Brewery Expansions

Big Day For Sierra Nevada?

We all know that Sierra Nevada has been shopping for a new site on the east coast.  For the past few months, rumors have swirled around where they might go.  Tennessee, West Virginia, and North Carolina have been on the Continue Reading →

Dogfish Rezoning Approved, Expansion To Proceed

Dogfish Head’s commerical rezoning was approved yesterday by the Milton Town Council.  The rezoning will allow Dogfish to build on the 39-acre parcel of land they purchased years ago.

“They’re good stewards of the town,” said Milton Mayor Cliff Newlands.

Neighbors of Continue Reading →

Heavy Seas Year In Review

Hugh Sisson, Founder of Heavy Seas has had yet another successful year.  In 2011, the brewery added 10,000 square feet to the brewery, and expanded into a new brewhouse.  2011 saw the addition of 4 new fermenters and Continue Reading →

Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Sierra Nevada

Expansion In Ken Grossman’s Own Words

Ken Grossman, Founder of Sierra Nevada has a press release of his own in regard to the new site build in North Carolina… 

After a long and comprehensive search, I’m excited to announce our location for a second brewery, in the Henderson County town of Mills River, North Carolina.

Throughout the last 31 years, we have had the privilege to make bold, flavorful, and hop-forward beers – the kind of beer we have always loved to drink. Luckily, we’re not the only ones who drank it, and for most of the time we’ve been in existence, we have been scrambling to keep up with demand. For years, we’ve considered a second brewing location. The recent growth of craft beer in the eastern USA, combined with the environmental impact of shipping all the way across the country, made a second brewing location the most sustainable solution for us moving forward.

For the past several years, we’ve reviewed over 200 sites with painstaking detail and an exhaustive list of qualitative and quantitative considerations. In North Carolina, we were humbled by the community, its values and the outstanding craft beer culture in the area. Much of Sierra Nevada’s success stems from the hard work and dedication of our staff, along with the brewery culture that has grown up alongside the physical brewery. While we were making this decision, it was important for us to choose a location similar to our home in Chico, CA. Mills River and the Asheville area feel like a great fit for us; a close-knit community with outstanding quality of life, shared values and access to the outdoors.

Much like Chico, with its close proximity to many creeks, rivers and the Sierras, the location for our new brewery in North Carolina will be situated on property that borders the French Broad River, with the Blue Ridge Mountains as a backdrop. Of course, building a new brewery from the ground up is no small task, and we anticipate the construction to take between 18 and 24 months. Our East Coast brewery will be built with a sustainable and mindful approach and maintain the integrity of the property and beauty of the natural landscape.

Construction will take approximately two years, and when completed, we anticipate the new brewery to be close to 200,000 square feet, with an on-site pub & restaurant.
My son, Brian Grossman, and Stan Cooper will be leading operations of the North Carolina location, and a few key Chico staff will also be relocating to the new facility.

We thank you for sharing this adventure.

Cheers!
Ken Grossman

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Sierra Nevada

Press Release: Sierra Nevada’s New Brewery

(Chico, CA) — Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is pleased to announce that it has chosen a site in western North Carolina for the future home of an East Coast brewery. The site, approximately 90 acres in the Henderson County Town of Mills River– along the French Broad River, 12 miles south of Asheville – will be home to the new production facility, as well as a proposed restaurant and gift shop. “We are thrilled to have found an ideal location in western North Carolina for our second brewery,” says Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada. “The beer culture, water quality and quality of life are excellent. We feel lucky to be a part of this community.”

The new facility will add much needed capacity for Sierra Nevada, and will allow for the quick shipment of brewery-fresh beer to consumers in the east. The East Coast brewery will start with a capacity around 300,000 barrels, with room to grow. The added barrelage will accommodate wider production of the myriad of seasonal beers and bottled specialties Sierra Nevada has produced in recent years, as well as an expansion of the brewery’s well‐known flagship product: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

Sierra Nevada began the search for a new location several years ago. The brewery looked at hundreds of potential sites, eventually narrowing the search down to a handful of locations. The list of criteria was long and included quantifiable factors such as ease of shipping and water quality, as well as quality of life issues for its employees. Sierra Nevada has a reputation for a laid-back brewery culture and a love of the outdoors, and the new facility will retain this same tone. The Asheville area offers Sierra Nevada Brewing the perfect confluence of community, recreation and craft beer culture.

Sierra Nevada’s eastern brewery site is expected to employ approximately 90 workers, with additional staff in the restaurant to follow. The brewery anticipates being operational by early 2014.

About Sierra Nevada Founded in 1980, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of America’s premier craft breweries, highly regarded for using only whole-cone hops and ingredients of the finest quality. Sierra Nevada has set the standard for artisan brewers worldwide as a winner of numerous awards for its extensive line of beers including the flagship Pale Ale, Torpedo, Porter, Stout, Kellerweis, four seasonal beers, Estate Ale, Harvest Ales, Ovila Abbey Ales and a host of draught-only specialties.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Sierra Nevada

Confirmed: Sierra Nevada To Build In North Carolina

Pulled from a local news report:

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Sierra Nevada Brewing Company is setting up shop in the Carolinas.  North Carolina State Rep. Chuck McGrady told News 4 the Sierra Nevada brewing company will move next to the Asheville Airport in Mills River along Old Fanning Bridge Road.  McGrady said the plant will bring 200 to 300 jobs.

Official announcement coming this afternoon from the site.  Developing…[WYFF4]

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Sierra Nevada

Big Day For Sierra Nevada?

We all know that Sierra Nevada has been shopping for a new site on the east coast.  For the past few months, rumors have swirled around where they might go.  Tennessee, West Virginia, and North Carolina have been on the watch list.  Because everything has been rumor or speculation, I haven’t mentioned much about it, other than when a site has been ruled out.

Mills River, in Henderson County, North Carolina has emerged as the clear front runner, and by these recent reports, could be announced today.  There is apparently a 50 acre site near the French Broad River that just might be the new home to Sierra Nevada.  Incentive packages have been approved by Henderson County and Mills River for an anonymous manufacturing company that was coming to the area.

Interestingly, a local town councilman has received an invitation for to an announcement to be made at Ferncliff Industrial Park today with Governor Bev Perdue.   [Citizen-Times]

UPDATE: Confirmed. Asheville, NC it is.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Dogfish Head

Dogfish Rezoning Approved, Expansion To Proceed

Dogfish Head’s commerical rezoning was approved yesterday by the Milton Town Council.  The rezoning will allow Dogfish to build on the 39-acre parcel of land they purchased years ago.

“They’re good stewards of the town,” said Milton Mayor Cliff Newlands.

Neighbors of the nearby Cannery Village fought Dogfish Head’s request to rezone the land, citing fears of increased industrial traffic,  and fears of the building’s future if the brewery moves.  The rezone means great things for Dogfish Head, but the new vote still doesn’t thrill some of the residents.

“I think the town has been bullied,” said Cannery Village resident John Horan.

Not all residents spoke out against Dogfish Head –

“Dogfish came here as a good neighbor, they’ve been a good neighbor, they give back to the local community. … If the town is going to survive, we need those businesses,” said resident Paul Yannucci. “It’s going to mean a good future for this town moving forward.”

So what’s next?

Currently the brewery has to submit a site plan that has to be approved before anything can be built on site.  New packaging lines & storage space are in future expansion plans. The total cost of the expansion is current estimated at $50 million. [DelawareOnline]

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer News, Brewery Expansions, Heavy Seas

Heavy Seas Year In Review

Heavy Seas LogoHugh Sisson, Founder of Heavy Seas has had yet another successful year.  In 2011, the brewery added 10,000 square feet to the brewery, and expanded into a new brewhouse.  2011 saw the addition of 4 new fermenters and 31,000 barrels of beer produced in their home of Baltimore, Maryland.  (That’s 961,000 gallons or beer! Or, 123,008,000 pints, or 10,250,666 bottles.)  New releases included Black Cannon (Black IPA), Dubbel Cannon (Belgian IPA), Plank I, Arrsh Red, & Hop Harvest.

Heavy Seas announced the addition of the Heavy Seas Alehouse, opening in 2012.  Going forward, the brewery will redefining the focus the brewery in 2012.   (The setback of growing pains.)  Hugh writes:

…2011 was also a very hard year. The growth we experienced was certainly accompanied by growing pains. We need to catch our breath a bit and make sure that we’re running the race for distance, not for speed. We’re preparing to improve not only the infrastructure of our physical plant (the bottling line, the brewhouse, etc.), but also our personnel and IT infrastructure. We’re redefining the mission of the company to make sure we stick to doing the things that make us special.

That said, in 2012, we’ll continue to focus on our cask conditioned real ale program. Our cellarman, Stephen Marsh, has collaborated with restauranteurs and bar managers up and down the East Coast on firkins, and we are going to pursue this project with even more energy.  

Hugh hinted during Atlanta Beer Week this year that there will be some changes to their offerings in 2012.  The first changes will be announced in January.  Just a side note.  I got to spend a few evenings have beers with Hugh Sisson.  He’s quite entertaining, extremely nice, and very involved in what he does.  If you get a change to have beer with him in 2012, be sure to do so.  (Thank goes for southeastern rep Kevin Fox too, lol.  Happy New Year bro!)  [HeavySeas]

 

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Brewery Expansions

Dogfish Head’s Neighbors Not Thrilled

Dogfish Head The go ahead for the Dogfish Head expansion is still on hold.  The local town council failed to vote on December 15th after 4 hours of debate.  The neighbors are turning up the heat a bit on the proposal.

So whats the matter?

Dogfish wants to rezone 4o acres behind the brewery from residential to light industrial.   That would cut down of potential new space for houses in Cannery Village.  There are also increased truck traffic concerns.  Also, what if Dogfish goes out of business or sells the location?  Another industrial company (worse to have than a brewery) could move into the neighborhood.

Ultimately, the town council is going to review the public comments before meeting again.  Dogfish has already had to pull out of four states this year due to demand issues.  They have also announced they are putting a few beers on hold in 2012.  The proposed expansion will cost $45 million dollars. [WOBC]

by Reid Ramsay