Safety, Sanitation, and Regulatory Compliance
This domain tests whether you can work safely around tanks and chemicals, sanitize effectively, and keep the brewery inside the rules.
Core rules
- CO2 is odorless and heavier than air; it pools in cellars and fermenter bottoms. Know your monitor: PEL 5,000 ppm, IDLH 40,000 ppm. Evacuate and ventilate on alarm.
- Tank entry is permit-required confined space work: atmospheric test, continuous ventilation, attendant, harness and retrieval line, entry permit.
- Chemicals: always add chemical to water, never water to caustic. Never mix acid with hypochlorite - chlorine gas. Store acids and caustics separately, keep SDS sheets accessible, and wear goggles, gloves, and apron.
- Sanitation order: clean, rinse, then sanitize with correct concentration and contact time (for example peracetic acid 100–200 ppm for 1–2 minutes). Avoid chloride attack on stainless steel; prolonged chlorine exposure pits 304 and 316.
- Regulatory: TTB brewer's notice, formula and label (COLA) approval, federal excise tax by barrel, state and local licensing, and FDA preventive-controls food safety obligations.
Worked example
A fermenter needs manual cleaning through the manway. It qualifies as a permit-required confined space. Test oxygen at 19.5–23.5%, verify CO2 is well under 5,000 ppm, ventilate continuously, assign an attendant outside, and wear a harness with retrieval line. If the monitor alarms, everyone exits and you re-evaluate - never "finish quickly."
Traps that cost marks
- Relying on smell to detect CO2.
- Entering a tank alone to "just rinse it."
- Sanitizing over beerstone or trub, leaving the sanitizer ineffective.
- Mixing chemicals for a stronger clean, creating heat or toxic gas.
- Selling or shipping beer before label approval or with wrong excise reporting.