E-Malt.com News article: USA, WI: The New Glarus Brewing celebrates its 20th anniversary by expanding

New Glarus Brewing, after 20 years of activity, decides to expand, thedailypage.com reported on May, 21.

New Glarus is in the midst of a of major construction project totalling over $11 mln. The brewery recently broke ground on a 5,000-square-foot addition for storage and cellaring beer. Within three to five years, that expansion could push New Glarus to over 250,000 barrels of beer per year, nearly doubling its current production levels.

Since the beginning, New Glarus Brewing has produced iconic beers with whimsical names like Fat Squirrel, Totally Naked, Laughing Fox, Cabin Fever, Black Top, Moon Man and Spotted Cow which has become one of the most widely known Wisconsin beers. Over the past two decades, brewmaster and owner Dan Carey has developed a startling number of different beers. By his count, he has designed well over 100 different brews.

New Glarus Brewing broke ground on July 4, 1993. Three months later, Carey was making beer, with Edel Pils becoming the brewery's first release in November of that year.

The 1990s were not easy years for any emerging small brewery in Wisconsin. Only about half of them are still in business today. "When you start up a business, they always tell you that a certain percent go out of business in the first three years, so just to survive is an accomplishment," says Dan.

At first, New Glarus was known mostly as a lager brewery, but Dan eventually added ales to the line up and interest grew. Then along came Spotted Cow. The beer quickly became the brewery's top-selling beer, and today it makes up 65% of sales. However, Dan likes to remind that his brewery is important. "Even if you take Spotted Cow out of the brewery's production figures, New Glarus is still Wisconsin's largest microbrewery," he says.

By 2002, the brewery made a decision to pull back from out-of-state distribution and focus on getting its beer placed throughout Wisconsin. At the time that move surprised other brewers and industry leaders. The strategy stressed the importance of meeting the needs of local beer drinkers. It allowed the brewery to keep up with a growing local demand for its beer, rather than giving up shelf space because of shortages caused by out-of-state demands.

Dan says the expanding role of automation in the brewhouse has been the biggest change since opening. The technology associated with bottling and kegging allows workers to multitask while being faster, more efficient, and safer. In 2004, to keep up with demand, a more modern keg filler was installed, and within two years production jumped from 19,000 to over 40,000 barrels.

In 2008, Dan Carey and his wife opened their new Hilltop brewery, a $21 mln facility that helped New Glarus become 23rd in production among the nation's 1,406 craft breweries. By 2012, New Glarus jumped to 17th among 2,403 breweries.

Nearly every year since opening 20 years ago, New Glarus has achieved 15%-20% growth. In 2012, the brewery turned out over 127,000 barrels of beer.

While Spotted Cow often gets the spotlight, the popularity of beers like Wisconsin Belgian Red and Raspberry Tart has fuelled growth at the company's older Riverside brewery. The Careys are building a new cellar there that will allow Dan to increase both the amount and number of fruit-based beers. Over the past several months, the brewery has purchased more than a half-dozen used large wooden oak tanks from wineries California, Washington and France, and will soon be put to use in expanded sour and fruit beer production. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

To mark the milestone anniversary, New Glarus is releasing its 20th Anniversary Ale, modelled after the Belgian Dubbel style. 20th Anniversary Ale is to be released this week. It's intended to be a beer that gets better with age.

24 May, 2013