The market for used brewing equipment is so flooded that even new equipment retailers are getting in on it.
Case in point: ABS Commercial announced in early 2025 that it would offer consultation on procuring used equipment, in addition to selling new brewhouses, tanks, and the like.
ABS president Kristie Nystedt says the impetus for that came in late 2024, when ABS had millions of dollars’ worth of new equipment deals that failed to close by the end of the year—an anomaly in the North Carolina company’s 12 years of business.
“When that happened, we had to have this conversation because these customers are going to used” equipment, Nystedt says. “If I can be the one having the conversation with them, then that still keeps it consultative, and they’re still able to use our expertise.” After launching those procurement services, she says, 50 to 60 percent of customers ended up purchasing at least one piece of used equipment through ABS.
Simple math makes it clear why that’s the case: Used brewery equipment is, in virtually all cases, less expensive than its new equivalents—and today, prices are lower than ever as compared to new. Tariffs on imports, particularly those made of steel, have driven up the cost of new equipment while brewery closures and consolidations have increased the amount of used equipment for sale, driving down prices. Experts say these prices will eventually bottom out, but we’re likely not there yet.
There are clearly deals to be had on everything from canning lines to fermentation tanks to dissolved-oxygen (DO) meters. But when the industry as a whole is in a slump… who’s buying?