E-Malt.com News article: USA, CO: The Telluride Brewing Company to expand by installing a new grain silo

The Telluride Brewing Company (TBC) broke ground on the site of a new grain silo — set to be delivered in mid December — that will cut costs and ensure product consistency for the award-winning brewery, telluridenews.com reported on November, 16.

The new silo will be delivered the week of Dec. 15 and hold 50,000 pounds of grain, allowing for more consistent quality in the beer according to brewmaster and co-founder Chris Fish.

“The silo will help us be more consistent with our product,” Fish said.

Currently, the brewery purchases their grain, which makes up 70 to 90 percent of a beer, in 50-pound bags which are delivered weekly. Using small batches of grain can lead to product inconsistency, according to Fish.

“With the silo we can contract our base malt out,” he said. “At harvest time I can pick the lot I want and have it be pretty consistent for the whole year. There are much more variations when you’re buying 50 pound bags.”

The silo will also reduce costs at the brewery, which could lead to further expansion.

“The silo is going to save us a ton of money,” TBC president Tommy Thacher said. “Right now we’re buying all our grain on pallets. Being able to buy it in bulk is a huge cost-cutter.”

“Having the silo will lower the cost of our grain,” Fish added. “Hopefully we can put that into additional equipment upgrades.”

One such expansion project is set for January with the arrival of a 100-barrel bright tank with the potential to expand TBC’s production capabilities by between 30 and 35 percent.

“That’s the next project that will truly increase our production,” Fish said. “We’re at a bottleneck now with production.”

The new bright tank will lead to TBC releasing a fourth canned beer for sale next spring, their Fishwater Double IPA.

“All our beers have sold so well that we haven’t been able to keep up,” Fish said.

When TBC opened just over three years ago, Fish and his business partners expected to reach this level of production, but not nearly this quickly.

“Our goal was to get to four cans and be statewide as far as distribution,” Fish said. “We’ve achieved that. And we’re producing around 5,000 barrels a year, which none of us thought would happen for another three or four years.”

An impact of the new grain silo that most customers won’t notice is the lessened strain on employees’ backs, Fish said.

“When we’re brewing a lot of beer, we’re all lifting 70 or 80 50-pound bags of grain a day,” Fish said. “This silo will be great for our backs.”

With the increased storage capabilities provided by the silo, only specialty brews will require small bags of grain like the ones that currently stress the backs of Fish and his colleagues.

TBC’s new grain silo will be delivered the week of Dec. 15 and their first grain delivery is scheduled for the first day of 2015.


19 November, 2014