The Breww Basics

First you need a Breww subscription (or demo account) and be signed into the Dashboard. If you've not got an account yet, please register now. The guide will explain how to get started with Breww and make it work for your business.

Production

• Fermenters and Brite Tanks - Go to the Production section using the main menu, scroll to the bottom and click New Vessel in the Vessels section.
• Beers - Can be set-up from Production → New Beer.
• Recipes - Can be set-up from Production → Recipes → New Recipe.

Containers

• Container Types - Firkin and Pin are automatically added, but any other Container Types you sell in can be added here. Just go to Containers → New Container Type and fill in the form.
• Containers - Any containers that you track can be added here, just click Add Containers. After that you can then print their permanent barcode labels from your Thermal Transfer printer and stick them on to each container to allow for quick barcode scanning of rackings and deliveries.

Inventory and Products

• Ingredients can be set-up in the Inventory section under New Stock Item.
• Your stock quantities and prices can then be added through Inventory Receipts → New Inventory Receipt. For existing stock quantities just add an Inventory Receipt with a reference of Initial Stock.
• Products in Breww sit as a layer above your stock and packaged beer that you create. They are effectively just a name and a standard price that points at the packaged beer that need to be delivered for it. This allows you to sell the same packaged beer under multiple different names or easily create mixed packs. To set them up just go to Products → New Product. Most products are created automatically throughout your use of Breww though, so actually you rarely have to set them up yourself.
• Products in Breww are very flexible. If your product is a beer that you will package, then simply point the product at the beer and the container type that you are packaging it in. You can do this by editing the Component packaged beers part of the product form. If you have mixed packs that you sell, no problem! Just include all the beers in your mixed pack in the Component packaged beers section. For other types of products, you can edit the Component stock items to let Breww know what stock items need to be delivered when the product is sold. Or leave both sections blank and Breww will know that the product is a service, rather than a physical product. Products don't have to be unique. This allows you to sell the same packaged beer under multiple different names. To set up your products just go to Products → New Product. Most packaged beer products are created automatically throughout your use of Breww though, so you rarely have to set them up yourself.
• When creating the packaged beers in Breww that you already have sitting in your brewery, you'll want to simply create the historical gyle in the system and rack it into the products that the beer is in. We recommend leaving a note on these gyles when closing them (at the bottom of the Production → Transfer Screen) to say that they were added historically and might not represent the entire Gyle (just so you know in the event of an audit not to fully rely on them).

Settings

• Go through the Settings section of the menu to make sure you're happy with the defaults!
• Order/invoice settings allows you to add your bank details, logo, etc.
• Delivery settings allow you to set a default weekly delivery day as a backup in the event no delivery areas are set-up. Here you can also specify if you would like auto-assignment for smallpack products turned off.
• Sites allows you to set a multiple warehouses that you might have, and locations within those warehouses. For those who want to know where all stock is at all times, or who need to track beer duty of bonded to non-bonded transfers.

Let's get into a little more detail

Keep reading for more detailed explanations on other parts of the system which you should be aware of as you get started with Breww.

Purchasing, Stock and Ingredients

Creating Stock Items

To create a Stock Item, go to Inventory → New Stock Item and complete the form. If you would like the batches of your stock item to be tracked when received and throughout the production process (recommended for Ingredients), select Yes under Track Batches?. This option cannot be changed after the item has been created.

Updating Stock

Stock in Breww is added through Inventory Receipts. To record the receipt of new stock, go to Inventory → Inventory Receipts → New Inventory Receipt. You will then be able to record the supplier of the stock, the delivery date and any reference (usually the PO reference). Then on the Inventory Receipt Edit screen you can input which items were received, how much and the price per unit of measurement (e.g. for Grain, price per kilo). If the item is batch tracked, the inventory receipt will then require the batch numbers and expiry dates of the items received. Click the green + symbol next to the item line and enter this information.

At the bottom of the Inventory Receipt Edit screen is the additional costs section. This allows you to record the delivery costs of the goods, in order to receive more accurate cost reports.

When you are ready to move this stock from draft status into inventory, click onto the Inventory Receipt Detail screen at the top, ensure the details are correct, and then click Post. This will move the draft stock into your inventory.

Ingredient Recall

If you ever have a supplier call to warn of a contaminated ingredient that needs to be recalled you can use the Ingredient Recall functionality. Go to Inventory → Ingredient Recall and simply enter the Batch Code and Ingredient and Breww will find every Gyle, Cask, Keg and Bottle that’s been filled with beer created from that ingredient batch.

Production

Creating a Beer

To create a new Beer, go to Production → New Beer and then fill out the form. At the bottom is the Containers Packaged In section. This is where you specify which Container Types you will package this beer in, and will automatically create the corresponding Packaged Beers and Products for this beer. This can also be created later (see Create Packaged Beer, or Create Products).

Creating a Recipe

After you have created a beer, you may want to create a Recipe so that Breww is able to automatically generate ingredient lists for your Gyles when they are created, or calculate stock required for your Gyle plan. To create a Recipe go to Production → Recipes → New Recipe, enter the initial details and click Create New Recipe. After it is created you can then add the ingredients for the given batch size. These are then scaled up or down as necessary when creating a Gyle from the recipe. Make sure to assign the Recipe to the Beer, so that Breww allows you to brew a Gyle of the beer from this recipe.

Planning and Starting a Gyle

Breww allows you to create Gyles in a Planned state before starting them. To plan a Gyle go to Production → New Batch. Then fill in the details of the planned Gyle.

When you are ready to start this Gyle, go to Production → View All Batches and click on the Gyle number and then click the green Start Batch button at the top right of the screen. Breww will then ask how much you have/will create and where you have/will move the beer. It will only show available vessels. Breww will then start the Gyle and if there was a recipe assigned it will automatically pull ingredients and their batches from Inventory on a First In First Out (FIFO) basis. This can be used to pick ingredients from the ingredients storage for the brew, or edited to reflect which batches of ingredients and quantities were actually used.

Racking

Racking can be done from either Vessels or Full Containers. To rack from a vessel, go to Production → Racking. You then have the options of Racking from Scanner Input, Manually, or to Smallpack.

Racking to Cask or Keg from Vessels

If you are using Scanner Input, you must first scan all the Reusable casks you have racked into (remember to scan the Clear barcode first to empty the scanner of your previous scanner data). Then choose which Vessel you have racked from, click on the scanner box, and scan the Transmit barcode on your scanner. The scanner input will then transmit and fill the box. When racking you must choose which Product you are racking into. If you have racked into multiple product types and scanned them all don’t worry, Breww will ignore scanned Casks and Kegs that are not of the specified type. So you don’t have to only scan the Firkins, upload them, then go back to scan your Kilderkins, and then upload them. Scan everything, and use the same scanner input for each product you create a Racking for. If there are any non-returnables of the specified container type, enter the number into the Number of Non-Returnables field.

You are able to also record any volumes lost if you spilled any beer during the process and want it recorded, otherwise simply enter 0. There is also a Notes box to record any particular notes about the Racking so you can refer back to them if you ever need to.

After you have finished racking you will need to print off your Stock Labels. To do this, go to Production → View All Batches, click on the Gyle and then click Print All Gyle Labels at the top right. This will print off all of the Stock Labels that you will need. After these have been printed, stick them onto the relevant Casks and Kegs (e.g. if the label has a volume of 39.5L it will be for a Firkin).

Racking to Smallpack from Vessels

When racking to Smallpack you can specify whether it was done on-site or whether it was sent for off-site packaging by a third-party. Click the relevant tab and complete the form. If it is an off-site packaging, you will then need to return when the Smallpack returns and go to the Smallpack → Received from off-site Packaging tab and complete the form.

After a smallpack packaging has been created, it will generate a unique barcode for this packaging that can then be stuck onto the Smallpack Cases if desired. This can be printed from Production → View All Batches, click on the Gyle and then click Print All Gyle Labels at the top right.

Racking from Casks or Kegs

To rack from a specific Cask or Keg into another Container, go to Containers → View All and select the container you are racking from. Click Rack Container and specify what was racked from it and the reasons for any losses (for auditability purposes).

Emptying a Vessel

Once you have completely finished with a Batch and have only trub left, you will need to empty the vessel. Go to Production → Transfer and scroll to the bottom and click Empty a Vessel. Here simply specify which vessel you are emptying and why the remaining quantity in it is being scrapped. Then click Empty Vessel.

Sales

Creating a Product

Products in Breww are very flexible. They represent a quantity of something you have in stock (a Packaged Beer or Stock Item) that you wish to sell. To set up a product go to Products → New Product and give your new product a name, code, price and vat rate. You will then specify what it is you will be selling when this product is placed on an invoice. For the vast majority of cases this will simply be one packaged beer (i.e. when I sell a Product called Belgian Blonde – Firkin, I am selling one Belgian Blonde packaged in a Firkin (the Packaged Beer)). If the Packaged Beer has not been created yet, simply go to Production → Packaged Beers → New Packaged Beer to let Breww know that you intend to package this Packaged Beer and then create the product to let Breww know that you wish to sell it. (In many places Breww does this automatically for you, so there is no need to do anything).

Creating an order

To create an order go to Sales → New order. This will open a Draft order. Add the customer it is for, and the invoice and due dates. Click Update details. Then you must specify whether this order will be collected by the customer or delivered to the customer. On the right of the Order details select the delivery/collection date and click Create the delivery/collection.

Now you are ready to add your order items, scroll down to items and add the items to the order. If a product you expect to see is not there, it either needs to be created or it has been marked as obsolete. After you have completed the order confirm it. This way your delivery team know it's ready to go. Don't worry, it can be moved back into draft anytime until it is invoiced. You can manually mark the order as invoiced if you wish, which will trigger a sync to your accountancy software and make the order uneditable. Or Breww will automatically mark the order as invoiced once the delivery has left duty suspense.

Creating a Pricebook

Breww supports two different type of Pricebook, a New Pricebook or a Discount Pricebook. A New Pricebook has completely different prices irrespective of any other pricebooks, whilst a Discount Pricebook sets discount ranges on quantities of products bought.

To create a Pricebook go to Sales → Pricebooks → Create New Pricebook. The select either a Discount Pricebook or New Pricebook and input the details, and the products that they should include.

Pricebooks can then be assigned to Customers, Customer Groups or specific Orders.

Deliveries

The Delivery Day

Preparation

When it comes to a delivery day, go to Deliveries and click on the date. This will contain all of the deliveries that you have to complete that day.

First the casks must be assigned to the deliveries. On this screen, click on the Items tab. This will contain all of the Packaged Beers that you must get out ready for delivery that day.

After they have been retrieved from the stock room, print your delivery labels from the Print Labels button at the top right. For each label check which Product it specifies on the front, and stick it onto the equivalent Cask or Keg containing that Beer. After each Cask or Keg has a delivery sticker, scan the barcode on the delivery label and THEN scan the barcode on the cask. This order is very important. Do this for each Cask or Keg.

Then click on the Scanner Assignment button on Breww and transmit the scanner data into Breww (how the scanner transmits depends on your scanner). The box should fill with the scanner data. Then click Assign. This will then automatically assign each Cask or Keg to each delivery.

When your deliveries are ready to leave the Brewery to be delivered, click Invoice all confirmed orders and Mark Delivery Day as Left Duty Suspense. The beer duty is then calculated and the deliveries marked as Out for Delivery.

When Out for Delivery

When out for delivery you are able to bring up Breww on your phone and click onto each delivery as you arrive at the Customer. You can then click Mark Delivery as Complete and then take a signature from the customer. Click Order Options → Sign Invoice and take a signature from the Customer. Click Confirm Signature → Submit to save it.

Containers

Creating a New Container Type

You can set-up as many Container Types as you like in Breww. To set them up, go to Container → New Container Type and simply fill in the details.

Creating New Returnable Containers

If you would like to track a container simply give Breww the number of the container and Breww will create it as a permanent container in your system. Go to Containers → New Container.

Containers In Trade

To view your containers in trade go to, Containers → Containers in Trade. Click the Map View tab to view them all on a map.

When you need to scan containers back into the Brewery after collecting them. Go to, Containers → Return or move containers → Scanner View and transmit your scanner data up to Breww, click Return Containers.

Beer Duty

Beer Duty Return

Your current and historical beer duty returns can be found in the Beer Duty section. Click on Beer Duty → View Current Return to view your current return and click View Beer Duty Breakdown to view a breakdown of everything that went into that return.