E-Malt.com News article: USA, CA: Dale Bros. Brewery to expand

The brothers who run Dale Bros. Brewery are just about ready to introduce a new variety of beer and move into a new production facility that could allow them to expand their sales area, Daily Bulletin reported on October, 22.

"Like most businesses, beer is a volume business," said Andy Dale, assistant brewer at the Upland brewery. "We do need to produce more beer. All the beer we sell is sold within 12 miles of the brewery, with one exception."

That one exception is T. Phillips, a Glendora eatery. Otherwise, all the restaurants and stores dealing in Dale Bros. products are between the 57 and 15 freeways.

Dale Bros. Brewery has produced its beers from a Ninth Street industrial park since the company sold its first keg of Pomona Queen lager in 2003.

Andy's brother, Curt Dale, founded the brewery. Andy became a full-time employee in 2007.

Pomona Queen, an amber lager, is the brewery's signature product. The company also makes a variety of seasonal beers and California Black Beer, a dark lager and the second beverage the brewery sells year-round.

A third year-round beer is on the way, however, as Dale Bros. is set to debut Runway IPA. An IPA, or India Pale Ale, has a strong hop flavor and traces its heritage to the beers shipped to British soldiers on duty in India.

Among craft brew aficionados, IPA is currently the style in most demand, Andy Dale said. The brewery planned to debut the new Runway IPA at Saturday's Oktober Fiesta party that took place on the site of the brewery's future home near Cable Airport in Upland.

"Customers have just been imploring us to make a real Dale Bros. IPA," he said.

A strong malt aroma fills the air at the brewery's current home, and employees wear T-shirts emblazoned with the quip: "As a matter of fact, I do smell like a brewery."

The people wearing those shirts made, delivered and sold 800 barrels of beer last year and are on pace to handle 1,200 this year.

Moving to a larger facility will make it possible for Dale Bros. to double its production, Andy Dale said. For the first time, the brewery will need to purchase a machine to bottle beers, instead of having employees do the bottling by hand.

Dale Bros. plans on moving to the new plant in late February.


26 October, 2011