E-Malt.com News article: USA, MO: O’Fallon Brewery expanding again

O’Fallon Brewery soon will return production of its craft beer to the St. Louis area. Original owners Tony and Fran Caradonna launched O’Fallon Brewery in 2000 and saw the company’s sales grow to a point in 2008 when they had to contract out a major part of production to meet demand, Newsmagazinenetwork reported on February 17.

Still, the brewery continued to brew draft beer at its original location in an industrial area in O’Fallon. When the recent recession put a crimp in consumer spending and the company’s sales volume felt the impact, the Caradonnas were faced with financial uncertainties and forced to halt production. That’s why, in 2011, they opted to sell a majority interest in the operation to Jim Gorczyca, an Anheuser-Busch and AB InBev marketing veteran with many years’ experience in building beer brands domestically and in Europe.

Gorczyca set out to revamp the company’s distribution, re-establish O’Fallon’s brands and put the brewery on a path for growth and expansion. As interest in the local beer returned, Gorczyca contracted with a Wisconsin brewery to meet demand.

Last week, O’Fallon Brewery announced that it had acquired another industrial building. Plans call for a multi-million-dollar conversion of the facility to a brewery with an annual capacity of 25,000 barrels, more than double the 9,500 barrel output at the Wisconsin and O’Fallon locations.

That means most of the contracted production will return to the St. Louis area around the end of the year when the new facility is expected to begin operating. Gorczyca envisions output reaching 50,000 barrels annually in the next decade.

Fran Caradonna, who remained general manager at O’Fallon after Gorczyca’s purchase, couldn’t be happier.

“It’s hard for me to express how proud I am to see the brewery grow like this,” she said. “When we think about all the people who have supported us over the years, we realize how fortunate we’ve been.

“It seems like a long time since we decided to try to make our passion a reality.”

It hasn’t really been that long, but the world of craft beer brewing was much different then than it is today, she said, adding that there are some 25 craft breweries now operating in the St. Louis area alone.

The couple’s passion for their product is reflected in the “We love beer” tagline used with the company’s promotional materials.

The Caradonnas were not strangers to the beer business when they began the O’Fallon operation. In 1990, they started Signature Beer Co., which focused on distributing products made by small Midwest breweries.

“With that background, we decided we wanted to distribute products of our own, too,” Caradonna explained.

She likens the emotions she has experienced since the brewery’s birth to those a parent feels while watching a child grow, face and overcome challenges and mature.

The brewery’s current roster of brands includes the recently introduced Zeke’s Pale Ale, O’Fallon Gold, Wheach, 5-Day IPA, 10-day IPA, Hemp Hop Rye, Smoked Porter, Kite Tail, Pumpkin and Rager Red.

The brewery anticipates expanding its employee numbers closer to the time the new facility opens. It now has 10 employees, with Gorczyca as owner and president.

The new 40,000 square-foot facility will include a tasting room serving a light food menu.


19 February, 2014