2026 price tiers for brewery and distillery equipment
| Tier | Capacity | 2026 band (USD) | What the band covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brewhouse + cellar | 1,000 L (10 hL) per brew | US$90k–160k | Ex-works China: two- or three-vessel brewhouse, five or six fermenters (unitanks), glycol tank and chiller, CIP unit, control panel. Kegging by hand; no packaging line |
| Brewery with packaging line | 1,000–2,000 L per brew | US$200k–500k | Ex-works China: malt mill, brewhouse, 6–8+ fermenters and bright tanks, glycol, CIP, steam or electric heating, water treatment, plus a canning or bottling line with keg washing and filling |
| Craft gin distillery | 300–500 L still | Quoted per configuration | Copper pot still with column and gin basket, spirit receivers, blending tanks, filtration, bottling and labelling. Mostly below a line budget on its own |
| Larger or automated brewery | 3,000 L+ per brew | Quoted per configuration | Automated brewhouse, larger cellar, high-speed canning. Scope varies too much for a band |
All figures USD, indicative, 2026, equipment ex-China. Add roughly 25–45% for freight, clearing, installation and commissioning; the building, taproom and licensing costs are separate. Machinery is priced in dollars, so your rand cost moves with the exchange rate.
Why the cheap brewhouse advert is not a brewery
Search "brewery equipment for sale South Africa" and you will find 1,000 L brewhouses from Chinese makers at prices that look too good. Some genuinely are good value. But a brewhouse makes wort, not beer. The beer is made in the cellar: fermenters with jacketed glycol cooling that holds temperature to the degree, bright tanks, and a CIP system that keeps infection out. It is sold through packaging. Cans or bottles filled with low dissolved-oxygen pickup are what give a craft beer shelf life beyond the taproom. A brewery that skimps on cooling capacity or the canning line ends up with a great beer that only tastes great on site.
The second trap is buying the brewhouse and fermenters from one maker, the glycol plant from another and the canning line from a third, then discovering on commissioning day that nobody owns the interfaces. CISH prices and commissions the brewery as one system for that reason.
What the landed price is made of
Across a full project, the equipment is typically 35–55% of the landed total; one Chinese brewhouse maker publishes a total-project multiple of 2–3× the ex-works system price for the same reason. Run your own numbers in the landed cost estimator.
- Freight and insurance — tanks ship bulky; a 2,000 L brewery with packaging is several containers, some of them open-top or flat-rack.
- Duty and clearing. In the 2026 SARS tariff book, brewery machinery (8438.40), distilling or rectifying plant (8419.40), steel tanks and vats (7309.00) and filling, closing and labelling machinery (8422.30) are duty-free under the general rate. Heat exchange units (8419.50) carry 15%, so wort coolers and plate heat exchangers need careful classification. See our import duty guide.
- Import VAT — 15% on the FOB customs value plus a 10% uplift plus duty, recoverable by a VAT vendor.
- Civils — floors with drains and falls that take hot caustic, a cold room for kegs, ventilation, and the taproom if you have one.
- Utilities — steam boiler or a large electrical supply for electric heating, glycol capacity, brewing-water treatment, effluent (high-strength wastewater from spent grain, yeast and CIP), and power backup for the cellar (generator vs UPS vs battery).
- Installation and commissioning (typically 8–15%) plus training and documentation (3–8%).
By scenario: which tier fits your situation
| Scenario | Realistic tier | 2026 band | Site must have | Read next |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First plant: a brewpub or taproom brewery selling mostly on site, in kegs | 1,000 L brewhouse + cellar | US$90k–160k (equipment) | SARS excise licence, liquor licence, zoning for manufacture, drains for hot caustic, cold room | Cost to set up a small factory |
| Scale-up: a contract-brewed brand bringing production in-house to sell in cans to retail | 1,000–2,000 L brewery with canning | US$200k–500k (equipment) | Manufacturing-warehouse licence, can and lid supply, a QC lab for dissolved oxygen and gravity, a boiler or large electrical supply | PET, glass or can |
| Add a line: an existing brewery adds canning or more fermenters | Canning line and/or cellar expansion | Quoted per configuration | Glycol headroom, floor space, a product to fill that line | Filling machine prices |
| Craft gin or farm distillery using neutral spirit and botanicals, or its own mash | 300–500 L still + bottling | Quoted per configuration | A SARS still licence and manufacturing licence, liquor licence, fire and ventilation design for ethanol | Buy from China vs fabricate locally |
| Upper band: 3,000 L+ automated brewhouse supplying national retail | Larger or automated brewery | Quoted per configuration | An engineering team on site, a lab, retail listings secured | Total cost of ownership |
Brewery vs craft gin distillery: the comparison that decides the budget
| Item | Microbrewery (1,000–2,000 L) | Craft gin distillery (300–500 L still) |
|---|---|---|
| Raw material | Malt, hops, yeast, water | Neutral spirit or own fermented mash, plus botanicals |
| Core equipment | Mill, brewhouse, fermenters, bright tanks, glycol, CIP, packaging | Pot still with column and gin basket, receivers, blending tanks, filtration, bottling |
| Excise rate (SARS Schedule 1 Part 2A, dated 30 April 2026) | R149.98 per litre of absolute alcohol (malt beer) | R302.84 per litre of absolute alcohol (gin) |
| Excise per unit (arithmetic) | About R2.55 on a 340 ml can at 5% ABV | About R97.67 on a 750 ml bottle at 43% ABV |
| SARS licensing | Licence with SARS Excise before manufacture (manufacturing warehouse) | The same, plus a licence to own, possess or keep a still |
| Utilities | Heavy: heat, cooling, water and effluent | Lighter: heat and condenser water; ethanol fire safety |
| Capital | US$90k–500k equipment, by the tiers above | Quoted per configuration. Local still makers list 100 L copper systems at up to R420,000 |
The excise row is the one first-time distillers underestimate. At these rates, duty on a bottle of gin is close to R100 before VAT. That amount is payable on product removed for sale, which can be long before your customers pay you.
Regulatory and licensing gates you will need to clear
For alcohol, the licences are the critical path, not the equipment lead time. You will need:
- SARS Excise licensing — malt beer and spirits manufacturers must license with SARS Excise before they start to manufacture (DA 185 with the manufacturing-warehouse annexure). Duty is then self-assessed on monthly excise accounts filed on eFiling. Distillers also need the licence to own, possess or keep stills, and should have it before the still lands.
- Excise duty at the rates in Schedule 1 Part 2A (R149.98/l absolute alcohol for malt beer; R302.84/l absolute alcohol for gin, as at 30 April 2026). Rates change with each Budget.
- A liquor licence. Under section 4 of the Liquor Act 59 of 2003, a micro-manufacturer may make liquor up to the prescribed threshold volume. Under the National Liquor Regulations those thresholds are 100 million litres a year for beer and 2 million litres for spirits. Micro-manufacturers below the threshold are licensed by the provincial liquor authority; above it, you register nationally.
- Product rules under the Liquor Products Act 60 of 1989 for spirits definitions and labelling.
- Food premises hygiene under R638 of 2018, municipal zoning for manufacture, and trade-effluent approval for brewery wastewater.
These licences are applications you make to SARS, your province and your municipality. CISH does not obtain them. What we provide is the equipment documentation those applications ask for: layouts, still and vessel specifications, metering points.
Answer these before you ask for a price
- Beer, spirits or both? Licensing, excise and equipment differ sharply.
- How many hectolitres a year can you sell, and through which channel? Taproom, on-trade kegs, retail cans.
- Kegs, cans or bottles? Packaging is the swing item in the brewery band.
- Steam or electric heating? It depends on your site's power supply and gas or coal availability.
- Where are your licences? Has SARS Excise registered you, and has the province accepted your liquor application?
- What is on site: floor area, ceiling height for the brewhouse, drains, power?
Who installs, who trains, who maintains
A brewery is a hygiene and temperature-control system that happens to contain vessels. CISH delivers it as one system. We size the brewhouse and cellar to your sales plan and audit the manufacturer in China. Before shipment we run a factory acceptance test: pressure and leak tests on vessels, glycol control, CIP coverage and a water run of the canning line. We coordinate freight and clearing, install, and commission to site acceptance on your first brews. Then we run operator and maintenance training with written procedures for CIP, fermentation control and packaging changeovers, and finish with a documented handover. After handover, maintenance runs as scheduled support: planned service visits, refresher training and updated procedures. See how our turnkey delivery works and commissioning and maintenance.
Honest local note: South Africa has its own brewing and distilling suppliers. Bru Pro in Johannesburg builds brewing systems, and Stilltec sells stills and columns locally. For a nano-brewery or a first small still, a local builder can be the better answer, with parts and advice close at hand. Several Chinese brewhouse makers also sell direct to South African brewers. Distillique, long known for distilling equipment and training, says on its website that it is closing down. The market is consolidating, too: Pernod Ricard concluded its acquisition of Inverroche on 6 February 2025. Plan capacity against secured sales, not against the category's growth years.