Sierra Nevada Brewing Company formally announced today that they will be opening a new brewery in North Carolina. The announcment draws to a close a search for an indeal location that spanned several years and over 200 potential sites. The new brewery will be located in Mills River, North Carolina on a parcel of land approximately 12 miles south of Asheville. With the new location adjacent to the French Broad River, and the Blue Ridge Mountains close by, the new location seeks to emulate the location of its west coast counterpart. "The beer culture, water quality and quality of life are excellent. We feel lucky to be part of this community," says Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company founder. I've copied and pasted the press release at the end of this post.
Humble Beginnings
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company got its start in 1979, when then homebrew store owner Ken Grossman, decided to go "pro". Inspired by Jack McAuliffe's New Albion Brewing Company, Grossman cobbled together a brewery from second hand equipment such as dairy tanks, soda bottling equipment, and other brewing equipment salvaged from breweries that had closed down. By November of 1980, the first batch of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was brewed.
Sustainability
The Sierra Nevada Brewing Company of today is a far cry from the "micro" brewery of the 1980s. The current location is state-of-the-art, with many people I've spoken to saying it is arguably the most beautiful brewery in the world they had ever seen. Far more than being easy on the eyes, the brewery produced 860,000 barrels of beer in 2011, and did so with an eye toward sustainability.
A combination of over 10,000 solar panels and hyrodgen fuel cells has allowed Sierra Nevada to produce enough energy onsite to provide for 50% of the brewery's energy needs. In addition, Sierra Nevada is able to divert and impressive 99.7% of its solid waste from landfills through recycling, reuse, resource recover and composting. The brewery also treats its own waste water, practices water conservation, as well as engaging in bio fuel production. All these environmental initiatives have garned environmental accolads from various agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
New Diggs
The new brewery will be built from the ground up. The proposed facility will initially produce 300,000 barrels annually with room for growth. The site will also feature a restaurant and gift shop as well. Headed by Brian Grossman (Ken Grossman's son) and Stan Cooper, Co-Manager and Director of Consumer Experience and Co-Manager and Director of Logistics, respectively, the new brewery will seek to employ 90 people initially with more to be added when the restaurant opens. The 200,000 square foot facility will be built in 18 – 24 months and brewing operations are tentatively planned for 2014.
With the ability to brew in excess of 850,000 barrels per year, Sierra Nevada was rapidly approaching capacity and the North Carolina facility will allow the company to meet demand for its products. In addition, Mills River location will allow brewery-fresh beer to reach east coast accounts in the best possible condition. The new brewery will also allow Sierra Nevada to lessen its carbon footprint by not having to ship their beers so far. The new brewery is slated to produce all the seasonal beers Sierra Nevada has been producing recently as well as expand production of their flagship pale ale.
Last Call
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was the first craft beer I really took a liking to. Since then, I've grown to love many of their other yearly releases and look forward to their seasonal releases as well. The addition of a new brewing facility only strengthens the belief that many in the craft beer industry have; fresh beer is the best beer.
The announcement of the new facility also times well with President Obama's State of the Union speech in which he reiterated the importance of bringing work back to America. 90 full-time employees will be a boon for the Mills River community as well as put hundreds of people in the local construction industry to work.
With core values such as community, environmental stewardship, and quality of life, Sierra Nevada is an excellent company brewing excellent beers. This is something I hope the craft beer community doesn't forget as, for whatever inane reason, some people tend to equate large size with poor quality. I hate to burst those people's bubbles but there are a lot of small craft breweries making crappy beer too.
Mabuhay!
CONTACT: Bill Manley
(530) 893–‐3520
Billm@sierranevada.comCHICO, Calif. — Jan. 25, 2012 —Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is pleased to announce that it has chosen a site in western North Carolina for the future home of an East Coast brewery. The site, approximately 90 acres in the Henderson County Town of Mills River— along the French Broad River, 12 miles south of Asheville — will be home to the new production facility, as well as a proposed restaurant and gift shop. “We are thrilled to have found an ideal location in western North Carolina for our second brewery,” says Ken Grossman, founder of Sierra Nevada. “The beer culture, water quality and quality of life are excellent. We feel lucky to be a part of this community.”
The new facility will add much needed capacity for Sierra Nevada, and will allow for the quick shipment of brewery-fresh beer to consumers in the east. The East Coast brewery will start with a capacity around 300,000 barrels, with room to grow. The added barrelage will accommodate wider production of the myriad of seasonal beers and bottled specialties Sierra Nevada has produced in recent years, as well as an expansion of the brewery’s well‐known flagship product: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
Sierra Nevada began the search for a new location several years ago. The brewery looked at hundreds of potential sites, eventually narrowing the search down to a handful of locations. The list of criteria was long and included quantifiable factors such as ease of shipping and water quality, as well as quality of life issues for its employees. Sierra Nevada has a reputation for a laid-back brewery culture and a love of the outdoors, and the new facility will retain this same tone. The Asheville area offers Sierra Nevada Brewing the perfect confluence of community, recreation and craft beer culture.
Sierra Nevada’s eastern brewery site is expected to employ approximately 90 workers, with additional staff in the restaurant to follow. The brewery anticipates being operational by early 2014.
About Sierra Nevada Founded in 1980, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is one of America’s premier craft breweries, highly regarded for using only whole-cone hops and ingredients of the finest quality. Sierra Nevada has set the standard for artisan brewers worldwide as a winner of numerous awards for its extensive line of beers including the flagship Pale Ale, Torpedo, Porter, Stout, Kellerweis, four seasonal beers, Estate Ale, Harvest Ales, Ovila Abbey Ales and a host of draught-only specialties.
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