E-Malt.com News article: USA, MD: DuClaw Brewing moves to new location and doubles brewing capacity

For beer lovers on the east side of Baltimore County, finding a pint brewed close to home just got a lot easier, Dundalk Patch reported on February, 18.

Long-time Harford County brewery DuClaw Brewing is in the process of moving their brewing and bottling plant from Abingdon to Rosedale, a process they hope will be complete by mid-March, according to owner Dave Benfield.

The move will double the brewery's capacity, moving from a 10,000 square foot facility to a 60,000 square foot facility and allowing them to produce 14,000 barrels of beer in a year, up from 7,000, according to Benfield.

And that's something his company sorely needs. Rapid growth has left them sometimes unable to keep up with the demand for their product.

A brand new, custom-engineered brewing system is at the center of the move. The system will allow one brewer to create multiple 60-barrel batches of beer at a time.

"The system is fully automated—it allows one brewer to run three batches of beer," Benfield said.

Benfield hopes the automation will improve both the brewery's efficiency—allowing them to produce twice the amount of beer from only 20 percent more grain—and the consistency of the product by removing the opportunity for human error in processes like adding hops or yeast to the brews.

"It's safe to say it's one of the most state of the art systems in Maryland, possibly in the mid-Atlantic region," said DuClaw Sales Manager Brad Klipner.

The new brewing system and a new bottling line are just the beginning for the growing company.

"A lot of stuff comes later—we put a lot of money into the brewhouse and the bottling line," Benfield said.

That stuff could include brewery tours, a tasting room, and possible the on-site sale of growlers pending legislation currently in Annapolis, Benfield said.

The move will make DuClaw Brewing the second manufacturing brewery in Baltimore County, joining Heavy Seas on the westside in the Lansdowne/Arbutus area.

Dan Gundersen, the executive director of Baltimore County's Department of Economic Development said that a small to medium size manufacturer like DuClaw is exactly the sort of business the county is hoping to draw in.

"A company that has a unique product, is growing fast, has a dynamic team, can hire as they grow in a community on the east side where it can accommodate their growth, that’s exactly what we’re looking for," Gundersen said.

DuClaw owner Dave Benfield said that over the next year or so, his company will probably add between 25 and 30 new positions.

Moving an operation of DuClaw's size presents some challenges of its own: while Benfield said his brewers plan to start creating new batches of beer by the middle of March, it could be as late as April before beer is bottled at the plant.

It will take two to three weeks to transfer the company's bottling and packaging line from the old Abingdon brewery.


20 February, 2013