Craft breweries have exploded in popularity across Texas, transforming from niche passion projects into thriving small businesses. While the growth of the craft beer industry brings new opportunities, it also introduces a wide range of risks that many brewery owners underestimate. Behind every successful brewery is more than great beer—it’s a strong understanding of safety, compliance, operations, and financial protection.
Recognizing these risks early allows you to strengthen your operations, protect your employees, and preserve the future of your brewery. Below are the major risk exposures craft breweries face and why the right insurance coverage is vital for long-term stability.
Operational Hazards Inside the Brewery
Every brewery, no matter its size, relies on intensive production processes that involve hot liquids, pressurized systems, and heavy machinery. These core components are essential for brewing quality beer, but they also create daily safety challenges.
Boiling kettles, fermenters, and canning lines can cause burns, crush injuries, or equipment malfunctions when not properly maintained. Even small leaks or pressure inconsistencies can result in dangerous conditions, especially when employees work in tight spaces. Many new breweries don’t realize how quickly a minor equipment problem can escalate into a major loss—whether it’s property damage, worker injury, or contaminated product.
Maintaining regular equipment inspections, enforcing safety training, and requiring personal protective gear help reduce these risks. Still, accidents happen, and insurance designed for brewery operations provides an important safety net when they do.
Slips, Trips, and Falls in High-Moisture Areas
Craft breweries are constantly exposed to wet floors. Between spilled beer, rinsing stations, tank cleaning, and condensation, slick surfaces are almost unavoidable. These wet conditions increase the likelihood of employee injuries, customer accidents during tours, and claims that can be expensive to defend.
What makes this risk more complicated is that taprooms often blend production areas with customer spaces. Visitors may walk through or near slippery zones without realizing the hazards. Even with strong housekeeping practices, breweries need a plan for preventing and managing these risks. General liability coverage and workers’ compensation become essential for breweries that open their doors to the public.
Supply Chain Interruptions
Craft breweries rely on a carefully timed supply chain—grains, hops, yeast, CO₂, and packaging materials must remain consistent to maintain quality. Any disruption in these supplies can throw off production schedules, delay releases, or create batch inconsistencies that affect customer trust.
Delays can happen for countless reasons, including shipping disruptions, ingredient shortages, mechanical failures at supplier facilities, or even weather events. With the craft beer market becoming more competitive, missing a planned release can cause breweries to lose shelf space, taproom revenue, or distribution deals.
Business interruption insurance helps breweries recover financially from situations where interruptions are outside their control.
Liquor Liability and Customer-Related Risks
In a brewery taproom, customer interactions create another layer of exposure. Even when staff follow proper protocols, a customer may drink too much, make unsafe decisions, or cause harm after leaving the premises. Breweries can be held liable for accidents tied to overserving, whether or not the brewery was directly responsible.
Texas breweries also frequently host events—live music, private parties, festivals, and tasting sessions—which bring crowds, entertainment vendors, and unpredictable behavior. With more people on site, the risks of injuries, property damage, and alcohol-related incidents increase sharply.
Liquor liability coverage is essential for protecting your business from costly claims, especially as taprooms continue to grow in popularity.
Property Damage and Extreme Weather Events
Texas breweries face unpredictable weather—from severe thunderstorms and hail to unexpected freezes and high winds. These weather events can damage buildings, outdoor seating areas, storage zones, and production spaces. Losses may include damaged roofing, broken tanks, equipment destruction, or temperature-sensitive product loss.
Breweries with grain silos, outdoor fermentation areas, or event spaces are especially vulnerable. Even minor property damage can cause extended downtime if utilities are disrupted or equipment becomes unsafe. For breweries operating in rural or semi-rural locations, emergency response times may be slower, increasing the severity of losses.
Having strong commercial property insurance ensures your brewery can rebuild quickly and return to normal operations after a major storm.
Employee Safety and Workers’ Compensation Exposures
Brewery employees encounter daily risks—from handling chemicals to lifting heavy kegs. Strains, burns, and respiratory exposures are common without strong safety protocols. Workers’ compensation claims can quickly become expensive, and a single injury may cause long-term financial strain if coverage is inadequate.
Breweries must ensure employees are trained in safe lifting, machinery operation, chemical handling, and emergency response procedures. These efforts not only protect employees but also reduce insurance costs and operational disruptions.
Why Craft Breweries Need Customized Insurance
No two breweries operate exactly the same way. Production volume, equipment type, facility layout, distribution methods, and the presence of a taproom all influence a brewery’s risk profile. Generic business insurance does not address the unique exposures found in brewing environments.
Customized brewery insurance packages can include coverage for equipment breakdown, product spoilage, liquor liability, business interruption, cyber threats, and property damage—giving breweries the protection they need to operate confidently.
Protect Your Brewery with Arthur Blake Insurance
At Arthur Blake Insurance, we understand the unique risks that Texas craft breweries face every day. Our team specializes in building tailored insurance plans that protect your equipment, your employees, your product, and your long-term success. Whether you’re just opening your doors or expanding your production, we help you secure comprehensive coverage at a fair price.
To learn more or request a customized quote, contact us today at 972-954-6383.
Your craft, your business, and your team deserve the strongest protection available.