Brewery & Distillery Compliance
Breweries and distilleries operate under federal calibration and documentation requirements that most small operations haven't fully addressed. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) has the authority to audit your records, request a witnessed gauge, and inspect your instrumentation at any time. The FDA regulates your facility as a food producer under the Food Safety Modernization Act. Neither agency accepts "we didn't know" as a corrective action.
The good news is that compliance is straightforward once you know what's required. We do.
Breweries
Federal regulations under 27 CFR Part 25 require that any meter or measuring device used to measure beer must be periodically tested and accurate to within plus or minus 0.5 percent. If a meter exceeds that tolerance, it must be immediately adjusted or repaired. Records of every test must be maintained and available for TTB officer inspection, including the date, device identity, test result, and any corrective action taken.
Most small breweries have no calibration records for their flow meters, site glasses, or other measuring devices. This is one of the most commonly cited findings in TTB brewery audits. If an officer requests those records and you cannot produce them, you are exposed.
We calibrate your beer meters and measuring devices on-site, verify accuracy against NIST-traceable standards, and produce records formatted for TTB inspection. Annual service keeps you continuously covered.
Instruments we calibrate for TTB compliance at breweries:
- Beer flow meters
- Inline and portable site glasses
- Temperature sensors at critical control points
- Pressure instrumentation
- pH instruments
Distilleries
Distilled spirits plants face more extensive calibration requirements under 27 CFR Parts 19 and 30. Every instrument used for gauging, proof determination, or tax measurement must be accurate and periodically verified. Instruments found to be out of tolerance cannot be used until tested and certified by a qualified person.
Specific requirements cover:
Hydrometers and thermometers: Used for proof determination under 27 CFR Part 30. Must be frequently tested for accuracy. Out-of-tolerance instruments must be pulled from service and certified before return to use.
Tank gauging devices: All tanks used to hold spirits and used for any required gauge must be accurately calibrated. Calibration charts must be certified as accurate by a qualified person. If a tank or gauging device is moved, recalibration is required.
Tax determination instruments: Flow meters and scales used for tax determination must be accurate and documented. TTB may require that gauges be performed in the presence of and verified by a TTB officer.
We carry NIST-traceable reference standards for all of these instrument types and produce calibration records and tank chart certifications formatted for TTB audit readiness.
Instruments we calibrate for TTB compliance at distilleries:
- Hydrometers (proof determination)
- Reference thermometers (proof determination)
- Tank level and gauging devices
- Mass flow meters (tax determination)
- Process temperature sensors
- Pressure instrumentation
FDA and Food Safety
Under the Food Safety Modernization Act, both breweries and distilleries are regulated as food facilities. If your facility has identified process controls in your food safety plan, the instruments monitoring those controls must be calibrated and verified as accurate. Records of calibration must be maintained and available for FDA inspection.
Common instruments at critical control points in craft beverage facilities include temperature sensors at pasteurization and fermentation steps, pH instruments, pressure instrumentation in clean-in-place systems, and flow meters on process water lines.
We calibrate these instruments and produce documentation that supports your food safety plan and holds up during an FDA inspection.
Safety Instrumentation
LEL detectors and combustible gas monitors are required in distillery production and storage areas where ethanol vapor may be present. CO2 monitors are required in fermentation areas at breweries where carbon dioxide accumulates at floor level. Both gases present serious hazards: ethanol vapor is flammable with a lower explosive limit of 3.3 percent by volume, and CO2 displaces oxygen without warning.
These instruments require regular bump testing and periodic calibration against certified span gas to verify response accuracy and alarm setpoints. A detector that reads low, responds slowly, or fails to alarm is not a safety instrument. It is a liability.
We calibrate LEL detectors and gas monitors using NIST-traceable certified span gas with certificate of analysis, verify alarm setpoints, and document as-found and as-left response as part of every service visit.
Gas detection instruments we calibrate:
- LEL (combustible gas) detectors
- CO2 monitors
- Fixed and portable gas detection equipment
Documentation
Every calibration we perform is documented with NIST-traceable reference standards, as-found and as-left data, reference standard identification and traceability chain, and a clear pass or fail determination. Records are formatted for direct use by your QA team, quality manager, or regulator without additional processing.
You should not have to explain your calibration records to an auditor. Ours speak for themselves.
Not Sure Where Your Compliance Gaps Are?
We offer an initial compliance assessment visit to walk your facility, review your current instrumentation, identify what is and is not covered under TTB and FDA requirements, and give you a written summary of findings. Contact us to schedule.
Regulatory references: 27 CFR Parts 19, 25, and 30 (TTB); 21 CFR Part 117 (FDA/FSMA); NIST Handbook 44 (NC Weights and Measures).