What kind of brew house should I order? And how do I find it? These are very important questions for an aspiring brewery owner to answer. Fortunately for our participants, we have suppliers from all corners of the brewing industry in Wisconsin. During the week four session, we hopped on a bus and headed West to Oconomowoc for a tour of the Quality Tank Solutions facility. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the QTS team and invited into their meeting room to talk through the basics of a well-designed brewhouse and what to look for when planning out your system. The team, including Jimmi-Jean, Chad, Chriz and Keith, explained how they build the systems in their facilities and what sets the QTS product apart. One of the most overlooked items is support. If something breaks, or goes wrong, how do you fix it? It’s really great to have your brewhouse partner so close.

After the brief presentation, we were given a tour of their manufacturing floor. On the floor, we were shown tanks in various states of construction. Some small, some large, but he larges come from their facility in Marshfield. After discussing some pros and cons of different brewhouse and tank configurations and answering any questions we had, the team was kind enough to run through the ordering process and explained the lead times that could be expected. While the long lead times are no surprise to our participants, it was great to learn why and how to minimize the wait.

Chad, Chriz and Keith accompanied the group back to Milwaukee and answered even more questions on the cruise home. Many thanks to QTS for hosting us during week four of the Barley to Barrel program!