Weyerbacher: real growth, right now

I promised information on the Weyerbacher expansion yesterday, and then got wrapped up in the whole seasonal thing (and doing my taxes...), so today I'm going to refer you to Uncle Jack's post at The Beer Yard for the details. Here's the basics: its a $1.1 million, 7500 sq. ft. addition, a 40% increase in space that will give Weyerbacher the ability to triple their capacity to 30,000 bbls. a year. They need it: they did 9,729 bbls. in 2011, growth of 34%, which was $3.6 million in sales. Brewery founder and president Dan Weirback also told me that they're already up 51% in January and February over last year. The space won't be completed till the fall, but they're going to be cramming four 80-barrel tanks in next month; "We need them now," Dan said.

Maybe more to the point, and what got Easton mayor Sal Panto out to the groundbreaking yesterday, Weyerbacher now has sixteen full-time employees (up from six in 2006). A million dollar project means more jobs, a significant number in a town of about 25,000, and the mayor showing up signifies that Weyerbacher, like most craft breweries, is recognized as a solid citizen, a benefit to the community. "We’ve always found Easton to be cooperative and favorable," Dan said. "We’ve never asked for special favors." Now watch the shoveling:


As Jack mentioned, and Dan confirmed, there will be -- finally! -- a tasting room. Don't expect anything ambitious on menu, this is going to be more along the lines of Yards, or the Harrisburg Tröegs tasting rooms: beers, yes, some snacks -- snacks, Dan emphasized, and gave...pretzels as an example; I'm telling you, the brewpub traumatized the man -- but they're not in competition with their restaurant accounts. Probably open Tuesday to Saturday, from 11 to 6. Reasonable. And it probably means at least one more full-time employee... Look for it after the buildout is completed and the bottling and kegging operations are moved into it, so about a year from now.

What else? Well, there's a new IPA coming to replace Hops Infusion. Hops Infusion just never could settle into the groove after its initial success; it was tweaked, put on hiatus, retooled, re-imaged...and finally retired. The new IPA will be along in May or June, the Crimson recipe from Weyerbacher's IPA Project. “It will be a west coast style IPA," said Chris Wilson, head brewer. "Significant amounts of hops are used for flavor and aroma while keeping the malt profile simple, allowing hops flavor to dominate and shine" It won't be called "Crimson," or "Hops Infusion," there will be a new name to go with the new Weyerbacher packaging and logo and colors. Which seems like a good excuse to stick in that new logo...

Hope you're not one of those folks scared of clowns...

Another new beer is coming, a currently-unnamed sour black ale. That's going to be in 750 ml bottles, and again, out in May or June. 

Dan wanted to emphasize that this expansion is, in effect, already paid for, in the sense that the additional capacity that will be created will meet demand that's already there. "That's an important thing to remember about brewers who did this kind of thing 10 years ago," he said. "They expanded planning on growth to meet capacity. Catamount, Blue Ridge, Independence… [all breweries that invested heavily in expansion; all breweries that are no more] We’ve been careful. Our sales grew enough in 2011 to cover the costs already. This is not that risky."

He was also proud to point out that two former Weyerbacher employees were about to open breweries. "Jean Broilette is opening Tired Hands Brewing, he worked for us back in 2006, and Dan Hitchcock is opening his own place, Rushing Duck Brewery, in Chester, New York," Dan said, more indication that craft brewing is continuing to grow at a strong pace. 

Dan clearly feels relatively confident; there's a ten-year lease in place. "Everything’s cyclical," he said, "and I don’t know if we’ll see this strong growth in craft beer for more than another year or two. People can’t do more with what they have now. They’ll have to expand, and that takes time." 

Weyerbacher is going to be ready.

Do we want Philly to be Brussels-on-Schuylkill?

Philly is still in the running for New Belgium's east coast brewery, according to this story from Charlotte, N.C.'s WBTV. Crowing a bit over Sierra Nevada's decision to settle near Asheville -- and understandably so! -- WBTV noted:

New Belgium Brewing, known for its tasty Fat Tire beer, is also considering the Asheville area for a possible plant. New Belgium recently toured the Western NC area for possible sites. Both brewers want to expand beer output and to cut shipping costs with East Coast plants.
"Asheville and Philly are leading our short list of sites," New Belgium spokesman Bryan Simpson told the Denver Post last month.

Leading the short list. How does Sierra Nevada deciding on Asheville affect that? You could say -- as I'm sure many are thinking -- that New Belgium will now look away, since Sierra Nevada's in town. There's not room for two big breweries in town. That doesn't follow for sure; for instance, look at all the pharmaceutical industries around Philadelphia, look at Silicon Valley, or, if you prefer, look at Portland -- either Portland, where several good-sized craft breweries are in business quite close to each other.

This doesn't preclude New Belgium settling in Asheville at all. It's still attractive for the same reasons it always was, and now you've got an added attraction, in that having Sierra in the area will draw support industries, draw skilled workers, create an atmosphere even more supportive of craft beer. As our pharmaceutical businesses have learned, that's a tangible benefit.

However...Philadelphia is also still attractive for the same reasons it always was, and -- no slight to Asheville -- we've got more to offer. Let me enumerate:

• You want outdoor? Hey, mountain kids: meet The Shore. That's right, we have an ocean right over there. And if you want hiking, the Appalachian Trail -- you've heard of that, right? -- is right over there. An hour to the ocean, two hours max to the AT.
• You want fun? Philly's got music, restaurants, bike trails, all this historical stuff you may have heard of, and...unlike Asheville OR Denver, we're a quick train ride or drive from three other major fun towns: NYC, Baltimore, and DC (and I can tell you, Boston's not that much farther).
• You want infrastructure? Multiple major highways, rail nexus, AND a major port. Growing breweries already in place to pull talent and suppliers, and some of them already on-board with the whole green idea. And there's that pharmaceutical industry I mentioned, with lots of crossover (like the dairy business was in the early days). 
• You want beer culture? Again, no slight to Asheville, but...Philly Beer Week. The most recognized Belgian bistro in America (plus several others), and what is said to be the biggest market for Belgian beer in the country. Craft taps in a substantial percentage of area bars. A beer-savvy local government. And again...Philly Beer Week.
• You want to sell beer? Guys...look at the map. Are there more craft beer drinkers within 300 miles of Asheville...or Philly. Nuff said. 

But what about the other side of this equation? Does Philly want New Belgium? I suspect our local brewers -- several of whom make a good living doing just what New Belgium does --  would not necessarily be up for that, but...if I were a local politician, if I were a local business owner, if I were a taxpayer?  

Welcome to Pennsylvania, Kim Jordan!

New Belgium means jobs. Good jobs, vested jobs. New Belgium means green manufacturing. They are a model for low-impact industry. New Belgium means an even larger beer culture. It's true; yes, Philly, we can do better (I wrote that almost 5 years ago, and it's still true). New Belgium means better beer. Everything I wrote earlier this week about Sierra Nevada forcing Asheville's brewers to up their game? Holds true here, too.

Not to mention...our local brewers can definitely hold their own. I have no doubt of it. Our guys -- from Victory, to Flying Fish, to Dogfish Head (yeah, they're local enough), to Yards and Philly Brewing, to Iron Hill and McKenzie, to Nodding Head, and even our man Dick Yuengling -- can handle this. They're good. Real good.

And that's good, because New Belgium brings resources and cooperation, too. They're good citizens in many ways. I also guarantee you that they'd bring new excitement and beer tourism to the area...which is good for everyone in the game. Including we drinkers!

I hope Philly's still in the hunt, and I hope our local governments are smart enough to be helping things along.

The Lion continues to upgrade and expand

The Lion, PA's third-largest brewery (don't know why the story ignores the Samuel Adams brewery outside Allentown; because it's not PA-based?), gets some good press here. There's been a lot of crap slung about these guys, but they're just keeping their heads down, steadily improving the quality of their beer, and the range of their beer, and now they've got some real sales support. Read the piece; it's just another story about how smaller breweries are real engines of economic growth in this still flailing economy.

Thanks to Bil at MyBeerBuzz for the tip on the story.