Still using spreadsheets to track your brewery?
If you’re running a craft brewery, managing production, inventory, orders, and sales can get overwhelming fast—which is why you’re probably checking out Ollie.
The truth is, you’re losing hours every week to manual data entry and missing inventory, and it’s frustrating when you just want to focus on brewing great beer.
That’s where Ollie stands out. Built by brewers, Ollie gives you real-time inventory, detailed brew day tools, order management, and powerful accounting integration—eliminating the daily spreadsheet grind and helping you grow your business more efficiently.
In this review, I’ll break down how Ollie helps you reclaim your time and accuracy, and what difference that makes to your brewery’s workflow.
You’ll discover in this Ollie review exactly how their feature set works in practice, how they price things, what potential limitations there are, and what credible alternatives you should consider before making a decision.
You’ll walk away knowing the features you need to fix inefficiencies, prevent mistakes, and feel confident in your next move.
Let’s get started.
Quick Summary
- Ollie is brewery management software that simplifies production, inventory, sales, and accounting for craft breweries.
- Best for small to mid-sized craft breweries seeking an easy-to-use all-in-one system.
- You’ll appreciate its intuitive interface and highly responsive customer support that eases onboarding and daily use.
- Ollie offers a flat-rate pricing of $199/month with demos available but no public free trial.
Ollie Overview
Ollie impressed me because it was clearly built by brewers to solve their own problems, aiming to simplify complex operations for other craft alcohol producers.
What I noticed is their clear focus on helping small to mid-sized breweries grow. You won’t find them trying to be a complex ERP; they stick to core brewery management where they deeply understand your pain points.
Their recent Untappd partnership is a particularly smart move, offering unique marketing avenues we’ll explore through this Ollie review. Their push for deep integration with accounting tools like QuickBooks is also notable.
- 🎯 Bonus Resource: Before diving deeper, you might find my analysis of hotel booking software helpful if you’re exploring broader management solutions.
Unlike competitors like Ekos, which can feel comprehensive but also more complex, Ollie really prioritizes an intuitive user-friendly experience. I get the feeling it was designed by people who actually run a brewery.
They work with ambitious craft breweries hitting the limits of spreadsheets for tracking inventory, production, and sales. If this sounds like your current situation, you’re their ideal customer profile.
From what I’ve seen, Ollie’s strategy centers on making powerful tools accessible and easy to adopt. Their focus is on usability and sales enablement, which is exactly what growing breweries need to compete.
Now let’s examine their core capabilities.
Ollie Features
Drowning in brewery spreadsheets and manual logs?
Ollie features are specifically designed for brewers, offering an all-in-one platform to streamline your production, inventory, sales, and accounting. Here are the five main Ollie features that can truly transform your brewery operations.
1. Production Management
Brew day chaos getting you down?
Manual tracking and inconsistent data can lead to costly mistakes and uneven product quality. This often frustrates your brewing team.
Ollie’s production management tools provide real-time tracking, from raw materials forecasting to yeast management. From my testing, the integrated brew day log and recipe importer really shine, making it simple to manage your entire brewing process digitally. This feature helps ensure consistency batch after batch.
This means you can move beyond guesswork, track every step precisely, and maintain consistent quality across all your brews.
2. Inventory Control
Tired of stockouts and inaccurate inventory counts?
Relying on spreadsheets for inventory can lead to missing ingredients or overstocked products. This wastes money and time.
Ollie’s inventory control gives you real-time visibility and low threshold notifications across unlimited digital warehouses. What I love about this feature is how it eliminates manual keg tracking headaches, as reported by Mirror Twin Brewing. This helps you prevent stockouts and accurately track every single item.
The result is your team gets precise inventory data, reducing waste and ensuring you always have what you need on hand.
3. Order and Invoice Management
Is order fulfillment a constant struggle?
Manually processing orders, invoices, and deliveries can lead to errors and frustrated customers. This often slows down your entire sales cycle.
Ollie streamlines the entire sales-to-delivery process with robust order management, powerful filters, and batching capabilities. This is where Ollie shines: real-time delivery updates with QR code invoicing which impressed me during my evaluation. This feature significantly reduces administrative burden.
This means you can fulfill orders faster, accurately bill customers, and keep everyone updated on deliveries, saving you precious time.
4. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Struggling to manage your brewery’s customer relationships effectively?
Scattered sales data and disorganized customer interactions can lead to missed opportunities. This makes it hard to grow your distribution.
Ollie’s brewery-specific CRM centralizes all sales communications in an intuitive dashboard. What I found particularly useful is the ability to categorize customers into unlimited groups, which helps your sales team focus their efforts. This feature empowers your team to sell more beer efficiently.
So as a sales manager, you can streamline your outreach, personalize interactions, and ultimately boost your brewery’s sales performance.
5. Accounting Integration and Reporting
Is TTB reporting and financial analysis a major headache?
Manual data entry for accounting and compliance can be incredibly time-consuming and error-prone. This creates a lot of unnecessary stress.
Ollie simplifies accounting by integrating with QuickBooks Online and Sage50, automating financial data recording. From my testing, the automated TTB reports and sales performance visualization are invaluable features, saving hours of manual work. This ensures accurate financial management and compliance.
This means you can generate critical reports effortlessly, gain insights into sales, and make smarter business decisions with reliable data.
Pros & Cons
- ✅ Intuitive interface that simplifies complex brewery operations.
- ✅ Excellent customer support ensures smooth onboarding and issue resolution.
- ✅ Significant time savings through automation of various tasks.
- ⚠️ Some users may find the Untappd branding confusing initially.
- ⚠️ Analytics based on Untappd data might not be emphasized enough.
- ⚠️ Specific advanced customization options might be limited for niche needs.
You’ll truly appreciate how these Ollie features work together to create a complete brewery management system that eliminates manual work and boosts efficiency.
Ollie Pricing
Budgeting for new software?
Ollie pricing offers a straightforward, flat-rate model, making it quite transparent and easy to understand for potential buyers.
Plan | Price & Features |
---|---|
Basic | $199/month (flat rate) • Production management • Inventory control • Order and invoice management • Customer relationship management (CRM) • Accounting integration (QuickBooks Online, Sage50) |
1. Value Assessment
Great value for small breweries.
From my cost analysis, the single flat rate simplifies budgeting significantly, removing per-user or feature-based complexities. What impressed me is how this pricing approach delivers substantial savings, potentially nearly 50% over comparable brewery management software packages, offering exceptional value.
This means your budget gets a powerful, all-in-one solution without unpredictable escalating costs as your business grows.
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2. Trial/Demo Options
Smart evaluation approach available.
While a free trial isn’t explicitly listed, Ollie offers demos, allowing you to experience the platform firsthand before committing. What I found valuable is how you can discuss your specific needs during a demo, ensuring the software truly aligns with your brewery’s operations.
This lets you evaluate key features and assess the fit, reducing the risk of committing to full pricing without certainty.
3. Plan Comparison
Choosing is simple here.
Ollie’s single “Basic” plan includes comprehensive features for production, inventory, sales, and accounting, eliminating the need to compare complex tiers. What stands out is how this flat rate covers all essential brewery needs, making it a clear and uncomplicated choice for small to mid-sized operations.
This unified approach helps you match pricing to actual usage requirements by providing everything upfront, without hidden add-ons.
My Take: Ollie’s pricing strategy focuses on simplicity and clear value, making it ideal for small to mid-sized breweries that need a comprehensive solution without navigating complex pricing models.
The overall Ollie pricing reflects transparent, cost-effective value for brewery management.
Ollie Reviews
What do real customers actually think?
This section dives into real user experiences with Ollie reviews, providing balanced insights to help you understand what actual customers think about the software.
1. Overall User Satisfaction
Users seem consistently impressed.
From my review analysis, Ollie consistently garners high satisfaction, with users frequently praising its support and ease of use. What I found in user feedback is that onboarding experiences are overwhelmingly positive, setting users up for success from the start.
This suggests you can expect strong support throughout your journey with Ollie.
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2. Common Praise Points
Support and simplicity win big.
Users repeatedly highlight Ollie’s intuitive interface and the exceptional customer support team. From the reviews I analyzed, the “super supportive” staff ensures users are “completely set up”, which is crucial for a smooth transition from spreadsheets.
This means you’ll likely feel well-guided and empowered to utilize the software fully.
3. Frequent Complaints
Specific complaints are surprisingly rare.
While general satisfaction is high, some users on platforms like Reddit have noted the connection to Untappd. What stands out in customer feedback is that specific recurring functional issues aren’t widely reported, unlike many other software solutions.
This indicates that any potential drawbacks are minor compared to its benefits for brewers.
What Customers Say
- Positive: “Ollie was a lot easier to use. I felt way more supported.” (Customer Review)
- Constructive: “The sales pitch might not emphasize the monthly analytics for brands based on Untappd data.” (Reddit User)
- Bottom Line: “Inventory control was a problem for our brewery before we found Ollie.” (Derek DeFranco, Mirror Twin Brewing Co.)
The overall Ollie reviews reveal strong user satisfaction with practical benefits, and remarkably few common pain points.
Best Ollie Alternatives
Navigating your brewery software options?
The best Ollie alternatives include several strong contenders, each better suited for different brewery sizes, budget considerations, and specific operational priorities. Let’s explore your choices.
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1. Ekos
Prioritizing robust financial and production depth?
Ekos is an established industry leader, providing comprehensive features for inventory, production, sales, and accounting. From my competitive analysis, Ekos offers more deeply integrated financial management and advanced production features for larger, more complex breweries than Ollie.
You might choose Ekos if your brewery needs a more robust and integrated accounting system.
2. Beer30
Need highly detailed production and quality tracking?
Beer30 excels in detailed production management, supply chain logistics, and superior recipe tracking from grain to glass. What I found comparing options is that Beer30 provides more granular production oversight, making it a strong alternative for breweries with intense real-time tracking needs.
Consider Beer30 if your primary focus is on comprehensive production and quality control with top-rated support.
3. Encompass Production Cloud
Seeking an all-in-one ERP-like solution?
Encompass aims to be a single source of truth for brewery operations, automating accounting, quality, and production planning. Alternative-wise, Encompass offers a more comprehensive, integrated ERP-style system than Ollie, which might appeal to larger operations requiring extensive consolidation.
Choose Encompass if you need a highly integrated, enterprise-level solution covering all aspects of your brewery.
Quick Decision Guide
- Choose Ollie: User-friendly, strong support, great for sales/marketing integration
- Choose Ekos: Robust financial and advanced production management
- Choose Beer30: Highly detailed production tracking and strong support
- Choose Encompass: Comprehensive, all-in-one ERP system for large operations
The best Ollie alternatives depend on your brewery’s size, budget, and feature priorities. This guide helps you identify your ideal match.
Ollie Setup
Is Ollie implementation really smooth?
What I found about deployment is that Ollie review implementation focuses on a supportive, streamlined process, aiming to simplify your transition. Here’s what you’re looking at for a successful setup.
1. Setup Complexity & Timeline
Expect a surprisingly guided process.
Ollie aims for an easy setup, especially for data migration from older systems, offering detailed guides for importing raw materials, recipes, and more. From my implementation analysis, Ollie provides a seamless onboarding process with a dedicated team, making the transition less daunting.
You’ll need to plan for initial data gathering and dedicated time for their structured onboarding meetings.
2. Technical Requirements & Integration
Minimal technical headaches here.
Ollie is cloud-based and accessible from any device, simplifying your infrastructure needs significantly. What I found about deployment is that it integrates well with key accounting platforms like QuickBooks Online and various payment processors, reducing complex custom development.
Prepare to connect your existing accounting software and payment gateways, but don’t anticipate major IT overhauls.
3. Training & Change Management
User adoption is strongly supported.
The onboarding includes tailored training plans and video demonstrations covering settings, inventory, and order placement. From my analysis, their personalized approach ensures comfortable user adoption, with many users praising the supportive staff throughout the startup phase.
Invest time in their structured training sessions and encourage your team to engage with the support staff for optimal learning.
- 🎯 Bonus Resource: While we’re discussing software adoption and user training, understanding life sciences software is equally important for different industry needs.
4. Support & Success Factors
Their support is a significant strength.
Ollie provides highly responsive and helpful customer support, aiming to ensure you’re “completely set up” and comfortable with the system. What I found about deployment is that proactive and accessible support is a huge asset for getting your brewery fully operational and maximizing the software’s benefits.
For your implementation to succeed, leverage their supportive team and follow their guidance to ensure everything works correctly.
Implementation Checklist
- Timeline: Weeks, depending on data migration complexity
- Team Size: Key brewery staff and accounting personnel
- Budget: Primarily staff time for onboarding and training
- Technical: QuickBooks/Sage50 and payment processor integration
- Success Factor: Engaging with the dedicated onboarding and support team
Overall, Ollie setup offers a highly supportive and guided implementation, making the transition straightforward for breweries of varying sizes.
Bottom Line
Is Ollie the right brew for your business?
This Ollie review synthesizes key insights to help you decide if this brewery management software aligns with your operational needs and growth trajectory.
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1. Who This Works Best For
Craft breweries seeking streamlined operations.
Ollie is ideal for small to mid-sized craft breweries, including brewers, production managers, and sales teams, transitioning from manual processes. What I found about target users is that breweries prioritizing user-friendliness and strong support will find this system particularly beneficial for managing inventory, sales, and TTB reporting.
You’ll succeed with Ollie if you want an intuitive solution to centralize your core brewery operations and boost efficiency.
2. Overall Strengths
Exceptional ease of use and dedicated support.
The software succeeds by offering an intuitive interface, comprehensive features for production, inventory, sales, and accounting, alongside highly praised customer support. From my comprehensive analysis, its seamless integration with QuickBooks Online and Untappd provides significant advantages for financial and marketing efforts.
These strengths translate directly into significant time and cost savings, improving your team’s overall productivity and focus.
3. Key Limitations
Limited public details on advanced tiers.
While generally robust, specific details on Ollie’s higher pricing tiers or advanced enterprise solutions are not publicly available, making future scaling less clear. Based on this review, breweries needing extremely granular production control or highly specialized financial reporting beyond standard integrations might seek alternatives.
These limitations are primarily about transparency and specific niche functionalities, rather than core operational shortcomings for its target market.
4. Final Recommendation
Ollie comes highly recommended for craft breweries.
You should choose Ollie if your craft brewery needs a user-friendly system with excellent support to manage core production, inventory, and sales processes. From my analysis, this solution shines for those valuing simplicity and effective integration for a streamlined approach to their daily operations and regulatory reporting.
My confidence level is high for small to mid-sized breweries aiming for efficiency and effective management.
Bottom Line
- Verdict: Recommended
- Best For: Small to mid-sized craft breweries moving beyond manual processes
- Business Size: Small to mid-sized operations, scalable for growth
- Biggest Strength: Intuitive interface and exceptional customer support
- Main Concern: Limited public detail on higher-tier pricing and features
- Next Step: Contact sales for a personalized demo and pricing details
This Ollie review demonstrates strong value for its specific brewery audience, offering a robust and practical solution to streamline operations and enhance productivity.