(Poughkeepsie, NY) – We learned a bunch about Peekskill Brewery and new brewer, Jeff O’Neil, on Tuesday’s Beer Sessions Radio podcast.

Some notes…

– O’Neil’s first day with Peekskill was November 1st. He left Ithaca Beer Co. to work at a smaller brewery where he could be closer to the brewing process again. O’Neil noted that Ithaca is now approximately 10x the size that it was in 2002 when hefirst joined Ithaca (1,200 barrels produced that year).

– First beer he brewed at Peekskill was a Berliner Weiss which was the first one that many Peekskill customers had ever had.

– Within the past few weeks, Peekskill took possession of a new site just a block away from the current brewpub location. It is a four-story stone building that once housed a furniture store. Over the course of the next year, operations will move over to the new location.

– In that new facility, will be a 15 bbl brewhouse (currently on a 3.5 bbl system). Capacity will be 1,000 barrels (? not sure I heard this right) out of the gate when the brewery starts up in June. Current capacity at the brewpub is just a few hundred barrels.

– There are no immediate plans for bottling line, may eventually release specialty bottles, if at all

– Sigel Hop Farms will be sourcing hops

– Peekskill will add a coolship though not necessarily for sour beers. On most days, the coolship will be used to hold hot liquor during the brew day and O’Neil is thinking about using it in lieu of a whirlpool (they would pump up the wort into the coolship after the boil which would allow solids to settle out). They are going to do some hopping in the coolship at lower temperatures which keeps some of the “oils and other volatile stuff” in there “for better or worse.” Made mention of Steam beer traditions and said this might tie into the brewery’s Hop Common Steam Style Lager.