E-Malt.com News article: USA, IL: The first batch of Chicago-brewed Lagunitas beer is done

The first batch of Chicago-brewed Lagunitas beer is done, Chicago Business reported on April 18.

Workers at the 300,000-square-foot Douglas Park facility have been firing up the bottling line and slapping on Lagunitas India Pale Ale labels since last week. Once they flip the switch, the line will fill 500 bottles a minute.

"It's just the IPA right now," said owner Tony Magee. "It's the beer we know best."

Mr. Magee had hoped to start the Douglas Park operation late last year, but various delays pushed the launch until this month.

The first 750-barrel batch of beer was mixed a few weeks ago before heading to the brewery's fermenting tanks and filtration system. Other batches of IPA are right behind as production begins to ramp up. The Chicago brewery is set to start making Little Sumpin' Sumpin' beer next month.

As for the Douglas Park taproom, that should be open by late May, just in time for the Lagunitas Beer Circus event.

Lagunitas is now the state's largest brewer, with the annual capacity to produce up to 200,000 barrels of beer. One barrel holds 31 gallons. Mr. Magee wanted to build a second brewery to alleviate production demands at the Petaluma, Calif., facility.

"There's going to be a big exhale coming out of Petaluma when Chicago is (fully) on board," he said. "They're brewing at 94 percent capacity. They're very tired."

Demand for Lagunitas has grown so steeply in recent years that the craft beer company is fastest-growing among the nation's top 10 independent brewers. It shipped 85 percent more cases in 2013 than 2012, according to Beverage Industry magazine.

Right now, the Douglas Park facility can brew 2,000 barrels a day. Mr. Magee plans to install in November a second system that will double production.


23 April, 2014