A brewery or brewing company is a business that manufactures and sells beer. The place where beer is brewed for commercial purposes is called a brewery or brewery, where the various sets of brewing equipment are referred to as a plant. Brewing was initially a cottage industry, with production taking place in the home; in the 9th century, monasteries and farms produced beer on a larger scale and sold the surplus; and in the 11th and 12th centuries, larger, dedicated breweries with eight to ten workers were built.

The diversity of brewery sizes corresponds to the diversity of processes, degrees of automation, and types of beer produced in breweries. A brewery is usually divided into different sections, each reserved for a part of the brewing process.