Founders Imperial Stout Hits Shelves Jan 1st & Expansion Will Increase Production By 165,000 Barrels

From Founders:

Our Imperial Stout will be hitting shelves and draft lines beginning on the first day of the new year: Tuesday, January 1, 2013. And it will be available through February this time around!

Here’s our official Imperial Stout description: Brewed with ten varieties of malted barley, this stout is smooth as silk, yet complex and rich in body. Serve this guy at cellar temperature. Put another log on the fire, sit back, and enjoy the friendship of this ultimate winter warmer. 10.5% ABV, 90 IBUs

Suggested pairings for Imperial Stout include wild game, smoked & grilled meats, buttery Bries, and triple cream Havarti.

We broke ground on a new north cellar expansion during the first week of November. As of the afternoon of Tuesday, December 18, this is our progress. This new cellar, along with some other upgrades, will hold lots of big tanks (quite a few fermenters!) and will increase our capacity by about 165,000 bbl.

From Fox 17:

The grant allows the brewery to move forward with its expansion, , which is expected to create 52 new jobs for the area over three years. The positions will range from managerial to service, with the bulk of positions being in the operations and services sector.

Over $22 million of the $26 million expansion will be used for purchase of new brewing and fermenting vessels and other equipment, while nearly $4 million will be spent on expanding the brewing facility, located at 235 Grandville Avenue in downtown Grand Rapids. Once complete, the brewery will have capacity to produce approximately 300,000 barrels of beer annually, or four times its current capacity.

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