USA, AL: Fairhope Brewing expands its brewing capacity

Fairhope Brewing Company has provided a look at their recent expansion that has vastly increased its capacity, AL.com reported on July 16.

Managing partners Brian Kane and Brewer Tim Heath explained the workings of the new equipment. The massive new stainless steel tanks and bottling equipment are at the heart of plans to grow the two-and-a-half-year-old brewery far beyond the limits of its start-up phase.

"We can produce as much beer over here in one day as we could do next door in a month," said Kane.

The company's original system, still a prominent presence in the taproom, generated 10-barrel batches. The new one is a 30-barrel system, but it represents no mere tripling of capacity. The output of the three 30-barrel brewing tanks can be directed to any of five 60-barrel fermentation tanks, and provisions have been made to add five more in the future.

Heath said that while the new system is bigger, it also features more automation. That's certainly not true of the bottling line. It consists of two small workstations at which bottles are washed, filled, capped and labelled, a case at a time.

Kane said that Fairhope Brewing's previous production was in the range of 600 to 700 barrels per year. With the new equipment, it should eventually grow to 4,000-5,000 barrels per year.

It's not all about sheer growth. Heath said that one possibility opened up by the new capacity is that Fairhope Brewing will have some tanks free to work on collaborations with other breweries.

22 July, 2015