USA, MN: Summit Brewing continues its expansion with the installation of new fermentation tanks

On May, 1 two massive cranes hoisted four giant fermentation tanks into the sky, down through a roof hatch and into Summit’s new $13 million “cellar” in St. Paul.

The new cellar will double Summit’s production capabilities to 240,000 barrels of beer at any given time. It typically takes two to six weeks to brew a batch of ale or lager.

Each of the new stainless steel tanks stands 43 feet high, 12 feet wide and “holds 18,000 gallons of beer. That’s a lot of servings,” Summit founder and President Mark Stutrud said. “Our customers are driving us to do this,” Stutrud said. “Last summer we really hit capacity.”

But soon, Summit, which sells beer to 17 states, will suffer no more shortages.

The four newest tanks should be operational in about 35 days, Stutrud said. The others should be online this summer. Each of the 12 tanks will hold 600 barrels of beer. Summit already has 24 smaller tanks that sit in a connected building, but they hold just 300 barrels of beer.

Stutrud, who already has 60 full-time and 12 part-time workers, just hired another brewer and will add five new marketing, sales and administrative workers this summer.

08 May, 2013