pinging), watching for unusual signs (like slower water flow, leaks, or equipment that looks a little “off”), and being aware of unusual smells (burning, sulfur, moisture).
You should clean your equipment monthly, carefully checking areas like the pressure relief valves, fuel lines, and gaskets. Watch for signs of corrosion or areas where water might be leaking. It’s easy to notice issues during the cleaning process.
In most cases, you’ll need your boiler inspected thoroughly once a year (depending on the usage). Talk with your Reliable Water Services representative about how often you should have your particular setup updated and if there’s anything you should be aware of.
Water quality plays a big role in the performance of all your equipment. Poor water quality can cause scaling and corrosion (just like hard water does in your home). This mineral scale buildup can shorten the life of your boiler and other commercial equipment. In many cases, it may be wise to invest in water softening and filtration equipment. Brewing is a job that involves a LOT of water–extend the life of your operation (and mitigate future hassles) by opting to invest in water-quality equipment.
Brewery Boiler Repair: Detect a Problem
Your boiler might still seem to be working well. It may produce the steam you need and appear that everything’s going just fine. But before you check it off your maintenance checklist, there are a few safety and efficiency factors to watch for.
Don’t ignore the following signs of boiler issues:
Fluctuating Steam Pressure
Steam pressure should stay relatively consistent and stable. If you see fluctuating numbers on the pressure gauge, it may indicate sediment buildup, valve issues, or burner problems.
Changing Fuel Bills
Energy bills can creep up without increased production. If you’ve ruled out other causes, it could be that your boiler is running less efficiently because of scale, poor combustion, or miscalibrated controls.
Strange Noises
- Remember when we mentioned “listen” to your boiler above? It may sound strange, but banging, knocking, high-pitched whines, and other noises can indicate scaling, air in the system, or pump failure.
Visible Leaks and/or Corrosion Signs
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- Don’t ignore any signs of leaking water, steam, or corrosion around valves or tank fittings—this indicates your boiler needs immediate professional attention.
Slow Warm-Up
If your normally efficient system starts taking longer to generate steam, it may be due to scale buildup, a faulty burner, or low water flow.
Frequent Safety Shutdowns
If your boiler experiences frequent end-in-burner shutoffs or lockouts, there may be an issue with the sensor or ignition.
Flickering or Yellow Flame
A healthy burner flame is steady and blue. If the flame is yellow or flickering on your burner, it may indicate incomplete combustion, insufficient make-up air, and wasted fuel.
If you notice any of these seven signs, it’s time to schedule a maintenance checkup. The earlier you find a problem, the more likely you’ll be to prevent expensive downtime. We know you may think, “Can I just do these repairs myself?” In the brewery business, DIY spirit abounds. Performing certain maintenance tasks yourself can be tempting, but unlike your home equipment, a wrong boiler repair move can put your entire business in danger. If you have commercial equipment, leave the boiler repair and maintenance to the professionals.
Boiler blowdowns are one of those “professional jobs.” This process releases sediment and dissolves solids that build up inside the boiler. Similarly, professional tank cleaning helps remove scale, sludge, and mineral deposits that can interfere with heat transfer and force your equipment to work harder than it needs to. Sediment buildup acts as an insulator, so you need more fuel to create the same amount of steam. Sediment can also impact pressure regulation, leading to dangerous conditions like surging and foaming. If these are neglected for too long, it can lead to boiler failure.
Professionals can come in, open the valves under pressure, and manage the hot water and/or steam. Anytime you’re working with water this hot, it’s not a DIY job. Even a tiny misstep can cause injury to you and staff (not to mention damage your system).
The other area that requires professional expertise is burner and flame sensor calibration. The burner requires the proper air-to-fuel mix for clean combustion. Flame sensors detect that the burner is operating correctly. If they fail, the system shuts down to stop a fire hazard.
Miscalibrated burners can cause wasted fuel and higher emissions and present a myriad of potential safety risks. Faulty flame sensors can also lead to unexpected shutdowns, no steam, and the possibility of false alarms.
A trained boiler technician will have the specialized tools needed for calibration. They will have combustion detection and analysis tools and know what your system can tolerate. Keep up with scheduled preventative, professional maintenance to keep your boiler system safe and compliant.
Why Partnering with a Brewery-Specific Service Provider Matters
At Reliable Water Services, we’ve worked with some of the biggest breweries in the Midwest. We know what heating and boiler equipment is, and we can keep your equipment running smoothly without stress.
Work with your commercial service provider to ensure you have a customized plan for your boiler. They can help you calculate factors like usage volume and brewery size so that you can create a checklist of the critical weekly, monthly, and annual boiler preventative maintenance tasks.
One word to the wise—document everything! In a fast-paced industry, it’s easy to lose track of time. Be sure that you’re checking off daily and weekly inspections so you don’t go for several weeks wondering if anyone has checked over the equipment.
If you run into a concern, Reliable Water Services knows brewery equipment and workflows. We can help you with fast diagnostics, part sourcing, and proactive services. We’re available 24/7 for emergency repair and backup, as needed. Of course, we’d rather show up for a tune-up than a crisis. Preventative care is the best kind of repair.
Don’t let your boiler steal your next batch. Avoid unexpected repair costs, extend the life of your system, and keep the brews (and good times) flowing. Reach out today if you have any questions or concerns about your brewery’s boiler.
