E-Malt.com News article: USA, IL: Pipeworks Brewing to build new brewery and triple production

Pipeworks Brewing, which has built a fervent following since its 2012 debut despite miniscule output, is planning to build a new brewery on Chicago's west side that will more than triple its production, Chicago Tribune reported on July 24.

Brewery co-founder Gerrit Lewis said on July 24 that he and partner Beejay Oslon have signed a 20-year lease on a 16,000-square-foot space at 3912 W. MacLean Ave., near Pulaski Road and Armitage Avenue. The new brewery will share a wall, and private patio, with Off Color Brewing, another small Chicago craft brewery.

Armed with a federal small business loan for "around $1 million," Lewis said, Pipeworks has ordered a 30-barrel brewing system that will allow it to increase production to about 6,000 barrels of beer in 2015. The brewery has already grown from making 430 barrels in 2012 to a projected 1,800 barrels this year.

The new beer will be used to meet the demand that Pipeworks has struggled to supply in Chicago, Lewis said, including a significant increase in draft distribution. Pipeworks also plans to package beer in four-packs of 16-ounce cans, as well as in 22-ounce bottles — its primary method of distribution so far — for its more adventurous recipes, Lewis said.

Pipeworks will can five year-round beers, Lewis said: Ninja vs. Unicorn (an imperial India pale ale), Close Encounter (a hoppy stout), Blood of the Unicorn (a hoppy red ale) and two new beers — a pale ale made with Mosaic hops and a lower alcohol Belgian-style beer. The four-packs will be priced between $9.99 and $11.99.

The new brewery, which should be operating by early 2015, includes an option on additional space that could boost it to 60,000 square feet, but Lewis said further expansion will be more deliberate. Pipeworks — named by Rate Beer as one of the world's top 100 breweries in 2013 and 2014 — has easily sold every drop of its production so far, and extending to 6,000 barrels of beer likely won't slow its sales.

After that, "You're competing hard," Lewis said. Chicago-area craft breweries including Half Acre and Solemn Oath have also announced significant expansions this year.

"Growth beyond that would have to happen organically," Lewis said. "If the beer continues to sell itself, we'll continue to make more of it. The moment we have to start competing to sell beer, that's when we know it's time to slow down. Hopefully that won't come for a long time."

Further expansion could include distribution in Colorado, Wisconsin, Indiana, New York and California, he said.

Pipeworks' current brewery, at 1675 N. Western Ave., will be dedicated to production of sour beers, Lewis said. The brewery also plans to take possession of a building adjacent to the original location that will become a shop selling Pipeworks beer, including growler fills.


25 July, 2014