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Sierra Nevada to boost production by 67 percent

Stan Cooper

MILLS RIVER — The Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is accelerating expansion plans after reaching full production quicker than it planned and continuing to post strong sales.

Production "has exceeded what we thought it would be," Stan Cooper, the company's Mills River-based director of logistics and co-manager of the plant here, said last week. "We're actually a couple of years ahead."
After starting production up earlier, the nation's second-largest craft brewer quickly ramped up to its capacity of 300,000 barrels a year and will now increase that by two-thirds after adding giant fermenting tanks. They will enable the plant to produce 500,000 barrels a year.
The plant also started its canning line earlier this month. It has opened the gift shop and started tasting tours. Already 5,204 people have toured the brewery. After commissioning the canning line, the plant turned out its first 200 barrels of cans.
In presentations last week at Business Morning Update and the Mills River Town Council, Cooper reported that:
The plant will be shipping the huge fermenters to the plant later next year for the expansion, meaning trucks will haul the containers up King Street after Duke Energy crews raise the power lines. The increased production will require warehouse expansion, too.
The brewery has also moved up its plans for an outdoor amphitheater. The grass, terraced arena will hold up to 600 people for concerts but can be configured for a more intimate setting for shows as well.
The plant has brewed 16 different varieties so far. It has around 65 workers in production and a total of about 105.
SNBC has identified for hire 130 hospitality workers for the Tap Room and restaurant, including the executive chef and Tap Room manager. The restaurant will seat 350 and the bar will accommodate about 150. It's expected to be open by April.
The plant sends out about 50 tons of spent grain a day; it tries to recycle as much as it can in the region but the daily output is greater than farms can use.
The peak for production so far was two weeks ago when the plant loaded 92 trucks, each carrying 1,400 cases of beer, over a six-day period. That means the plant shipped out 3,179,530 bottles of beer. The Mills River brewery serves an area south to Florida, west to Texas and north to Pennsylvania. It does not yet serve Washington-New York corridor and parts north or Chicago. "We probably won't see that right off the bat because we're going to move export out of here," Cooper told the Mills River Town Council. "It's about 3 percent of our business."
The brewery will use the French Broad River as part of its outdoor plans. "Oh, recreation. That's my favorite subject," Cooper said when a questioner brought up the river. "We're trying to get the visitor experience open first. With 208 acres, there will also be entertainment there. We are working with a number of conservation groups. We are right now in discussions of what we'll do on the French Broad where people can float down or kayak down and get out" at a dock on the brewery property.
The Mills River operation has exceeded the company's original plans in every way — acreage, investment and production.
"When I started (the search) it was a 20- to 40- acre production brewery with no more than 60 employees," Cooper said. "Now with taproom and gift shop, we'll be right at 200 employees." By the time the company completes its "visitor experience" amenities, it will have a total of 300 fulltime and part-time employees, Cooper said.
In answer to a question from Mills River Town Councilman Roger Snyder, Cooper said that, yes, the company had surpassed the $100 million investment number it pledged when it first announced plans for its East Coast brewery.
"I can't tell you the exact amount but we've definitely exceeded the $100 million," he said.
Someone asked Cooper what Sierra Nevada founder Grossman thought of the Mills River plant.
"He's very happy with the brewery and the performance of the brewery and the way it looks," he said. "Production's doing very well. We're basically at 100 percent of capacity of what we can do right now."


Can't get a tasting tour reservation or just want a quick look? Visitors can tour the brewery over Christmas. Sierra Nevada will open the brewery for self-guided tours on the catwalk above the production floor. The gift shop is open every day from 11 .m. to 5 p.m. Check out sierranevada.com for more information.