Big Grove Brewing has quickly become a Midwest favorite, rooted in Iowa and celebrated for its bold, approachable beers. As their reputation grew, so did the scale of their operations. Managing fermentation, brewing, cleaning, packaging, and water treatment across a bustling facility demanded more than manual oversight — it required automation that could keep pace with their ambition.
The Challenge
Big Grove’s team faced the classic growing pains of a successful brewery:
- Manual monitoring slowed production.
- Inconsistent visibility across systems created inefficiencies.
- Operators spent more time troubleshooting than brewing.
Scaling production while maintaining quality was becoming increasingly difficult.
The Solution
Craft Automation partnered with Big Grove to deliver a comprehensive automation upgrade powered by IDEC controls. The project touched nearly every part of the brewery:
- Cellar (Fermentation): Automated monitoring ensured consistency across every batch.
- Brewhouse Controls: Recipe management and batch tracking were streamlined.
- CIP (Clean-in-Place): Automated cleaning cycles reduced downtime and guaranteed sanitation.
- Grain Handling: Integrated controls improved efficiency from milling to grist transfer.
- Water Treatment: Quality and efficiency of the Reverse Osmosis System were monitored in real time.
- Packaging Lines: Throughput increased while operator intervention decreased.
Custom dashboards gave brewers and operators intuitive, real-time visibility into every stage of production — from grain to glass.
The Outcome
The results were immediate and measurable:
- Brewing cycle times have been significantly shortened.
- Downtime was reduced, and operator errors became rare.
- Management gained real-time visibility into KPIs, enabling data-driven decisions.
Most importantly, Big Grove could scale production without sacrificing the consistency and quality that made their beer a local favorite.
The Experience
Big Grove’s team described working with Craft Automation as collaborative and responsive. What stood out was Craft’s ability to translate complex automation into practical tools that fit the brewery’s workflow and culture. The partnership gave Big Grove confidence to grow, knowing their automation systems were as reliable as their recipes.
