E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: Ale Asylum to expand into new $8 million building

Dean Coffey, who helped found Ale Asylum in 2005 and has been its brewmaster, soon will begin brewing in the state's newest brewery building, an $8 million, 45,000-square-foot testament to the continued growth of the craft beer industry and to its future, Wisconsin State Journal reported on September, 8.

On track to make about 15,000 barrels of beer this year, the new facility is more than four times the size of the old building.

By the end of 2013, Ale Asylum is projected to double its 24 employees and produce an estimated 22,000 barrels of beer as the company expands from the Milwaukee, Madison and Sheboygan markets to statewide distribution.

Otto Dilba, who is the brains behind the marketing of Ale Asylum, sees no reason why the new brewery, which will begin production later this month, can't reach 100,000 barrels of beer a year.

"If you make a decent enough product, you can have a job for the rest of your life and that was really our goal when we started here," Dilba said. "It wasn't to become the biggest in the state or beat out (other breweries) or anything like that."

The facility is a big improvement over the existing facility, where there's no more room for brewing and fermentation tanks, kegs are cleaned by hand and the bottling line can fill just 70 bottles a minute.

"The philosophy of this brewery has always been the beer," Coffey said. "Whenever we're making a decision in the construction or anything, which way is better for the beer? So to build this facility that is all about the beer is really a joy."

The brewhouse is designed to emphasize hops and make about 160 barrels of beer a day compared to 40 barrels a day at the former facility. There's also a lab for yeast propagation and the storage cooler is almost six times larger. Fermentation tanks from the old brewery will be moved to the new one, joined by three 100-barrel fermentation tanks.

One of the largest and most critical investments is a used Krones bottling system that takes up 8,000 square feet and can fill 277 bottles a minute. The price tag was $800,000. The machinery filled nine semi trailers and was shipped from Atlanta's SweetWater Brewing Co., which bought a larger bottling system.

"We don't ever want to do this again," Dilba said of building a new brewery. "We want to stay in this location so we can keep focusing on what we do best."


11 September, 2012