USA, OH: Rivertown Brewing to increase production next year

Rivertown Brewing Co. isn’t finished growing, even though it’s gone through a huge expansion this year, bizjournals.com reported on November, 30.

Lockland-based Rivertown launched online sales on November, 26. It used a company in Washington state. On the first day, Rivertown sold 20 cases of beer, said CEO Jason Roeper. And those shipped all over the country, including Alaska and Hawaii.

Next year, Roeper is planning to add 90-barrel fermentation tanks, which will make the brewing process more efficient and give him the ability to increase production. Those are huge tanks that might be the biggest of any local craft brewer.

That follows up its expansion earlier this year, when it added equipment enabling it to double its annual production capacity, to 5,300 barrels.

It’s all aimed at sustaining the growth that Rivertown has had for the 18 beers it makes during the year. Its sales have jumped 58 percent over the past two years. And sales of its Pumpkin Ale grew 360 percent in the past year.

“It’s catching on,” Roeper said of craft brewing in Cincinnati. “It used to be if you wanted to grow, you had to grow outside of Cincinnati. Now consumers are more educated. They know what kind of beer they like.”

05 December, 2012