$40K
saved each year in batch losses no longer at risk
~20 Hrs
per week saved in sampling and manual labor
1 Part-Time
employee replaced at peak solo production volume
Tarboro Brewing Company case study: Download the PDF
A Brewery Built for Its Town
Tarboro Brewing Company opened in 2016 as a deliberate investment in a small, rural North Carolina community. Founded by Franklin Winslow — a microbiologist, former Director of Quality Assurance at Yards Brewing, and longtime GABF and World Beer Cup judge — alongside partners Inez and Steven Ribustello, the brewery now operates a single taproom and production facility with four 40-barrel tanks and one 20-barrel, a team of five, and distribution throughout North Carolina. Its identity is rooted in classic Belgian, German, and English styles brewed for drinkability and repeatability. Consistency isn’t just a quality goal — it’s their business model.
THE CHALLENGE
Operating a Quality-First Brewery on a Lean Team
For most of Tarboro’s early years, Franklin managed everything himself simultaneously — brewing, running the business, QA, and production growth. Manual sampling consumed an hour or more each morning: pulling samples, cleaning equipment, taking readings, calibrating instruments, tracking everything on paper. Without continuous fermentation intelligence, problems often went undetected until it was too late to intervene. “Any brewer who tells you he’s never dumped a batch is either lying to you or sold a bunch of bad beer,” he says.
The stakes were real. Franklin estimates roughly ten batches per year carry meaningful fermentation risk. At $2,000–$4,000 in raw materials per batch, the exposure accumulates fast. And finding reliable help in a rural market was nearly impossible — the gap between what he needed and what he could staff had to be reconciled another way.
I needed something to help. It was a lot cheaper to remove that stress than to hire somebody — and hiring people with experience was almost impossible out here.
THE SOLUTION
Continuous Visibility Across Every Fermentation
Franklin had watched Sennosystem develop for several years before committing. Once he became Tarboro’s sole brewer and production demands intensified, the decision was clear. Today, the platform runs across the brewery’s fermentation tanks—with plans to expand its deployment, and the shift in daily routine was immediate. What once consumed the better part of a morning now takes fifteen minutes. “Instead of spending an hour getting everything set up, I can check the SennosIQ data in the first fifteen minutes I walk in the door.”
An unexpected focus emerged quickly: conductivity. “I didn’t even really expect to be using conductivity as a metric, but it very quickly became something I would check against dissolved oxygen numbers. Those two together have been the most important for fermentation kickoff and yeast health.” The platform’s continuous curve data, which also replaced what would otherwise require lab equipment, lets Franklin see exactly when yeast activity is shifting, when a tank is ready to crash, and when a dry hop addition needs to happen — all from his phone.
THE RESULTS
Continuous Visibility Across Every Fermentation
The clearest demonstration of Sennosystem’s value came when Franklin pitched a yeast he was already nervous about. He speculated that there might not be enough viable cells in the tank, and what was there smelled suspicious. He pitched anyway, and watched the data. By day two, the numbers confirmed what he suspected: fermentation progression had stalled. He pitched a rescue yeast in time to save the entire 40-barrel batch. Without continuous fermentation intelligence, he says, he would have “lost the whole thing.”
On labor costs, Franklin is direct: Sennosystem replaced the equivalent of a part-time assistant brewer. Manual sampling was consuming roughly twenty hours per week. With that time recouped, he grew production volume through a period when he simply couldn’t find or afford additional staff.
The impact also extended well beyond the brewery floor. Franklin met his wife after moving back to Tarboro full-time, and credits Sennosystem with giving him the freedom to actually be present outside of work.
I am now married and have a kid, and I would probably not have either of those things if I hadn’t been able to take time away from work. Sennos had a big part in making this possible.
The confidence that data Sennosystem provides also changed how Franklin thinks about being away. That remote visibility is what made sustainable solo operation possible in the first place. When his staff grew and budget pressures arose, fermentation intelligence was one investment he refused to cut. He told his team, “This is not something we can get rid of.” Head Brewer Will Pardon echoed this benefit: “The greatest value is being able to see data from active fermentations over the weekends/nights. I know, reliably, when I need to go into the brewery to make an adjustment, versus blindly going in just because.”
Further, Tarboro’s sustainability commitment extends to Sennosystem as well. Franklin calculates that eliminating destructive manual samples saves three to five gallons of beer per tank per fermentation — beer that would otherwise be drawn off and discarded. For a brewery that takes seriously its responsibility to the local Tar River watershed, fewer batch failures and less sampling waste matter beyond the bottom line.
LOOKING AHEAD
Franklin’s near-term focus is using Sennosystem’s alert and threshold tools to build tighter fermentation profiles per brand — setting error bars by parameter, per style, so deviations trigger notification before they become problems. He’s also using historical fermentation curves to optimize pitch rates with a precision that wasn’t possible with manual methods, particularly for their Hefeweizen, where over-pitching shifts the banana character the beer is known for. “If I can shrink that repeatability window even further, that savings in time and quality together is invaluable.”
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