DESTIHL Brewery Announces Opening Date Normal, IL – DESTIHL® Brewery has today, on National Beer Day, announced the opening date for the Beer Hall at its new $14 million production brewery facility in Normal, Illinois.
The brewery, located on 6 acres at 1200 Greenbriar Drive, plans to open its new Beer Hall to the public on Saturday, May 27, 2017. The 6300-sq.ft. Beer Hall, which is the public portion of DESTIHL’s massive 47,000-sq.ft. new brewery, will accommodate over 200 guests in a communal setting inside the long, open, brick-walled hall reminiscent of the industrial brewery age. From the Beer Hall, guests will be able to see into the brewhouse, cellar and packaging areas and watch their beer being made while enjoying DESTIHL’s already renowned beers and new pilot/experimental beers brewed right on-site. A variety of tours will also be available, ranging from a choice of free or paid daily tours as well as periodic ‘Brewers Tours’ which will conclude with a beer & food pairing featuring culinary creations from DESTIHL’s chef.
The Beer Hall also has great views of the adjacent lake via large glass garage doors that open to two large patios on the south side of the brewery which can accommodate an additional 200-300 people.
The Beer Hall will also feature an entirely different and more condensed food menu as compared to DESTIHL’s two very successful brewpubs in Normal and Champaign. The brewery menu is fun, casual and innovative, while staying true to the company’s motto to support flavor – boycott blandTM . Details of the menu will be publicized at or near the time of opening. Both brewpubs will continue to operate at their top-rated, full capacity of serving hundreds of guests daily and brewing on-site at those locations.
DESTIHL Brewery received federal and state permits to move to the new facility a few weeks ago, and all beer and brewing equipment was quickly moved from the former brewery on General Electric Road in Bloomington before the end of March, including over 650 of its oak barrels and foudres now housed in new brewery’s two-story barrel house. Brewing then commenced at the new brewery last week on a new, highly specialized 60-barrel 3-vessel brewhouse, a 240-barrel sour kettle brewhouse and a 10- barrel pilot brewhouse, all manufactured by W.M. Sprinkman Corp. of Wisconsin. This system, the most unique ever built by Sprinkman, is capable of brewing more than 150,000 barrels of beer annually, although initial fermentation capacity will be 25,000 barrels annually, which can be scaled up rapidly as needed to meet demand. The brewery also invested in a new centrifuge and a CFT canning line capable of filling 110-220 cans per minute.
DESTIHL’s expansion is being driven by heavy demand for its unique portfolio of beers, both locally and in all 19 states where its beers are currently distributed as well as in many other markets presently wait-listed by the brewery for over a year. This expansion will enable DESTIHL to vastly increase production of its wildly popular, award-winning Wild Sour SeriesTM beers, including Here Gose Nothin’®, and other growing brands like Dosvidanya® Russian Imperial Stout (winner of the Bronze Medal at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival® in the ‘Wood- and Barrel-Aged Strong Stout’ category and the Gold Medal Strong Porter/Stout & ‘Best in Show – Winner’ and Runner Up-Best in Show at the 2015 & 2016 National Wood-Aged Beer Competition held in Chicago at the Festival of Barrel Aged Beers, ‘FoBAB’), Vertex IPA®, Weissenheimer® Hefeweizen, DeadHead® Imperial Red IPA, Saint Dekkera® Reserve Sour Ales and its many other beers.
“Building this new production brewery has been part of our long-term business plan since we opened our first brewpub in Normal in November 2007, so to see it now almost completed is a dream come true for our dedicated team at DESTIHL and a great reward and milestone for the years of success for our company”, said DESTIHL’s Founder and CEO, Matt Potts. “Much like our brewpubs have become culinary destinations, this facility will be an exciting destination brewery for both our local community and for visitors from around the country, while providing a permanent home for years of growth.”
DESTIHL broke ground on the facility last June and will employ about 100 people. The company already employs over 180 people between its existing two brewpubs in Normal and Champaign, Illinois, and from its prior production brewery in Bloomington. The site in Normal was chosen for its great visibility, size and accessibility. Further details about the facility, including Beer Hall offerings, hours, tour availability, employment opportunities and other frequently asked questions, are on the company’s website at www.destihlbrewery.com.
0 comments (click to read or post):
Post a Comment
Please leave a comment...I do moderate each comment so it may not appear immediately...and please be nice! You can also comment using Disqus (below) or even comment directly on Facebook (bottom).