Greeley, Colo.’s Wiley Roots Brewing Co. needs more space for its barrel-aging, and it luckily found the perfect spot right nearby. The small brewery, which opened in the summer of 2013, just signed a lease for an additional 4,600 sq ft of adjacent industrial space previously occupied by Syntax Spirits Distillery. The news of the expansion was announced live on the company’s Facebook during the brewery’s five-year anniversary party this past Friday.
Once the new space is fully constructed, the brewery will relocate the brewhouse and production area, expand the taproom and expand their barrel program.
“The goal for this expansion is to provide the space and production capacity needed to drastically grow our highly sought-after barrel-aged stout, barleywine and wheat-wine program, including more spirit- and oak-focused, barrel-aged beers,” said Kyle Carbaugh, CEO and director of brewing operations.
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Currently, the brewhouse and production area is located behind the taproom bar in an 800-sq-ft area. This size restriction has limited the capacity of its 7-bbl brewhouse to two 15-bbl fermenters, two 7-bbl fermenters and one 15-bbl brite tank. The small production area is also used for keg washing, keg filling and canning, which requires assembling and disassembling the canning line for each packaging run.
This new space is the largest expansion the brewery has undertaken since early 2016, when Wiley Roots took over an additional 5,000 sq ft to expand its award-winning mixed-culture wild and sour ale program, which has grown to include eight 15-bbl solera tanks, two 11-hl oak foeders and approximately 160 specialty oak barrels.
The brewery also plans to increase the size of their patio and reconfigure the taproom bar to feature walk-up ordering from the patio. The brewery plans to have construction finished in the next four to five months.
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