Sector guide · Breweries & distilleries
Brewing looks romantic and works industrial: hundreds of litres of near-boiling liquid, caustic cleaning chemistry every cycle, floors that are wet from mash-in to close, and grain dust in the malt store. Then the same business runs a taproom, where the wardrobe changes completely.
The sector
The brewhouse pairs heat and wet: hot liquor, steam at manways, and kettle work argue for long sleeves in natural-fibre or appropriate fabrics (the melting rule applies around steam and hot surfaces), heat-rated gloves for hot fittings, and face protection when opening hot vessels. Floors are wet from first runnings to washdown — S4/S5 wellingtons or waterproof SR-rated boots are the daily footwear, and slip performance is the spec that matters most per day worked.
CIP is the serious chemistry: caustic and acid cleaning cycles mean chemical gloves matched to the products, splash goggles plus face shield when making up or breaking connections, and aprons or splash-rated layers — a caustic splash is the brewery's signature serious injury and the PPE list around it should read like a chemical-handling document, because it is one. The malt store adds FFP2 dust protection for grain handling (and the confined-space and CO₂ disciplines of cellars belong to training, not clothing). Out front, the taproom runs on hospitality logic — branded tees and aprons that carry the brewery's identity, which in this sector genuinely sells beer.
Kit by area
| Area | The kit that matters | The spec detail |
|---|---|---|
| Brewhouse & kettles | Long sleeves, heat gloves, face protection at manways | EN 407 on hot fittings |
| CIP & chemical store | Rated chemical gloves, goggles + shield, splash layers | Caustic is the injury to design against |
| Cellar & packaging | Wellingtons/SR boots, hearing protection at the line | Bottling lines run at EN 352 levels |
| Malt handling | FFP2, eye protection | Grain dust — and mills demand the fitted-clothing rule |
| Taproom & events | Branded tees, aprons | FOH logic — the merch is the uniform |
Management notes
Questions
Heat-rated gloves and face protection around hot liquor and manways, chemical gloves and goggles (plus face shield) for caustic CIP work, wellingtons or slip-rated waterproof boots for permanently wet floors, FFP2 for grain handling, and hearing protection at packaging lines. The caustic chemistry deserves the most respect.
Brewery floors are wet from mash-in to final washdown — hot water, wort and cleaning cycles all day. S4/S5 safety wellingtons give waterproofing, toe protection and washdown-proof construction with the slip-rated soles that matter most in the building.
Clean-in-place — circulating caustic and acid solutions through vessels and lines after every use. Making up chemicals and breaking connections risks splash of genuinely corrosive solutions, so rated chemical gloves, sealed goggles with a face shield and splash-protective layers are the standing kit for it.
Send the roles and headcount — we'll come back with a kit list per role, embroidered and priced.