E-Malt.com News article: USA, MD: Jailbreak Brewing Co. to double its capacity by the end of 2015

Justin Bonner expected his Laurel brewery to produce 1,500 barrels of beer in its first year, even though Jailbreak Brewing Co. had the capacity to produce about 3,500 barrels of beer annually. But one year after Jailbreak burst onto Maryland’s craft beer scene, that’s not nearly enough to keep up with demand, reported Baltimore Business Journal on March 31st.

The brewery is installing an additional five fermenting tanks, giving it the capacity to generate 7,000 barrels of beer annually by the time the installation is complete in June. That’s more than four times the beer Bonner planned to initially produce.

He attributes the demand to the overall growth in Maryland’s craft beer industry.

Jailbreak planned to expand its footprint to the Washington, D.C., and Virginia markets by January, but now Bonner expects that expansion to take place around the end of 2015. Right now the brewery is just focusing on getting its beer to Marylanders.

This summer, Bonner expects the brewery will bring back its seasonal basil witbier and cucumber saison.

Before Jailbreak debuted, Bonner said the brewery had the capacity to produce 4,000 barrels annually. But that would have been if the brewery was operating at 100 percent efficiency all the time. Bonner said the brewery has found that it operates at just under 90 percent efficiency, which is where the current production cap of 3,500 barrels comes from.


03 April, 2015