General Production settings and setting your ABV calculation for duty

We recommend configuring your settings before using the production suite in Breww; you can find these settings by heading to Settings -> Production settings -> General production settings.

The page is laid out in five sections, in the order they appear on screen: Basic batch settings, Units of measurement, Packaging, Transfer approvals and Alerts. All five are saved together, so make all of your changes and then select Save general production settings at the bottom of the page.

Basic batch settings

By default, would you like recipe ingredients to be automatically allocated when starting a batch?

At the top of batch settings you will find two checkboxes; selecting the first will mean that by default, when you start a batch, the Auto-allocate ingredients checkbox will be selected. You can override this on a batch level when starting a batch. If you would rather add your ingredients as you go on a brew day rather than allocate them at the start, then you can have this unchecked.

By default, would you like your recipe ingredient quantities scaled proportionally with the volume of the batch?

The second refers to situations where you enter a batch volume that differs from your recipe; for example, if your recipe was written for 1000 litres, and you are brewing a 2000 litre batch, would you like Breww to scale these quantities automatically for you? This will mean that you can have one recipe for a beer and have the flexibility to brew batches of different sizes, as Breww will scale the ingredient quantities. If you would rather Breww didn't automatically do this, you can leave this unselected; you can override this on a batch level when starting the batch.

Daily batch readings

Your daily batch readings will show as a reminder on your production dashboard and apply to all vessels. Here, you can simply enter how many times you would like Breww to remind you to take fermentation readings each day.

If you leave this field blank, Breww uses its own default of 2 readings per day, and the Readings tab on the production dashboard will show a note telling you that you are using Breww's default. Entering your own number here (including 0, if you do not want reading reminders at all) both sets your requirement and hides that note.

Default batch number prefix for merged batches

In Breww, you can merge batches into other batches. The original gyle numbers will be maintained, provided that you are transferring a batch into the entirety of another. If the batch being merged into has already had packagings or the batch is split, then a new gyle is created to maintain the integrity of the original batch for traceability. In this scenario, you can choose to have a batch number follow on from your usual number sequence or use a prefix for merged batches to distinguish merged batches from your core gyle number sequence. You can simply enter the prefix here.

The prefix must be letters only and no more than 5 characters long. Breww will store and display it in upper case, whatever you type. A small number of prefixes are reserved for Breww's own use, and you will be told if you pick one of those.

Require a recipe on all batches

The Require a recipe on all batches checkbox provides some error proofing, as it prevents a batch from being started if no recipe has been selected. If this is unchecked, you can create and start batches without using a recipe.

Preferred batch schedule vessel grouping

Your batch schedule can be viewed and organised either by vessel type or vessel group.

If organising this by vessel type example:

• Brewing systems
• Fermenter
• Brite tank

If organising by vessel group example:

• Brewing systems
• Primary
• Secondary

Units of measurement

Unit system

Here, you can choose to use the Metric or US Imperial system.

When you change the unit system and Allow stock items to use any unit of measurement is left unticked, Breww converts every one of your existing stock items over to the equivalent unit in the newly chosen system. If that checkbox is ticked, your existing stock items keep the units they are already using and are left alone.

Allow stock items to use any unit of measurement (from either the Metric or US Imperial systems)

Tick this if you want to be able to pick units from both systems when setting up stock items, for example if you buy some ingredients in kilograms and others in pounds. The unit system chosen above is still what will be used for your vessel volumes.

Volume unit to use for all production and recipe volumes

You can then select a Volume unit to use for all production and recipe volumes, which refers to the units used when producing, transferring and packaging batches. When managing batches you'll be prompted for volumes brewed, volumes moved between vessels and so on, and the unit chosen here is what will be used in those situations.

Packaging

Prevent packaging when not enough stock items are available

If this option is checked, you will not be able to complete a packaging without having all the required stock items available (as per product and/or container type requirements), such as an empty can and lid when packaging a can. You will be shown a warning when unchecked and can adjust or continue anyway, even though you do not have the 'required' stock items.

Require a planned packaging when packaging from a batch

If this option is checked, you must select a planned packaging every time you package from a batch. The option to carry on without a planned packaging is hidden. Planned packagings are added from the main batch page, in the Planned packagings tab.

If you turn this on and then try to package from a batch that has no planned packagings on it, the packaging process will show you a warning with links to open the batch (so you can add one) and to come back to these settings.

This pairs well with the Per planned packaging approval mode described below, as it guarantees every packaging event has its own approval.

When packaging, should pallets be assembled by default

This sets the default answer to the Assemble pallets with products packaged question in the packaging process. There are three options:

• Prompt every time (no default) (default) - no answer is pre-selected, so whoever is packaging has to choose each time.
• Assemble pallets when packaging (by default) - the packaging form starts with pallet assembly turned on.
• Do not assemble pallets when packaging (by default) - the packaging form starts with pallet assembly turned off.

Whichever you choose, this only pre-fills the answer. The person packaging can always change it for that packaging. For more on how pallets work, see Pallet management.

Pre-packaging approval mode and Post-packaging approval mode

These two settings control whether packaging approvals are done once per batch, or separately for each planned packaging. They can be set independently for pre-packaging and post-packaging.

• Per batch (default) - a single approval covers the whole batch.
• Per planned packaging - each planned packaging on the batch gets its own approval, which allows different container types or products to use different templates.

For full details, see Beers/drinks and packaging approval.

Default packaging approval templates

You can set a Default pre-packaging approval template and a Default post-packaging approval template for your account. These act as brewery-wide fallback templates and will be used for any beer that does not have its own approval template configured directly on the beer.

This is useful if most of your beers share the same quality checks before or after packaging. Rather than assigning the same template to every beer individually, you can set it once here and only override it on specific beers where needed.

When Breww determines which approval template to use for a packaging, it follows this resolution order:

1. Container type override (only in Per planned packaging mode) - if the beer has a specific template configured for the container type being packaged, that template is used.
2. Beer-specific template - the template assigned directly to the beer on its detail page.
3. Brewery-wide default - the default template set here in Production settings.

If none of these are configured, no approval will be created for that packaging.

Post-packaging approval delayed release control

This setting controls whether delayed packaging releases can be released when post-packaging approvals are outstanding. This is useful if you want to ensure that packaged stock is not released for sale until post-packaging quality checks have been completed and approved. There are three options:

• No restrictions - delayed releases can be released for sale at any time, regardless of whether there are outstanding post-packaging approvals.

• Prevent releasing if outstanding post-packaging approval (default) - if a delayed release is linked to a batch or planned packaging that has an outstanding (unapproved) post-packaging approval, the release will be blocked. You will not be able to release the stock for sale until the post-packaging approval has been approved. Automatic scheduled releases will also be held back until the approval is completed.

• Prevent releasing and auto-release upon approval - works the same as the option above, but when a post-packaging approval is approved, any pending delayed releases that are no longer blocked will be automatically released for sale. This means you do not need to manually release the stock after approving the post-packaging checks.

Require delayed packaging release

When the Require delayed packaging release checkbox is enabled, all packagings must use a delayed release. The option to release stock for sale immediately will not be available during the packaging process. Instead, the packaging form will default to a manual delayed release, and you will need to choose either an automatic or manual delayed release option.

This is useful if your brewery's workflow requires all packaged stock to go through a holding period (e.g. for conditioning or quality checks) before being made available for sale. This setting applies to both the web interface and the Breww mobile app.

For more information on delayed releases, see How to package drinks for bottle/cask conditioning without releasing it for sale immediately.

Transfer approvals

Breww supports transfer approvals to help you maintain quality control when moving batches between vessels. These settings control whether approvals are required before and/or after transfers.

Pre-transfer approvals

Choose how pre-transfer approvals should behave:

• Always require - a pre-transfer approval must be completed and approved before any transfer can proceed. Each approval can only be used for one transfer.

• Always require (but can reuse/share) - a pre-transfer approval must be completed, but the same approved instance can be linked to multiple transfers from the same batch.

• Can optionally be done (default) - pre-transfer approvals are available but not mandatory.

• Never do - pre-transfer approvals are disabled.

If you select a mode other than "Never do", you can also choose a Default pre-transfer approval template that will be pre-selected when creating new approvals. The template field is hidden while "Never do" is selected.

Post-transfer approvals

Choose how post-transfer approvals should behave:

• Always require - a post-transfer approval is automatically created after each transfer and must be completed.

• Always require (but can reuse/share) - a post-transfer approval is required, but you can reuse an existing approved one from the same batch.

• Can optionally be done (default) - post-transfer approvals are available but not mandatory.

• Never do - post-transfer approvals are disabled.

If you select a mode other than "Never do", you can also choose a Default post-transfer approval template.

Alerts

Days to look back for production alerts

The Alerts tab on the production dashboard surfaces brew sheet readings that have fallen outside their out-of-spec deviation thresholds. This setting controls how far back in time Breww looks when populating that tab:

• 0 - today only.
• 1 - today and yesterday.
• 2 (default) - today plus the previous two days.
• Higher values look further back.

A wider lookback gives you more visibility of historic alerts, but Breww applies an internal cap on the number of candidate readings checked to keep the dashboard fast. If the cap is reached, the Alerts tab will tell you so and prompt you to reduce the lookback period.

For full details on how targets and thresholds work, see our Deviation thresholds and targets guide.

Other production settings pages

The buttons along the top of the general production settings page are shortcuts to your vessel settings, recipe variables and best before rules. The rest of your production settings live alongside this page under Settings -> Production settings:

• Utility/other batch costs - cost types and costs that are added to batches automatically.
• Fermentation readings form - which readings appear on your fermentation reading form, whether they are required, and the units used.
• Drink types - beer, cider, spirits, wine and so on.
• Smallpack packaging formats - reusable sets of stock items for multipacks.

Setting your default ABV calculation for duty purposes 💂‍♂️

Your default ABV calculation for duty purposes is set on your duty settings page, not in your production settings. You'll find it by heading to Beer duty/Alcohol duty -> Annual estimate & settings, beneath Default ABV calculation for duty purposes.

You get one setting per drink type, so your beer and your cider can use different methods if you need them to. You will be able to select from the options below:

• Advertised ABV entered on the beer (this will use the ABV set directly on the beer)
• Automatically calculated from fermentation readings (this will use the ABV on a batch level from the gravity readings entered on the Analysis tab)
• Entered manually (this will require you to enter the ABV manually on the batch)

Not every duty regime offers all three. US TTB reporting only allows the advertised ABV, so no question is shown for TTB drink types.

If you choose Automatically calculated from fermentation readings, every batch will need a starting and final gravity recorded before it can be packaged, and Breww will automatically switch gravity on in your fermentation reading settings when you save.

The option chosen here will define the default ABV calculation method for all batches created in Breww from that point on. This is just a default, and it can be overwritten on any batch to force it to use a different method. Changing it will not alter batches that already exist.

For everything else on that page, including your annual production volumes and your duty regime's own options, see Duty settings.