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Brewing Equipment Guide

Craft Brew, Distillery and Winery Equipment Product Guide

Tap into JME™’s Complete Selection of Craft Beer and Winery Equipment

The backbone to any craft beer and distilling operation is the brewing and distilling equipment. Our complete selection of brewing and distilling equipment includes hose, clamp fittings and gaskets, meters, pumps, sight glasses, filters & strainers, and valves, ensuring you a one-stop shop for all your needs. For more information, please request our Brewery Catalog here or talk to one of our specialists at 800-333-3331.

Hoses

No matter the application – small home brewing or large-scale operations – JME has the right brew hose and fittings for the job, ranging in different types, sizes, and lengths. Our expansive variety includes rubber and PVC food & beverage hose and a selection of washdown hose.  

Rubber hoses are the most widely used hose in breweries and distilleries because they meet stringent hygiene standards for liquid transfer and are highly versatile. Like rubber hoses, PVC hoses are versatile and are compatible with many liquids.

Food and beverage hoses, like rubber and PVC, are designed to:

  • Provide flexible connections: no matter the layout, output or setup of the distillery/brewery, food and beverage hose allows for easy movement of liquids between vessels, pumps, filters and more, whether space is ample or restricted.
  • Control temperature: while some PVC hoses have limitations in temperature resistance, rubber hoses are designed to withstand temperature fluctuations, making this a perfect hose during the brewing process – as the temperatures during liquid transfer go from hot (during mashing) to cold (cooling down the wort after boiling).
  • Regulate pressure: different levels of pressure, typically caused by pumps, vary throughout all stages of brewing. Food and beverage hoses are constructed to handle the pressure generated by the pumps, creating a consistent flow without leaks or bursts.
  • Resist chemicals: because various cleaning agents and sanitizers are used to maintain strict hygiene practices, food and beverage hoses are designed to resist any chemicals they come into contact with, ensuring they won’t degrade or become compromised.
  • Ease the process: food and beverage hoses can be customized to the application, meaning that they come in many different lengths and sizes. Some even come with transparent lining that allows brewers to see the flow of liquids and monitor the clarity/color of the liquid.
  • Consistently produce: In rubber hose specifically, materials used in manufacturing rubber hose do not alter the taste, aroma or quality of the brew.
  • Meet sanitary standards: food and beverage hoses are made from materials that meet and adhere to strict food-grade and sanitary standards, ensuring against chemical leaching or contamination of liquids.

Sanitation is the heartbeat of the brewery or distillery operation, making the washdown hose an imperative piece of equipment. A crucial tool for the overall cleanliness and hygienic condition of the brewery, washdown hoses are specifically designed as for cleaning and sanitizing equipment, floors, walls, and other surfaces to prevent contamination and ensure the quality of the final product.

Uses of washdown hoses in brewery/distillery applications:

  • Cleaning equipment: after each use, components like tanks, fermenters, kettles, and pumps need to be thoroughly cleaned to remove contaminants using washdown hoses to remove residue and bacteria.
  • Sanitizing surfaces: washdown hoses are also designed to apply sanitizing solutions to surfaces, like countertops and sinks, preventing the growth of harmful microorganisms.
  • Floor and wall cleaning: in addition to equipment and surfaces, floors and walls must also be routinely cleaned as spills, drips and other messes are likely to occur.
  • Clean-in-place systems: some breweries use an automated sanitizing system, also known as “clean-in-place,” where washdown hoses are integrated into the system and deliver necessary cleaning solutions to various parts of the equipment.

Clamp Fittings and Gaskets

JME only offers FDA and USDA-approved stainless steel fittings, so you can trust your brewing & distilling systems comply with industry sanitary standards. Our selection of fittings include clamps, elbows, ferrules, reducers, tees and gaskets.

  • Fittings provide as a means to connect, secure, and direct the flow of liquids, gases, and steam within the brewery or distillery’s equipment and piping systems.
  • Gaskets, although small in size, play a huge role in breweries and distilleries by providing a seal between two mating surfaces ensuring that connections are tight and leak-free.
    • Choosing the right gasket: Gaskets are chosen based on a few different factors, such as the type of connection, temperature, and fluid compatibility. Selecting the right gasket ensures consistent quality and maintain sanitary conditions.
    • Applications: They are used in various applications throughout the operation including tri-clamp connections, tank connections, pump connections, valve seals, pipe joints and more.
    • Our selection of gaskets range in size, from ½” all the way to 12”, and material, including PTFE, FKM, EPDM, silicone and nitrile.

Meters

Selecting the right meter for your operation is critical, so it’s important to know and identify your measurement needs, accuracy requirements, liquid characteristics (viscosity), and flow rate range.

Importance of flow meters in a brewery or distillery are not to be understated. Their main role is to measure and control the flow rates of liquids, such as water, wort, beer and spirits, at various stages in the brewing/distilling process.

Flow meters are essential in the brewing and distilling operations for a few key reasons, including:

  • Process control and quality assurance: Consistency in flow rates ensures that the final product meets quality and flavor standards batch after batch.
  • Efficiency and inventory management: Flow meters help to optimize the use of resources, like water and energy, allowing breweries and distilleries to minimize waste, reduce energy consumption and operate more efficiently.
  • Compliance and reporting: Depending on the country and size of annual production, there are requirements for breweries to document how much beer is produced, and flow meters can help to assist in this function.
  • Troubleshooting and maintenance planning: When issues arise in the brewing or distilling process, flow data can provide valuable insights, like malfunctioning equipment, expediting troubleshooting and resolution. Scheduling maintenance is more effective when using flow data and can reduce downtime.

Our offering of flow meters from range in size, flow compatibility and unit of measurement. Most meters that we offer, like the GPI G2S Series and Banjo Full Port Manifold Meter, are now battery operated, eliminating the need for wiring.

Pumps

Choosing the right pump for your application is necessary for meeting correct flow rates and pressures, along with the ability to handle certain volumes of liquid, viscosities, and temperatures. Pumps are not one-size-fits-all, and that’s why JME is proud to supply a variety of pumps to choose from for brewing, wine making and distilling industries.

When choosing the best pump, its important to know the strengths and best applications for each:

  • Centrifugal pumps
    • The most common pump used in brewery and distillery applications is a centrifugal pump. They are capable of handling high flow rates, making them suitable for transferring larger volumes of liquid. They are also low maintenance and can be mounted on carts for easy mobility during the production process. Centrifugal pumps can be used for all functions during the production process, such as transferring & cooling wort and transferring beer between fermentation tanks, conditioning tanks & packaging lines.
  • Diaphragm pumps
    • Diaphragm pumps are best used in applications where the liquid is highly viscous and needs to be handled gently – like barrel filling, where beer must be transferred without excessive agitation, which could disrupt the aging process. In smaller or craft-breweries where flexibility is essential, diaphragm pumps are often used for various transfer and handling tasks due to their versatility.
  • Positive displacement pumps
    • Positive displacement pumps are best used in applications when handling specialty ingredients, maintaining product quality standards, and when metering and dosing is required. Their reliability & precise control over flow rates, along with handling highly viscous fluids make them a valuable asset in a brewery’s production arsenal

Sight Glasses

Sight glasses play a vital role in quality assurance by providing visual observation of the liquids and processes through transparent or translucent windows. While there are a few different types of sight glasses and ways to integrate them, the compact sight glasses that we supply are connected to the hose. To ensure a tight connection and prevent leaks, the sight glasses are then secured in place by hose clamps.

Filters and Strainers

To deliver the highest quality and best tasting product, filtering in each phase of the brewing or distilling process is imperative. We supply both elements and housing for process liquid, steam, and air filter products.

Sanitary filters used in brewing or distilling operations are classified by micron rating. When choosing the right filter for your brewing or distilling operation, it is important to consider the size range of the particles needed to be removed. Different phases of the brewing process may generate various types of solids or contaminants, such as yeast, hop debris or sediment.

Valves

Valves serve as essential components for controlling the flow of liquids and gases throughout the production process, and there are many to choose from depending on your needs and setup. To select the best valve for your operation, consider factors such as type of fluid (wort, beer, cleaning solutions, etc.), flow rates, temperatures, and pressures.

  • Ball valves
    • Applications: on-off control, tank drainage, sampling ports, yeast harvesting, flow diversion, bypass lines, manifold systems, sparge and water flow control and more.
  • Butterfly valves: commonly used because of their versatility, ease of use and suitability for handling a wide range of flow control tasks
    • Applications: flow control, tank and vessel outlets, clean-in-place systems, bypass lines, process diversion, tank bottom drainage and more.
  • Check valves: commonly used in brewing applications to control the flow of liquids in one direction only. They assist in preventing the backflow of liquids, gases or steam, maintaining the integrity of the process.
    • Applications: carbonation control, fermentation locks, clean-in-place systems, tank venting, pressure relief, yeast harvesting, product transfer, sampling ports, and more.
  • Plug valves: occasionally used in specific brewing applications where the design aligns with operational requirements.
    • Applications: isolation and on-off control, blending and mixing, clean-in-place systems, sampling ports, tank bottom drainage, high temperature applications, and more.
  • Relief valves: as an essential safety device, relief valves are used to protect equipment, tanks, and vessels from dangerous overpressure conditions. For a relief valve to properly function, they must be properly sized, maintained and regularly tested to ensure they function as intended.
    • Applications: fermentation tanks, bright tanks, steam boilers, pressure vessels, kettle boiling, heat exchangers, steam sterilization, bulk ingredient silos, and more.
  • Sample valves: an essential component in brewing applications, sample valves provide a convenient and sanitary way to collect samples of liquids or products at various stages of the brewing process.
    • Applications: quality control, process monitoring, yeast and microbiological testing, sensory analysis, batch consistency, troubleshooting, ingredient testing, packaging control and more.
  • Vacuum valves: not typical in most brewing applications, as the concern is to prevent overpressure rather than create vacuum conditions, or more pressure. However, there are some rare scenarios or specialized equipment in a brewery or distillery where vacuum valves could be used.
    • Applications: deaeration, concentration and evaporation, vacuum filtration, ingredient handling, and yeast propagation.

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