What is brewery management software?

A simple guide for growing breweries

Running a brewery is a mix of creativity, operational discipline and a fair bit of plate spinning.

Raw materials roll in, tanks fill up, fermentations need checking, orders drop in at all hours, vans head out, invoices stack up and somewhere in the middle of all that, there’s beer to be brewed and customers to keep happy. As things grow, everything gets a bit more complex and the old ways of keeping track start to creak.

That’s usually the moment breweries start looking for something that can bring a bit of calm to the busy. And that’s where brewery management software comes into the picture.

Think of it as the digital backbone of a modern brewery. It keeps all the moving parts connected, tidy and easy to follow so you’re not jumping between spreadsheets, whiteboards and WhatsApp threads to find out what’s going on. Instead, everything lives in one place, updated in real time, and the whole team can actually see the same thing at the same time.

A simple explanation

Brewery management software is built specifically for breweries. Not adapted. Not bodged together. Not “close enough”. It follows the real flow of brewery life. From ingredients arriving, through every stage of production, all the way to packaged beer going out the door.

It becomes your single source of truth. Production, stock, deliveries, sales, excise (duty), finances. All in one system. Nothing hiding in someone’s notebook or favourite spreadsheet. No more “where’s the latest version?” or wondering if the number you’re looking at is still right. And importantly, nothing grinds to a halt when someone is on holiday, off sick or simply not available. The knowledge no longer lives in one person’s head, which makes day-to-day operations far more resilient.

How it helps in real brewery life

One of the biggest wins is ingredient and batch visibility. Brewers want to know exactly what’s in stock, what’s running low and what went into each batch. When that all lives in scattered spreadsheets, things get missed. A proper system keeps stock moving in the right order, logs everything automatically and gives you full traceability without having to dig for it. It’s one less thing to worry about on a brew day.

Production planning also becomes a lot smoother. Tank schedules, clashes, recipe details, fermentation notes, the whole lot. When one thing changes, the whole team sees it. It stops the last-minute reshuffling and gives you a clearer, more predictable brew cycle.

On the sales and delivery side, connecting everything makes a huge difference. Webshop orders, taproom sales, trade accounts, online marketplaces. When they all flow into the same system, you’re not double-selling stock or piecing together a route based on half a picture. It also removes that Sunday-night panic of trying to plan Monday’s deliveries from scraps of information. It’s all there, ready to work from.

Finance teams feel the impact too. Live costs, stock valuation, excise calculated properly without the last-minute scramble, whether you file monthly or quarterly. When production and sales data feed through cleanly, the numbers become easier to trust and much easier to manage.

And then there’s the bigger picture. With proper reporting, you can see what’s selling, what’s slowing down and what you should be brewing next. Decisions stop being guesswork and start being grounded in what’s actually happening across the business.

Why breweries usually adopt software

Most breweries don’t go looking for software just for fun. They hit a point where the admin starts taking up more time than the brewing. Spreadsheets get fragile. Stock numbers don’t match reality. Plans change because information’s hard to find. You spend more of your day checking things than doing things.

What software really gives you is breathing room. It tidies the chaos, removes the duplication and supports the people doing the work so they can get back to the parts of the job that actually matter.

It’s a common misconception that brewery software’s only for the big players. Smaller breweries often get the biggest lift because time is tight and every minute counts. Getting organised early saves a huge amount of stress down the line.

Why brewery specific tools matter

Brewery specific software is built around the rhythm of a brewery. It supports ingredient handling, tank scheduling, fermentation tracking, delivery routes, excise calculations and the way you record quality data. Nothing is bolted on as an afterthought. It fits how a brewery actually operates, which makes everything feel more natural for the team.

How to tell if your brewery might be ready

There are a few signs that crop up again and again.

• If your team’s keeping track of everything across multiple spreadsheets and still not sure the numbers are right, you’re probably close.
• If production plans keep shifting because the right information’s hard to find, that’s another.
• If only one person truly understands how everything fits together, the whole operation becomes harder to run and even harder to scale.

These aren’t problems. They’re signs your brewery’s grown to a point where a more joined-up system will make life a lot easier.

"Breww has helped streamline our whole business"
– Sales and Operations Director at The Beak Brewery

Final thoughts

Brewery management software isn’t about changing how you brew. It’s about making the day-to-day easier to handle. It gives everyone the same information, reduces the admin that slows you down and helps you make clearer decisions as you grow.

Whether your brewery’s just getting going or gearing up for the next stage, having everything in one place can make a noticeable difference to your pace, your confidence and your ability to plan ahead.

Breww keeps things straightforward with pricing based on your beer output, unlimited users without extra charges and a simple month-to-month subscription so you are never tied into a long contract.

You can even try it first to see how it feels for your brewery before making any decisions.