Polished Concrete, Idle Hands Craft Ales Brewery, Malden, MA
In most industries, flooring and floor coatings are a discretionary or even purely aesthetic consideration, but that’s not the case with brewery flooring. As with all food and drink-related industries, breweries have a huge number of regulations to contend with if they’re to successfully remain on the market, and many of those relate directly to the cleanliness of their production facilities.
In our own decades of experience working in industrial flooring, it seems that breweries are generally having to re-floor their facilities every seven years or so, to remain in compliance with health regulations. However, this is needlessly wasteful! Modern advances in brewery floor coatings allow for floors with far longer lifespans, which are also safer and more hygienic.
These solutions may cost a little more up-front, but they can save a brewery considerable money in the long run thanks to their low upkeep, easy cleaning, and reduced risk to workers.
Major Considerations in Industrial Brewery Flooring Options
The flooring in a brewery has to be able to resist or prevent a wide range of problems, if they’re to remain legal under state and federal regulations.
These include:
- Hygienic conditions: Brewery flooring must be non-porous, without cracks or gaps which can collect bacteria, and optimally, possess anti-microbial properties to further discourage the growth of harmful organisms.
- Moisture and chemical resistance: Many flooring types will degrade quickly when repeatedly moistened or exposed to caustic chemicals. In turn, this reduces their hygienic properties. Modern flooring options prevent this.
- Wet/Dry capabilities: A brewery is going to have zones which are likely to remain damp, and other zones which must be kept dry. Rather than having multiple flooring types, top-quality flooring from Black Bear can achieve both.
- Skid resistance: From expensive machinery to everyday workers, brewery flooring must be safe to move around, with a minimum of slippage – even when wet.
- Low environmental impact: Going green matters more and more to consumers, and breweries – especially smaller microbreweries – need to be able to show their eco-friendliness to attract more environmentally-conscious drinkers.
Black Bear Coatings & Concrete have options available which can address all these needs, while also adhering to brewers’ own desires for the look and feel of their facilities.
Choosing The Right Flooring For Your Brewery
What are some of the options in flooring available?
- Epoxy – A thick epoxy coating on top of concrete is a highly popular choice, due to its low costs and high durability. Epoxy doesn’t last as long as some other options, but it’s relatively simple and inexpensive to add more floor coating whenever it wears down.
- Urethane – Urethane is one of the top choices for food and beverage facilities which want a high-quality and long-lasting utilitarian choice for their flooring. It’s non-skid, has high hygienic properties, and can be laid in entirely seamless surfaces to remove cracks and gaps where microbes can grow.
- Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) – MMA is one of the fastest-curing options in high-demand flooring, making it a great choice for facilities where time is of the essence, while still providing all the benefits of other flooring types such as Urethane. Additionally, it comes in a wide range of colors, and can even have additives like quartz crystals for better aesthetics.
- Metallic Epoxy – Planning on showing off your brewery to investors or customers? Metallic Epoxy has all the benefits of regular epoxy, but with a truly unique textured glass-like appearance which is visually stunning. It can also be treated for extra non-skid capabilities. It’s high-tech flooring to match high-tech production facilities.
Black Bear Coatings & Concrete engineers solutions for the food and beverage industry including epoxy, urethane, MMA and polished concrete floors. We offer longer-lasting, and aesthetically pleasing floors that are durable and easy to maintain. To learn more about Black Bear solutions for breweries and micro-brew restaurants, contact the experts at Black Bear Coatings & Concrete.
The industrial flooring experts will value engineer the right solution for your facility. We would be happy to discuss what solution would best fit your needs. We have years of experience working with industry leaders in a variety of sectors. Black Bear is a leading concrete and coatings industrial flooring company that serves New England – Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Northern Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, as well as New York (north of New York City). Rest assured that we have the staff, equipment, and expertise needed to make your floor project a success.
