Data is truly The 5th Ingredient in your beer. Yet too often, it’s treated as an afterthought. In a tightening market where cash is scarce, maximizing efficiency in your brewhouse has never been more critical.
In this seminar, Aaron MJ Gore explores how to leverage the data you already have to get more beer out of every batch. By turning insight into action, you’ll learn practical ways to reduce waste, improve yields, and ultimately save both time and money.
With more than a decade of sales, retail management, and business analytic experience in the craft beverage industry, Aaron MJ Gore loves the opportunities that he has every day to make a difference for small business owners across the country. He is the Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for Beer30, one of the drinks industry’s leading software providers, is a co-founder of the Court Shoes Only charitable collaboration beer, and serves as the Vice-President of the American Craft Beer Hall of Fame. He is an Advanced Cicerone, Certified Pommelier, Certified Cheese Scholar, WSET Level 2 Spirits Certified, and is (AF)(NA) Beer Certified. Additionally, he is an active industry advocate, public speaker, beer and cider educator, and the father of two daughters who are the true passion of his life.
Join us in person for CBP Connects Chicago
June 15-17, 2026
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What This Session Covers
This session dives into how craft breweries can leverage data and technology to increase beer yield, improve operational efficiency, and manage costs more effectively. It emphasizes why maximizing output from existing ingredients and equipment is crucial for taproom operators and brewery owners to maintain profitability, reduce waste, and support sustainable business growth.
Key Talking Points
- Yield and Loss Fundamentals: Beer production inherently involves losses at several stages—brew house to fermenter, fermenter to bright tank, and bright tank to packaging. Understanding where beer volume and quality are lost is the first step toward improving yield without extra raw material costs.
- Data as Information, Not Complex Math: Data should be seen as actionable business information, not intimidating statistics. Modern brewery management and quality control software can surface insights quickly to inform operational decisions, replacing inefficient spreadsheets and paper logs.
- Tools for Data Collection: Critical tools include brewery management systems (e.g., Beer 30), fermentation probes (such as from Senos or Plato) for remote monitoring, quality management software focused on QA/QC (e.g., Grist, Firmly), and recipe management tools (e.g., Brewhouse software). Each provides distinct data that supports yield, quality, and cost control.
- Tank Utilization and Capacity Optimization: Often breweries underestimate how better scheduling and tank usage can increase capacity by 12-15% without investing in new equipment. Efficiently managing fermentation times and minimizing tank downtime is like playing a strategic game of Tetris and impacts brewery throughput and profitability.
- Importance of Monitoring Quality to Prevent Batch Dumps: Dumped batches not only waste ingredients but also time and future sales. Early detection of quality issues through fermentation curves, pH tracking, and sensory analysis allows breweries to intervene before major losses occur. Root cause analysis tied to specific tanks or equipment helps isolate and fix problems.
- Fermentation Curve Tracking and Sensory Data: Visualizing fermentation curves over time and tracking multiple variables (gravity, pH, temperature) enables identification of inconsistencies and opportunities for process improvements. Sensory data, documented consistently, complements quantitative data to catch flavor drifts or off-characteristics that instruments may miss.
- Advanced Brewing Techniques Using Data: Modern methods such as high-gravity brewing, pressure fermentation, and using fast-fermenting yeast strains offer potential yield and time savings but require precise data monitoring to avoid quality degradation and maintain consistent product profiles.
- Cost Control via Ingredient and Process Simplification: Volatile and inflationary raw material costs necessitate strict cost tracking per batch and minimizing input variety where possible. Reducing the number of different grains, hops, or yeast strains decreases waste, shortens cash cycles, and improves supply chain resilience.
- Cash Conversion Cycle and Business Sustainability: Longer fermentation or aging times increase the cash conversion cycle, tying up capital and raising risks. Faster brewing turnaround directly supports liquidity, reduces reliance on debt, and enables smoother business growth.
Action Items
- Analyze your current tank utilization rates and implement scheduling tools to reduce downtime and improve throughput without new equipment investment.
- Begin tracking fermentation data with digital probes or software that can visualize fermentation curves, and regularly compare batch-to-batch trends to catch inconsistencies early.
- Establish a routine sensory evaluation program that quantifies flavor and aroma profiles batch-by-batch to detect and address quality drift before it impacts customers.
- Review your ingredient inventory and recipes to consolidate inputs, aiming to reduce the number of grain and hop varieties while maintaining product quality and brand identity.
- Calculate the full cost per batch, including losses at all stages, to identify unprofitable SKUs or hidden inefficiencies and make informed portfolio or pricing decisions.
- [00:01 → 02:24] Introduction and Importance of Yield
Aaron Gore introduces the session focusing on how maximizing beer output from the same amount of inputs is foundational to brewery success. He explains yield’s significance: brewing more beer with existing ingredients saves money and accelerates cash flow, which is critical for keeping brewery doors open and business sustainable. Being profitable requires effective use of materials and fast turnaround. - [02:24 → 05:10] Why Data Matters and Available Tools
Many breweries rely on manual logs or spreadsheets but struggle with extracting actionable insights promptly. Aaron reframes data as “information” that allows smarter decision-making rather than abstract statistics. He highlights the importance of brewery management software (including Beer 30), fermentation probes for real-time tank monitoring, quality management software specialized for QA/QC, and recipe management tools to improve production visibility and control. - [05:10 → 08:43] Identifying and Reducing Losses
Yield loss occurs primarily during transfers: from the brew house to fermentor, fermentor to bright tank, and bright tank to packaging. Loss causes include transfer loss, hop and trub absorption, low fills/unsellable product, and, most critically, dumped batches. Aaron focuses on downstream losses rather than “hot side” brewing optimization, stressing that knowing where loss happens is the first step to corrective action. - [08:43 → 12:41] Equipment and Tank Utilization
Many breweries feel capacity-constrained unnecessarily. Efficient tank scheduling can unlock 12-15% additional capacity, delaying or avoiding costly equipment purchases. Tools like tank utilization calculators enable breweries to visualize downtime and optimize batch sequencing. Efficient use of existing tanks dramatically impacts yield and profitability. - [12:41 → 18:59] Time in Tank and Cash Flow Impact
Understanding how long beer resides in tanks affects production capacity and the cash conversion cycle—the time between cash outlay and revenue inflow. Longer fermentation or aging ties up capital longer, increasing financial risk and reliance on debt. Brews with shorter turnaround times enable faster growth and greater liquidity. Balancing product choice between long-aged styles and quicker-turnover beverages is a strategic decision impacting sustainability. - [18:59 → 26:54] Quality Tracking for Yield Protection
Tracking fermentation parameters (gravity, pH, temperature) over time and across batches allows early identification of quality issues before dumping batches becomes necessary. Consistent quality tracking supports root cause analysis pinpointing faulty tanks, equipment, or process steps. Having detailed batch genealogy helps isolate problems (such as yeast lineage issues) and streamlines recalls, reducing cost and operational headache. - [26:54 → 32:50] Sensory Data as Part of Quality Control
Sensory evaluation is critical alongside quantitative data. Regularly tasting and scoring beers for aroma and flavor elements across batches helps detect flavor drift and maintain typicity, which instruments alone may miss. Having multiple tasters reduces personal bias and strengthens the data set. Sensory tracking supports reformulation decisions, shelf life management, and maintaining brand consistency. - [32:50 → 41:00] Advanced Brewing Techniques Enabled by Data
Modern techniques such as high gravity brewing, pressure fermentation, and using fast-fermenting yeast strains (kveik) can significantly increase output and reduce turn times. However, these methods involve risks of flavor drift, stalled fermentations, or off-flavors if poorly managed. Successful implementation depends on real-time, accurate quality control data and sensory feedback to mitigate risks and maintain product integrity. - [41:00 → 50:35] Cost Awareness and Input Management
Cost tracking by batch is essential because many breweries unknowingly lose money on popular SKUs due to hidden inefficiencies or untracked losses. Ingredient costs are volatile; managing fewer inputs reduces complexity, waste, and risk, enabling better supplier contracts and predictable pricing. Understanding real costs allows smarter portfolio decisions, prioritizing consistent earners over loss-making varieties. Ultimately, controlling costs is key to sustaining profitability alongside brewing quality beers. - [50:35 → 50:55] Closing Thoughts
Aaron emphasizes that good beer and good business do not conflict; they complement each other. By focusing on yield, cost control, and data-driven quality, breweries can succeed sustainably. He welcomes ongoing conversations about improving brewery operations through data.
This session equips brewery professionals with knowledge on how to leverage data and technology to optimize yield, quality, and financial performance—critical priorities for thriving in the competitive craft beer industry.