diff --git a/docs/release-engineering.md b/docs/release-engineering.md
index 2d97077f15e..ae459c91614 100644
--- a/docs/release-engineering.md
+++ b/docs/release-engineering.md
@@ -19,3 +19,27 @@ I do not suspect the 'x' (currently 1) will change frequently. It should only ch
 if there are major, backwards-incompatible changes made to logstash, and I'm
 trying to not make those changes, so logstash should forever be at 1.y,z,
 right? ;)
+
+# building a release.
+
+* Make sure all tests pass
+** rake ???
+* Update VERSION.rb
+* Update docs/learn.md
+* Ensure CHANGELOG is up-to-date
+* git tag v$VERSION
+* git push origin master
+* Build binaries
+** rake package:gem
+** rake package:monolith:jar
+** rake package:monolith:tar
+* rake docs output=../logstash.github.com/docs/$VERSION
+** Note: you will need to use c-ruby for this
+* cd ../logstash.github.com
+** git add docs/$VERSION
+** git commit -m "version $VERSION docs" && git push origin master
+* Publish binaries
+** Stage binaries at <tt>carrera.databits.net:/home/jls/s/files/logstash/
+** rake gem:publish
+* Update #logstash IRC /topic
+* Send announcement email to logstash-users@, include relevant download URLs & changelog (see past emails for a template)