USA, MI: Atwater Brewing Co. plans to open second production facility

Atwater Brewing Company, which recently completed a $1 mln upgrade to its facility, is searching for a 70,000 square-foot site in its home city, Detroit, brewbound.com reported on March, 25.

The site would expand Atwater’s production capabilities, increasing production to approximately 100,000 barrels per year.

Atwater also announced plans to open “Atwater in the Park”, a brewpub and pilot brewery in Grosse Pointe Park, Mich., and said that it could convert the now-closed Atwater restaurant into a tasting room.

“Our equipment is world-class and our processes are time tested by German brewers, but aim to reflect the authentic heritage of Detroit brewers as well,” Mark Rieth, Atwater owner, said. “By adding a second full-scale brewery, we’re putting Detroit back on the national brewery map.”

The company said that its employment doubled in the past year to 18 and its revenue tripled from $1.2 mln in 2011 to a projected $3.5 mln in 2013. The brewery, which is currently sold in Michigan and 12 other states, installed six 150-barrel tanks last year, doubling its production capacity to 30,000 barrels.

Rieth plans on adding a micro-distillery to produce vodka, gin, bourbon and whiskey by the end of 2014.

“Over the past several years, we’ve been unable to keep pace with demand, so we think our growth plans are ambitious but still realistic,” Rieth said.

27 March, 2013