New Belgium Brewing (Fort Collins, CO) just unveiled a new 10-hectoliter brewing system. This new system will allow the brewery some small batch, experimental freedom. Small systems (like Troeg’s Scratch Series brewhouse) is easy way to mess around with ideas that could one day become big batch beers. 10 hectoliters is about 264 gallons at a time. New Belgium plans to not only experiment, but collaborate with local breweries and restaurants.
“This size system really frees us up to experiment and play around,” said New Belgium Brewing Assistant Brewmaster, Grady Hull. “There are so many new hop varietals in development and flavors to explore that this allows us to do so with minimal waste and maximum creative freedom.”
For those set up nerds, the experimental brewhouse has: A two-vessel brewhouse with one mash/lauter vessel and one brew kettle/whirlpool. Four fermenters and two bright beer tanks for conditioning.
