Brewery Expansions

SweetWater Tacks on Massive Tanks [PICS]

SweetWater Brewing Company (Atlanta, GA) already has the largest fermentation tanks of any craft brewery in the state of Georgia. Towering over the brewery currently are 10, 1000 barrel fermentation tanks.  That’s 310,000 gallons of beer that can ferment at Continue Reading →

Tallgrass Brewing To Triple Capacity

Tallgrass Brewing Company (Manhattan, KS)  will soon be tripling their brewing capacity. The brewery is acquiring a 60,000 square foot building in their hometown that will be retrofitted into a production facility.

Construction is slated to being in late 2014, and once Continue Reading →

Starr Hill To Unveil New Taproom

Starr Hill Brewery (Charlottesville, VA) will open their newly renovated tap room next week.

The brewery doubled the size of the space, that is attached to the Crozet brewing facility, to 1,500 square feet. The new look features roll-up windows and doors that Continue Reading →

Half Acre to Open Second Brewery

Chicago’s Half Acre Brewery will spend their 2014 building a second brewery just a stone’s throw from their original location.

The new spot is less than two miles from the current location on Lincoln Avenue.  To give you a little understanding Continue Reading →

Wild Heaven Receives Federal Approval

Just a few minutes ago, Wild Heaven Craft Beers received word of their Federal approval for their new location in Avondale Estates, Georgia.

The brewery is already under construction since late last year. If all goes to plan, Wild Heaven’s brick Continue Reading →

Posted in Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This, SweetWater Brewing

SweetWater Tacks on Massive Tanks [PICS]

SweetWater Brewing Company (Atlanta, GA) already has the largest fermentation tanks of any craft brewery in the state of Georgia. Towering over the brewery currently are 10, 1000 barrel fermentation tanks.  That’s 310,000 gallons of beer that can ferment at one time.

This week, the brewery tacked on two more of these 1000 barrel monsters this week for a total of 12, with more coming in August.

SweetWater is Georgia’s largest craft brewery, expanding distribution across the southeast after a $19 million dollar expansion. Next stop, is Ohio in September.

All images courtesy of SweetWater. Used with permission.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Tallgrass Brewing

Tallgrass Brewing To Triple Capacity

Tallgrass Brewing Company (Manhattan, KS)  will soon be tripling their brewing capacity. The brewery is acquiring a 60,000 square foot building in their hometown that will be retrofitted into a production facility.

Construction is slated to being in late 2014, and once completed, Tallgrass will be capable of brewing 100,000 barrels per year (3 millions gallons).

“Increasing our production capacity is very exciting. This new and larger facility will give us the space and ability to be a dynamic and creative brewer of not only more beer, but also those specialty and limited edition beers that we’ve been dreaming of making since we started the brewery,” said Jeff Gill, president and founder of Tallgrass.

The Neenan Corporation of Fort Collins, Colorado has been chosen to help with the building conversion. The total cost of expansion will max out around $5 million dollars. Already, the Tallgrass is the largest craft brewer in Kansas at 16,000 barrels produced annually.

In addition to the new brewery, The Tallgrass Taphouse will open in downtown Manhattan, Kansas this year.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Headlines, New Belgium

New Belgium Breaks Ground on New Brewery May 1

The time has finally come for New Belgium to break ground on their new facility in Asheville, North Carolina. The brewery will hold a special ground breaking ceremony on May 1, 2014.

The selected space in Asheville will house a 133,000 square foot facility and tasting room. At full capacity, the new space will produce 500,000 barrels (15.5 millions gallons) annually.


“Over the last two years, we’ve really enjoyed getting to know this community and we have developed strong partnerships with businesses, non-profits, government agencies and neighbors,” said New Belgium CEO and co-founder, Kim Jordan. “We’re investing in greenways and all these amazing programs that our partners have established. We’re grateful to be part of this city and for our partnerships, and are incredibly excited to get this off the ground.”

The 18-acre site next to the French Broad River was previously designated as a brownfield site, basically meaning the site needed cleaning up before groundbreaking and construction began. Previously, the site was used as an auto salvage yard, auctions, even circus performances. Around 65-*85% of the doors, trusses, roofing and siding from existing structures will be repurposed for New Belgium’s brewery.

The Asheville brewery is tentatively scheduled for completion in mid-2015.

Be a part of the public celebration on May 2: 

New Belgium Groundbreaking Celebration – Friday, May 2, 2014
with David Earl and the Plowshares
Location: The Grey Eagle in Asheville’s River Arts District
185 Clingman Ave., Asheville, NC 28801
http://thegreyeagle.com/
Doors: 7:00 p.m.
Event: 8:00 p.m. All Ages

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Headlines, Wicked Weed Brewing Co

Wicked Weed To Become Sour Destination [PICS]

Wicked Weed Brewing (Asheville, NC) will be opening a new barrel house and sour tap room in Summer, 2014.

The brewery has been barrel aging, souring, and blending wild ales about 20 minutes from the current location and not open to the public. A new 12,00 square foot facility has been chosen to house the barrelhouse, and will also feature a sour tap room with 10-15 taps.  As Wicked Weed’s bottle offerings grow, the facility will have a beer cellar.

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“We wanted to have a place where people could see the barrels, learn about the art of barrel aging and give them a place to drink the beers we love so much,” said Walt, Head of Brewing Operations and Wood Cellar Manager. “Im excited to let people really feel what a barrel house is like.”

No official date has been chosen for the opening, but is expect this summer. The new location is located at 147 Coxe Avenue in the South Slope region of downtown Asheville.

pics via Wicked Weed

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Starr Hill Brewing Company

Starr Hill To Unveil New Taproom

Starr Hill Brewery (Charlottesville, VA) will open their newly renovated tap room next week.

The brewery doubled the size of the space, that is attached to the Crozet brewing facility, to 1,500 square feet. The new look features roll-up windows and doors that allows the drinker to see the bottling and canning lines. New custom concrete and wood bars were also added in addition to a new outdoor patio and food truck parking. The tap room draft system was also overhauled, for a total of 16 draft lines for tastings, pints, and growler fills.  

“We’re hoping to recreate some of the magic from the original brewpub by bringing back the music, while offering innovative beers and showcasing one of Virginia’s largest production breweries,” said Mark Thompson, Starr Hill’s Founder and Master Brewer. “We want our fans to make this space their own, just as they did when Starr Hill was on West Main Street. We hope everyone will join us for our Grand Opening.”

 

Starr Hill Tasting Room’s new extended hours are Wednesdays and Thursdays from 1 – 8 PM, Fridays 12 – 8 PM, Saturdays 11 AM – 8 PM, and Sundays 11 AM – 5 PM. Tours of the full-scale production facility will continue on Saturdays and Sundays at 1, 2, 3 and 4 PM, and package beer and kegs will be available for purchase, along with Starr Hill merchandise. The new Tasting Room will also be available for private event rentals.

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Don't Miss This, Half Acre Brewing

Half Acre to Open Second Brewery

Chicago’s Half Acre Brewery will spend their 2014 building a second brewery just a stone’s throw from their original location.

The new spot is less than two miles from the current location on Lincoln Avenue.  To give you a little understanding of size, the current location produces around 13,000 barrels (400,000 gallons) of beer annually.

The new location on Balmoral Avenue is nearly four times the size of the current 13,000 square foot location. This will allow the brewery to better serve Illinois before ever reaching even further.  The larger facility will brew the bulk of Half Acre’s year round offerings, allowing the current location to serve as a playground for seasonals and one-offs.

The current timeline has the brewery functional in late October. The addition of a restaurant and taproom are in the plans too, with no timeline on their completion.

The new spot will be located on 2050 W. Balmoral Ave,  Chicago, IL.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions, Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Wild Heaven Receives Federal Approval

Just a few minutes ago, Wild Heaven Craft Beers received word of their Federal approval for their new location in Avondale Estates, Georgia.

The brewery is already under construction since late last year. If all goes to plan, Wild Heaven’s brick and mortar location should be operational and brewing before summer, 2014.

A state approval is still pending.

by Reid Ramsay