overview
Founded in 2013 by Joe Grimm and his wife, Grimm Ales began as a passion project driven by a love of home brewing. Today, Grimm Ales has grown into a celebrated name in craft beer, recognized for its innovative brews and dedication to quality. Alongside their expansive on-site tasting room, Grimm Ales distributes throughout six states and has recently ventured into natural wine with their brand Physical Wines.
challenge
As Grimm Ales scaled its production and distribution, managing its operations became increasingly complex. “[The system] was becoming unwieldy because the interface was slow and challenging,” says Grimm. “The bookkeeping team was spending way too much time trying to do basic tasks in a system that wasn’t intuitive to them.” These obstacles led Grimm Ales to search for a solution that would streamline their workflows, eliminate unnecessary costs, and improve team efficiency.
results
After evaluating various options, Grimm Ales chose Ekos for its user-friendly interface, strong feature set, and long track record of iterative improvements. According to Grimm, “Ekos was simply the most user-friendly software we looked at, and their feature set was clearly the best out there. We did our homework, and after talking with other breweries who had used Ekos, we felt confident it was the right choice.”
Today, Grimm Ales relies on Ekos to manage core functions across its brewery, including inventory management, production planning, and sales tracking. The Ekos software allows the team to place purchase orders, manage inventory in real time, and track ingredient usage as each batch of beer progresses through production. This real-time inventory visibility has transformed Grimm’s operations by enabling a “just-in-time” production model. “With Ekos, we know exactly what we have on hand and what we need to buy. This is invaluable because we want our ingredients to be fresh and minimize how much working capital is tied up in inventory,” he noted.
Ekos also provides valuable forecasting tools that allow Grimm Ales to plan their brewing schedule with precision. Furthermore, Ekos has streamlined reporting requirements, such as excise tax submissions, which Grimm found particularly beneficial given the additional complexity of managing taxes for both beer and wine production.
Grimm says Ekos has delivered “huge time-savings” by eliminating the cumbersome and redundant processes associated with their previous system. It has also alleviated previous challenges associated with errors and corrections. With Ekos, changes can be made instantly, allowing the team to work more efficiently and reducing the risk of error.
Most beneficial has been the significant time savings due to Ekos’ integration with QuickBooks. Accountants no longer have to learn complex and unfamiliar software, allowing them to complete tasks faster and with greater accuracy.
Grimm advises other brewers considering a software upgrade to strongly evaluate whether their current solution meets their needs: “If you’re using spreadsheets or a software platform that wasn’t built for craft breweries, you’re likely dealing with inefficiencies that are holding you back. Ekos provides a level of support, ease, and insight that’s truly crafted for this industry.”
