USA, NC: Green Man Brewery on track for its biggest year ever

Asheville's Green Man Brewery is on track for its biggest year ever, with the debut of an expansion that includes a big packaging room, a retail shop and a rooftop beer garden, Citizen-Times reported on February 3.

The multimillion dollar project will open in summer or early fall, said Green Man owner Dennis Thies.

"We are committed to this property," he said.

The brewery and its Dirty Jacks tasting room at 27 Buxton Ave. are anchors of the South Slope brewing district. Construction workers are busy building the structure next to the brewery.

Asheville's second oldest brewery, founded in 1997, Green Man will greatly increase production, from about 7,000 barrels in 2014 to a goal of 10,000 this year, Thies said. Green Man's beers are sold across North Carolina, in Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina, and in Nashville and Knoxville, Tennessee.

The expansion is centered around a speedy, upgraded bottling line. It will include a retail shop selling beers, T-shirts, hats and other items. One level of the building will have restrooms. And the upstairs includes a 3,000-square-foot indoor/outdoor beer garden.

"It's not so much about doing more, but doing it more efficiently," he said.

Green Man is pushing ahead with an expansion into Florida through a "partner brew" agreement with Brew Hub brewery of Lakeland, Florida. Green Man will provide ingredients, recipes and oversight of brewing, Thies said. Production can be monitored online in Asheville.

"They have a lab the size of our brewery," he said. "We were lucky to get a seat at the table."

04 February, 2015