E-Malt.com News article: USA, MI: Round Barn Brewery to triple its production

The planned $500,000 expansion of the Round Barn Brewery in Baroda will allow the Southwest Michigan beermaker to more than triple its annual production and gain a larger footprint in the region, Mlive.com reported on April, 2.

Owners Matt and Chris Moersch announced they had purchased a 10,000-square-foot building in downtown Baroda - located about 20 minutes south of Benton Harbor/St. Joseph - and near the family's Round Barn Winery, Brewery and Distillery.

Round Barn's wine, spirits and beer are all being stored in the same facility, so the additional space will help in the distribution of all products, Matt Moersch said. The new beer production facility will include a small brewpub and a restaurant, Matt Moersch said.

“It’s huge for us. We’re adding 8,000 square feet of storage and production,” he said.

Round Barn, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year, started making beer four years ago. It produced 1,400 barrels last year and is projecting to make between 1,800 and 2,000 in 2012, Moersch said.

The new facility will give Round Barn the production capacity to make around 5,000 barrels annually, Moersch said.

The additional space will give Round Barn the chance to make more experimental beers and as much as triple their beer portfolio (from 8 to 24).

“We can hit more of the eccentric brews that we haven’t been doing because our market is more of a session style," he said.

Moersch said the company's beer is the fastest growing product.

Moersch said they don't intend to expand distribution beyond this corner of the state. He wants the distributed beer to help entice people to visit the rest of the operation in Baroda.

"We don't want to get that big," he said.

Moersch said the project, which is more than a year-and-a-half in the making, will mean the hiring of three full-time and between five and six part-time employees.


04 April, 2012