(Petaluma, CA) – A rough translation of tweets from the Lagunitas Brewing Twitter account earlier this month…
3/25 Update: More concrete details from a local news outlet. The investment dollar figure is $9.5 million and the annual capacity will be 600k barrels.
One might even suggest there’s a bit o’ smack talk here:
2011 will be the year of the biggest investment ever in our brewery. The only thing that will be the same by 2012 will be the address.
Lots of breweries are expanding now. I’ve read about investment of > $40 million. I don’t quite get it. I’ll expand capacity for 180K bbls to 550K bbls for < $10 million. $10 million is a lot and I'm buying the best stuff. It's borrowed, mostly, and cash flow, and it's all we can afford. There must be rich uncles out there.
Who might Lagunitas be referring to? Perhaps Bell’s Brewery, who will be spending over $50 million across a six-year period. Even Surly Brewing recently announced plans for a $20 million facility (albeit much more than just a brewhouse).
Lagunitas Owner/CEO Tony Magee (presumably, he also mans that Twitter account) put the word out last week that the current brewhouse is available for sale. “It may well be the most technologically advanced craft brewhouse in the U.S. today,” says Magee of the 160k+ bbl capacity system.
Hopefully this can help clarify some of the cryptic @LagunitasT tweets.
LaguintasT is in fact Tony McGee’s twitter account. @LagunitasBruhws is manned by the brewstaff at the brewery. Other sales reps have accounts as well, but none I would call official.
The brewhouse expansion is supposed to be a new 250 bbl brewhouse to replace the 80 bbl that was only installed a couple years ago. Those familiar with the layout of the brewery might like to know the new brewhouse is scheduled to go where the bottling line is currently located. the bottling line will be moved to the warehouse currently not occupied by Lagunitas across the parking lot to the north of the current building.
Lagunitas used to be house entirely within the existing brewery with the exception of a small office building. In the past 4 years the offices have moved to a larger two story building to the north of the brewery, a new retail shop has opened adjoining the previous offices and the old offices were swallowed up into what has become the Beer Sanctuary/Tap Room.
The expansion at Lagunitas is amazing. Best of all, they haven’t changed their attitude of being laid back guys making the beer that they like.
For more Sonoma County beer news, be sure to follow http://www.brewedforthought.com as well as my Twitter @Brewed4Thought
Hmm, a facility w/ up to 550k capacity makes more sense to me given Lagunitas growth rate. He’ll hit 250 in 2013 at anything near current growth rate but what do I know.
250 bbl brewhouse can max out at 550K bbl. Right now they use an 80bbl brewhouse with a capacity of roughly 160K bbl annually. Theoretically they can produce more, but some beers take longer in the tanks and slow production.
Ah, yes my brain turned into mashed scrambled egg on that reply. I blame it on being sent in the wee hours 🙂
The article is accurate though, yes? Minus the absence of mentioning the current brewhouse is 80 bbl & future brewhouse is 250bbl.