USA, MT: Kettlehouse Brewing Company to expand

Kettlehouse Brewing Company owner and co-founder Tim O'Leary announced on October, 17 that the brewery intends to purchase an 18-acre plot in Bonner on which to construct a large production brewery.

The plan comes in response to growing demand for and recent shortages of Kettlehouse's canned beers—Cold Smoke Scotch Ale, Double Haul IPA and Eddy Out Pale Ale. O'Leary added that when the brewery began canning in 2006, it had "very modest production goals in mind," but did not plan for the level of success that canned craft beer would experience. Kettlehouse expects to close on the property next spring; the new facility could be producing beer by 2016.

"In the meantime, we are producing all we can make and guarantee to be great tasting and award winning," O'Leary wrote. "We will do our best to plan ahead and stock up before summer 2015."

Kettlehouse has grown and evolved a number of times since its early days as a brew-on-premise location, most recently with a major business reconfiguration in 2013. Not only did the taproom expand its space, but the location also secured new licensing allowing it to sell more than the 48-ounce limit imposed under a brewery license. The restructuring freed Kettlehouse to break the 10,000-barrel production cap without halting sales of beer at its Northside and Southside taprooms.

22 October, 2014