5 Creative Ways Breweries Use IBC Totes

Breweries use enormous volumes of water — typically 5 to 7 gallons of water for every gallon of beer produced. Many craft breweries use 275-gallon IBC totes to store treated brewing water, cleaning solution concentrates, and liquid malt extract. Food-grade totes provide a hygienic, affordable alternative to dedicated stainless tanks for non-fermentation storage, and the built-in valve makes gravity-fed dispensing simple.

Several Baltimore-area breweries have told us they use reconditioned food-grade totes to store citric acid solutions, PBW (Powdered Brewery Wash), and sanitizer concentrates. At $100 to $150 each, these totes replace $500+ stainless vessels for applications that do not require pressure or temperature control.

Breweries generate large volumes of wastewater with high BOD (biological oxygen demand) that often exceeds municipal sewer limits. Some breweries use used IBC totes as intermediate holding tanks for wastewater before treatment or scheduled discharge. The 275-gallon capacity provides enough buffer for a typical brewing day, and the totes can be emptied and cleaned between uses.

Used totes at $50 to $80 are also popular for collecting and storing spent grain slurry before it is picked up by farmers for cattle feed. The wide top opening makes filling easy, and the bottom valve allows controlled dispensing into farm trucks or trailers.

For breweries that attend festivals and mobile tap events, 110-gallon IBCs serve as portable water tanks for cleanup and glass-rinsing stations. Some breweries have even used food-grade IBCs to produce large batches of cold-brew coffee or kombucha, leveraging the easy-dispensing valve and hygienic HDPE interior.

Experimental and collaboration brews often need non-standard batch sizes that do not justify dedicated tank space. A few reconditioned food-grade IBCs give breweries the flexibility to try new recipes, store pilot batches, or hold adjunct ingredients without committing to permanent infrastructure.