E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Rubicon Brewing Company to open new production facility in West Sacramento

Rubicon Brewing Company could increase its production tenfold in a few years after the arrival of new brewing equipment, which will allow the Sacramento brewing company to produce a larger selection locally and become a bigger player in the West Coast beer scene, Sacramento Press reported on July, 26.

“We’d do a lot more seasonals here than we do now,” Rubicon owner Glynn Phillips said, “and the more popular beers would be more abundant”.

He added that beers such as Rubicon’s pilsner might be produced year-round, which is currently not possible, as Monkey Knife Fight and Rubicon IPA take up 70 percent of the small production facility.

The new 450-gallon brewing equipment will be set up in a production facility in West Sacramento. Phillips said he hopes to have it in operation by the end of the year, if all goes well.

“Our plan is to release Monkey Knife Fight in 22-ounce bottles as soon as we open,” he said. “Probably by beer week (in February), we might do a big announcement where we move into 12-ounce packaging and you could buy six-packs of Rubicon beer.”

Currently, the production at the brewpub produces about 2,000 31-gallon barrels per year. Phillips said that the goal is to be able to produce as many as 20,000 barrels at the new facility in four to five years, enabling Rubicon to expand to markets in Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

“Sacramento sales are our number-one focus, but we’d also like to expand our wholesale network,” he said.

The production facility isn’t set up to be open to the public, and Phillips said there are numerous accessibility and licensing hurdles to get over before that becomes a viable option – if he even wants to go that route.

“I may just instead open a tap room in West Sac, but that’s a business decision for down the road,” he said.


27 July, 2012