5 Advantages of Having a Prefabricated Steel Brewery

The pandemic slowed many businesses across the United States and completely closed the doors of others. However, the craft brewing industry is one sector that appears to have emerged stronger than ever, with annualized growth of about 8% in 2021.

If you are a craft brewery owner scrambling for ways to grow alongside consumer demand, keep reading to find out 5 ways that using a prefabricated steel brewery can provide you an advantage over the competition in 2022. 

Steel Buildings Provide a Low Cost of Ownership

Many brewmasters have the goal of moving their operations out of their garage and going commercial.

Unfortunately, cost can squelch some dreams before they have the chance to blossom. Statistics indicate that many breweries can cost over $2 million to get up and running. 

To help keep this figure more manageable, a pre-engineered steel building is a great solution. There are a number of reasons why steel structures are more affordable than other construction types:

• They can stand on smaller, less complex foundations
• They are fabricated off-site in preengineered “kits,” eliminating construction waste and ensuring that business owners only pay for the steel they need
• They go up faster, leading to fewer construction man hours and less interruption of business operations
• Due to their outstanding durability, brewery owners will spend much less on renovations and repairs than for wood or concrete breweries

All told, it is estimated that breweries can save up to 30% of total costs when choosing a preengineered steel building. 

Steel Buildings Are Incredibly Low Maintenance

Steel buildings are incredibly low maintenance, allowing the owner to focus on what they do best: making craft beer.

Outside of annually pressure washing the walls to break free any built up dirt or debris, very little maintenance is required with a steel building. Owners don’t need to regularly paint or treat the walls to keep them weather resistant, and steel buildings retain their aesthetics in all types of weather conditions.

Not only does this save the brewery owner money due to fewer repair costs and business interruptions, but it helps ensure that the brewery remains continuously up to code.

As a food and beverage provider, breweries are subject to regulations by the FDA and Trade Bureau. Steel is completely resistant to mold, mildew, fungus, pests, and insects, giving owners peace of mind that their facility is not contributing to any prohibited organisms entering their beer batches. 

Steel Buildings Offer Large Amounts of Open Square Footage

The open floor concept is a major trend in all types of real estate. Open interiors allow for more natural light flow and create a more inviting ambience than closed or sectioned facilities.

However, breweries have even more reason to desire open spaces.

Large, open floor plans allow brewery owners to set up numerous types of configurations for tables, lounging furniture, and games. 

In addition, as steel buildings are highly compatible with rolling doors, the open interior provides a huge benefit to breweries that want to combine interior and exterior spaces on beautiful days and who frequently have trucks arriving to load up canned and keg beer.

As most quality pre-engineered steel buildings can span up to 100 feet in any direction without requiring interior support beams, steel has no rival in terms of creating large, open interiors. 

Steel Buildings Score High for Sustainability

Given the United States’ goal of achieving a net-zero economy by 2050, businesses cannot ignore sustainability when constructing new facilities in 2022.

To this effect, there is arguably no material more sustainable than steel.

The average metal building life expectancy exceeds 100 years in most cases. This durability ensures that breweries will not need to consume resources for renovations to keep the brewery safe and operational.

In addition, steel’s durability makes it an ideal material for building rehabilitation--a major trend in the construction industry right now. Rather than tearing down and starting from scratch, architects and engineers are looking for ways to repurpose and reuse existing structures for future lives. In the event that the brewery ever decided to move out, the steel building would make an outstanding facility for whatever enterprise arrived next.

Finally, in the rare event that a steel building ever needed to be deconstructed, steel is one of the most recyclable building materials on the planet and can easily be melted down and reforged for a new project.

Steel Buildings Offer Surprising Versatility

Although many brewery owners favor the rustic-chic appearance that steel naturally lends, choosing steel does not limit a brewery to a metal-cased exterior.

Steel is becoming increasingly compatible with a wide range of facades, such as stone veneer, glass, concrete, and virtually any other type of external cladding. This is making steel buildings a popular choice for churches, automotive showrooms, educational facilities, and other types of structures that receive thousands of visitors on a daily basis.

So if you want to get creative with your brewery’s exterior aesthetics, steel is definitely up to the task. 

Join Bolero Snort and Get Started on a Steel Brewery Today

In May 2019, Bolero Snort owner Bob Olson recognized a steel building’s potential for providing a home to his rapidly expanding brewery. He chose steel thanks to its affordability, open square footage potential, and rugged design.