Telegraph Brewing starts construction on 10,000-sq-ft facility

Telegraph Brewing Co. announced that construction is underway on a new downtown Santa Barbara, Cali., brewery. Moving from their current 3,000-sq-ft facility to a 10,000-sq-ft building immediately next door will enable Telegraph to dramatically increase production.

“This is an expansion that has been in the works for a long time,” said Scott Baer, director of brewing operations. “We’re overdue for increasing capacity and expanding our tasting room, but finding the right building to grow into took a very long time.”

The new production facility will enable Telegraph to both expand sales in their current markets throughout California, Chicago, and Philadelphia, and broaden distribution to markets in several different regions of the country. Telegraph hopes to have its new production facility and tasting room open by mid-summer 2013.

“Demand for our beer has outstripped supply for some time,” said owner Brian Thompson. “The new facility will enable us to meet demand for our core products and give us the capacity to have fun with our limited-release specialty-beers like our Reserve Wheat Ale and Rhinoceros Ryewine.”

Working with architect Daniel Johnston of Santa Barbara-based Architecture J.A., Telegraph is renovating a World War II-era Quonset hut in downtown Santa Barbara. Johnston’s plan calls for replacing the building’s existing façade with a translucent polycarbonate curtain wall that will allow abundant natural light into the tasting room space, minimizing the brewery’s electrical usage and creating a dramatic visual impact.

“The Quonset hut is an iconic American building. To be able to put a modern twist on this particular structure — to increase its functionality without compromising its historical integrity — is an exciting project,”Johnston said.

Telegraph Brewing specializes in brewing uniquely American and Belgian-inspired beers using 100 percent domestic ingredients and as many local ingredients as possible. The brewery strives to reflect in its beers the unique culinary and agricultural traditions of Santa Barbara and California’s Central Coast.