E-Malt.com News article: USA, PA: Boston Beer Company adding capacity to its Samuel Adams brewery in PA

The Boston Beer Co. is investing in new aging and fermentation tanks that will increase production and add jobs at its Samuel Adams brewery in Upper Macungie Township, company officials said this week, Lehighvalleylive.com reported on December 17.

The project, combined with other improvements at the site, accounts for some of the $100 million to $120 million in capital spending Boston Beer estimated for 2013, spokeswoman Jessica Paar said.

"We are continuing to invest in our capability and capacity at the Samuel Adams brewery in the Lehigh Valley. As part of that process, we are adding several tanks that will be used for aging and fermentation," she said in an email.

"This will enable us to increase the capability of our brewery so that we can keep up with the brewing demands as we introduce new, innovative styles like our Barrel Room Collection," Paar continued.

Paar declined to discuss specifics of the project but indicated it will result in new jobs at the facility. Currently, there are 22 Pennsylvania positions advertised on the Samuel Adams website ranging from packaging operator to project engineer.

Township officials said this week that they've heard talk about the possibility of a brewery expansion but that Boston Beer has yet to submit plans for such a project. Upper Macungie Supervisor Samir Ashmar said plans may be in the pipeline for the first quarter of 2014.

The Upper Macungie facility earlier this year became Boston Beer's only US brewery -- the company's flagship facility is in Boston and Cincinnati is home to a third -- to produce Samuel Adams Boston Lager in a can. The Lehigh Valley brewery makes nearly every style of Samuel Adams beer and, as of March, employed more than 200 people.

Boston Beer founder Jim Koch said in February that he expected the volume of beer produced at the Upper Macungie facility to increase as a result of the company's canning line.

Paar said the facility added 70 positions this year.

Boston Beer took over the brewery in 2008.

According to the Brewers Association, a brewery trade group, small and independent craft brewers contributed $33.9 billion to the U.S. economy last year.

Pennsylvania, behind California, Texas and New York, respectively, generated the nation's fourth-highest craft brewing industry output for 2012, with $1.6 billion dollars, the association reported this week.

Boston Beer was part of that. It sold 2.5 million barrels of beer in fiscal year 2011. The company's reported third quarter 2013 net revenue of $216.4 million is up $50 million, or 30 percent, over the same period last year.


18 December, 2013