SweetWater Brewing (Atlanta, GA) is under going a pretty big expansion. The build will push their capacity to 400,000 barrels. BSJ got to tour the new facility last week. We’ve all been thinking it, so I asked The Big Kahuna, Freddy Bensch “Are you going to can?” His answer -“We’ve built in space in the new building for a canning line, so.. Yes.”
This is awesome news of course. I made the mistake of thinking that 420 Pale would be the first to find an aluminum home. I was wrong. Freddy’s leaning towards IPA to kick off the canning line. Trust me, I’m ok with that. As exciting news as this is however, the timeline for SweetWater cans might not be until after Summer, 2012. Fingers crossed I can crack a can of SweetWater at the pool soon.
Other improvements:
Bottle conditioning: The brewery will start bottling condition soon (less O2. Fresher beer, better shelf life.)
Capacity: SW currently brews about 77,000 barrels a year. After – 400,000
New Office Space
New Event Space, separate from tasting room
New Rooftop Patio
Bigger Gift Shop
The brewery has no immediate plans to expand into new markets after the expansion. (But it’s not off the table of course.)
