Fermentation tanks, hot caustic washdowns, acidic spills, and standing water demand a concrete floor engineered for those exact conditions. Detroit Concrete installs urethane cement and chemical-resistant epoxy systems with trench drains that move washdown water fast. Production zones, tasting rooms, and bar areas each get the right spec. Free written estimate on every project.
Off-the-shelf commercial epoxy fails in breweries within months. Wort acidity eats through standard coatings. Caustic CIP chemicals from tank cleaning attack the binder. Tannic acid in wine production dissolves the finish. Constant wet conditions accelerate all of it. The solution is a urethane cement system (4-6mm hand-troweled) for high-exposure production zones, or a specialized chemical-resistant epoxy for moderate-exposure areas.
Trench drains are not optional. Brewery washdown produces 50+ gallons per minute in a small space. Point drains overflow. Water pools on the floor. The coating sits in chemical-laden water for hours, and the system degrades from underneath. Trench drains across the production zone move that volume out in seconds, keeping exposure short and the floor sharp.
Tasting rooms and bar areas are a different animal. Chemical exposure drops dramatically. A polished concrete finish or standard commercial epoxy works fine there, and you can match the brand aesthetic. We install both systems in the same project, with a clean transition at the doorway. See our restaurant flooring work for similar zone-based approaches, and our broader commercial floor services.
Recent work
Installation sequence
How Brewery Concrete Floors Get Built in Detroit
Walk the zones with you
We tour the production area, tasting room, and any bar or packaging zones. We identify which areas see acid, caustic, hot water, or light exposure. We ask about your CIP chemicals, fermentation tank placement, and washdown frequency. This determines the system spec for each zone.
Grind and prep the slab
The existing concrete slab is diamond-ground to the prep profile required by the system. Old coatings, contaminants, and any failed areas are removed. Cracks are repaired. Trench drains are installed or rebuilt with the correct slope toward them.
Install zone-specific systems
High-exposure production zones get urethane cement troweled by hand, with cove base up the walls. Moderate-exposure areas get chemical-resistant epoxy with broadcast aggregate for grip. Tasting and bar zones get polished concrete or a coated finish matched to your brand.
Verify slope and return to service
Floor slopes are checked during install to confirm water flows to the trench drains. Drain tie-ins are finished flush. The production floor cures before you return to service. Tasting and bar zones are finished separately and ready on schedule.
Washdown engineering
Why Trench Drains Change the Game
A brewery washdown cycle moves more water than a standard floor drain can handle. The water pools. It sits on the coating for hours. Acids and caustics in the water attack the system from the top. The coating softens, blisters, and fails. Trench drains across the production zone capture the full washdown volume and move it out in seconds, so exposure is measured in minutes, not hours.
We design the trench drain layout and floor slope as a single system, then install both together. The slope is built into the concrete pour or the coating application, and the drain is detailed flush with the floor so nothing catches or pools. If your brewery has a restaurant kitchen or retail space adjacent, we coordinate the drain and slope across all zones.
Chemical resistance, trench drains, urethane cement systems and tasting-room finishes.
Because of the chemical exposure. Wort acidity, hot caustic CIP cleaning chemicals, tannic acid in winery operations, and constant wet conditions all degrade standard epoxy. The right brewery floor is a urethane cement or specialized chemical-resistant epoxy system rated for those exposures.
For the production floor, yes, urethane cement handles thermal shock (hot wash on cold floor) and chemical exposure better. Epoxy can work in zones with moderate exposure and proper spec. We pick based on the actual zone exposure, not a default.
For any real brewery production floor, yes. Point drains cannot move the washdown volume; water pools, exposure prolongs, and the system fails sooner. Trench drains across the zone capture and move water fast.
Tasting and bar zones get a different system because the chemical exposure is dramatically lower. Polished concrete or a coated floor is typical there, matched to the brand look. Both systems install in the same project but as separate zones.
Production floor: typically a week or more depending on size, plus cure before returning to service. Tasting and bar zones add a few more days. The schedule is built around your production downtime needs.
Client reviews
What Detroit Breweries Say About Their Concrete Floors
Production floor with urethane cement system rated for our CIP chemicals. Three years of brewing, no degradation, washdown cycles work. The trench drains made it possible.
Z. Y2
Brewery Owner, Detroit
★★★★★
Acid resistance for wine production zone, polished concrete in the tasting room. Two different systems, clean transition at the doorway. Both have held perfectly.
Y. K2
Winery Operations, Warren
★★★★★
They specced for our actual chemical exposure, not the cheapest option. Production floor is solid, no soft spots, no failed seams. Worth the right spec.
Q. M2
Microbrewery Founder, Ann Arbor
★★★★★
Trench drains across the production area changed our washdown game. Water leaves in seconds instead of pooling. The floor stays sharp because exposure is short.
X. M2
Cidery Director, Sterling Heights
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