Barley & Sword Brewing 🗡️ : Saving Time & Money From Day One
“PLAATO was critical to our early success.”
- Michael Howell, founder and head brewmaster, Barley & Sword Brewing
The need to maximize tanks, and minimize liquid loss
In early summer 2023, Michael Howell (founder and head brewmaster) opened the doors to Barley & Sword Brewing in San Diego, California; creating traditional and old-world style beers. Armed with a 10 bbl brewhouse and five 20 bbl fermentation vessels, Michael began operations with a goal to quickly grow his business. Every drop of beer he could produce would be critical. He describes the scene, “As much liquid as goes into that fermenter, I wanted to get as much as possible out of the tank and into a tap somewhere.”
One issue? Making sure his fermentations were on track was critical, but minimizing liquid loss was as well. With every sample he took, he watched dollars drain from his tanks: “When I started out, I was having to pull samples off the racking arm and was having to purge the racking arm so my sample would not pull yeast. There was the loss of the volume of the racking arm plus the sample itself, and then whatever accidental overpours or additional yeast slurry, so we’re talking up to a liter or more per sample per tank every day, over time,” he explained, “and that cost builds.”
The team were losing a liter or more per sample per tank every day, over time.
“And that cost builds.”
- Michael Howell, founder and head brewmaster, Barley & Sword Brewing
Gaining back an additional barrel of beer per tank per year
Enter PLAATO. Michael discovered the PLAATO Smart Fermentation within a few months of opening, and saw the potential immediately. With PLAATO sensors installed and taking gravity readings from within his tanks, he could have the critical data he needed to ensure fermentations progressed smoothly, but without losing a drop of beer. By his calculations, Michael has gained back an additional barrel of beer per tank per year.
"It makes a huge difference to be able to reduce that product loss by not having to take those little samples every day.”
- Michael Howell, founder and head brewmaster, Barley & Sword Brewing
Being able to track process change means they can plan better
He continues with how PLAATO aids Barley & Sword's planning: “Just the ability to track my process and let’s say I made a change to my process and to be able to compare how that affects the fermentation from one batch to the next with that change in mind informs my planning process for how I'm moving forward. Maybe I want to push that beer a little faster, maybe I want to give it more time, and that resource of information and to be able to go back and look at it consistently, especially over the brand being completed time and time again, has been a wonderful surprise to be able to use that information even more than I thought I was going to.”
The beautiful Barley & Sword interior tap room. Make sure you plan a visit!
Saving time and costs — with PLAATO Smart Fermentation
Finally, on how PLAATO is a timesaver, Michael says: “One of the benefits of the PLAATO system is that it does save us time and consequently money. Just my time, my assistant brewer’s time, in what it takes to pull a sample, it might seem small but it does add up when you’re doing that every day across all the fermenters that need to be evaluated. So that time cost-savings is pretty critical, so it does really build up.”
And how PLAATO is a cost-saver too, Michael says: “There’s the cost savings related to the beer itself. As much liquid as goes into that fermenter, I want to get as much as possible out of the tank and into a tap somewhere.” And now, with PLAATO Smart Fermentation, they can both maximize savings and find more time to brew.
A few of the delicious Barley & Sword range: where old meets new. Where tradition, and liquid, is protected.
A bit about PLAATO
PLAATO is trusted by over 350+ breweries worldwide and is proud to be working with breweries all over the USA, including Burning Barrel, Beer Tree Brew, Apogee Brewing, Barley & Sword and many more.
PLAATO Smart Fermentation: Get real-time fermentation data and invaluable insights with our smart in-line sensors, PLAATO Pros, for your brewery. Save time, money, and reduce stress. And make the best beers of your career.
PLAATO Insights: Centralize all your brewery's data in one smart real-time platform using our plug-and-play IoT device, PLAATO Edge, giving you complete visibility from your mash tuns to your packaging lines.
Want to see results like this for your brewery? Contact us today to learn how PLAATO can help with your goals.
