USA, NY: Ithaca Beer Co. increases production by 30 percent with the recent expansion

With a new era of growth at Ithaca Beer Co., a groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 16, Ithaca Journal reported the same day.

Ithaca Beer Co. broke ground on a 24,000-square-foot expansion in a ceremony attended by members of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, Tompkins County Area Development, Ithaca Tourism and state Sen. Barbara Lifton, D-Ithaca, capping off a year where Ithaca Beer Co. has seen a 30 percent increase in production.

The $2.6 million expansion (not including equipment costs) more than doubles the space the brewery gained in its 2012 expansion.

“We realized we were running out of space very quickly with the level of growth we were having,” founder Dan Mitchell said. “So two years ago, we set up the expansion we needed and how to go about it. “

The expansion’s main purpose is to increase the beer maker’s production and shipping capacities. The space will house new bottling lines and keg lines as well as provide space for offices, storage, maintenance, and barrel aging — an asset Mitchell said the company had been looking into.

The expansion, according to a news release, will allow the company to produce and ship up to 90,000 barrels a year, up from 24,000 barrels brewed in 2013.

“I would imagine we’re going to grow into it,” Mitchell said. “There’s so many craft breweries opening up, it’s going to be interesting what the growth rate of the company is going to be. If not as fast as we’ve been growing, we still expect it to be significant.”

22 July, 2015