WAHOO! You’ve all been waiting for the update, and here it is:
In a press release sent to Milwaukie Rules! resident beer geek, we discover that Breakside Brewery is not only plugging right along on their production facility in Milwaukie, but that they have just entered into a “new partnership with locally owned Maletis Beverage.
Beginning mid-November the distribution company will start distributing Breakside Brewery draft beers to bars and restaurants throughout Northwestern Oregon with the intention of distributing in packages once they are available. With Maletis distributing batches of Breakside’s innovative beers to a larger market, the brewery will be able to focus their efforts on increasing brew production.
“We knew Maletis was the right company to go with based on their reputation in the craft beer community, says Breakside Brewery owner Scott Lawrence. “From the first day we met we felt very comfortable with them, they were someone we could sit and have a beer with. They are the right company to help us expand into old and new markets within Oregon and someday soon within Washington.””
This is exciting news, in addition to Jacob Leonard (formerly of Walking Man Brewing and Widmer Brothers) joining the Breakside team. As the press release continues, “Breakside Brewery is a craft brewery producing exciting combinations of traditional and experimental beers, serving Oregon through wholesale accounts and their own brewpub in the Woodlawn Neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Sourcing locally and producing seasonally, Breakside owner Scott Lawrence is committed to supporting the community and expanding palates with a fresh approach to the industry, investing in the talent of a seasoned team. Head Brewmaster Ben Edmunds works with local chefs and fellow brewers to foster a culture of collaboration, while also setting the standard for innovation and creativity. Finding unique sources of inspiration, he incorporates uncommon brewing ingredients at the peak of their freshness and flavor in his own brews.The brewery is currently set to debut an expanded brew house in Milwaukie, Oregon late 2012 allowing creation of Breakside’s avant-garde beers at a higher volume. Breakside Brewery is located at 820 NE Dekum St.; Portland, Oregon, and is open for lunch, dinner and happy hour.
Detailed information about the expansion and production facility particulars were outlined in Edmunds’ blog post earlier this season:
“As many of you know, we are in the middle of building a new brewery that will be located on International Way in Milwaukie, OR, just off of route 224 near Bob’s Red Mill and Dave’s Killer Bread. The new facility will house a 30 barrel brewhouse (that’s 10 times larger than our current setup), and if we max out the system we would be able to produce as much as 30,000 barrels per year out of this new space. We’re incredibly excited about what this means for Breakside as a company and for us as brewers.”
Continues Edmunds, “The space we’ve procured is roughly 14,000 square feet and, up until earlier this year, was used as a warehouse by an emergency response supply company. The building is relatively new, and, fortunately for us, in very good shape. We’re in full on demolition and construction mode this month, and we expect that to be finishing up the first week of September. By middle of next month, we’ll be epoxying floors, taking delivery of our grain silo, and piping all of the gas, steam and water lines.
We’ll see our new brewhouse be delivered the final week of September. We’re getting a beautiful 3 vessel brewery from Metalcraft, a fabricator right here in Portland, who also designed the tanks for our friends at Burnside Brewing and Gigantic Brewing. Similarly, all of our fermentors and brite tanks will arrive that same week, and they’re supplied by local brewery equipment broker Jason Ager. We’ve used Jason’s fermentors at the pub for the last two years, and we love how sleekly and simply designed they are. Our cellar package is a little unconventional: we’ve chosen to bring in 5 brite beer tanks of various sizes as well as 4 conical fermentors. The extra brite tank will give us excess cellaring capacity, which in turn will allow us to produce a full-time lager as part of our new beer lineup.
For the last two years at the pub, we’ve done what is referred to as ‘unitank fermentation,’ where you use a single tank to ferment, condition, and lager a beer. This setup minimizes the equipment needed to produce beer and can yield great beer, but it creates a significant bottleneck for beer production. For example, if a beer takes an extra day or two longer than expected to move through the cycle of fermentation and lagering, the whole brewhouse gets stopped. With dual tanks for all of our fermentors, we’ll be able to increase our output of beer while also giving each batch ample time to clear up and mature before serving.
If we hold to this schedule, we should have the brewery fully installed and online in the second half of October, and as soon as it’s ready to go, we’re going to brew! We’ll likely run a calibration batch of something simple, maybe an oatmeal stout or an American pale ale. This will give us a sense of how our pub recipes will scale up to the new system, what hop loads the new brewery can take, and how we need to adjust all our processes to make great beer; plus, by brewing a recipe that not one of our current products, we won’t be as constrained by making sure the first batch is ‘true to brand.’
Once we’ve had a calibration batch or two under our belts, we’ll try scaling up one of our year round recipes, like Dry Stout or Aztec. Following suit will be our two IPAs, our Pilsner, and a host of new beers that we expect to start releasing in late November. But that’s right around when putting official dates to things gets a little dicey…so, we’ll all have to wait until November to see what exactly happens when.
As you can tell, it’s going to be a big and busy fall for us; we hope you’re as excited to visit our new space and enjoy the beer from it as we are to work there. We’ll be sure to post pictures and updates as the build out unfolds!”
Find more information at www.breaksidebrews.com or by calling 503-719-6475. Follow Breakside on Facebook at Breakside Brewery or on Twitter @breaksidebrews.
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