New Belgium Fermentation Vessels Set to Arrive in Asheville

From New Belgium:

Asheville, NC, February 24, 2015 –New Belgium’s Asheville fermentation vessels and bright beer tanks are scheduled to arrive at their east coast home by mid-March. Two dozen FVs and a half dozen BBTs departed from ZIEMANN in Bürgstadt Germany in January and arrived to the Port of Charleston, SC, in early February. New Belgium is building an east coast location with an expected capacity of 500,000 barrels. The oversized vessels require rolling road closures and NC Department of Transportation approved routing and police escort, as they arrive to New Belgium Asheville.

“We are thankful for the collaboration of our partners in this process, as well as the patience of those along the route,” said Alex Dwoinen, Asheville Brewing Manager. “Placing these vessels into our new home on Craven Street is another reminder that we are one large step closer to brewing in this great city and sharing our beer more widely, and that’s incredibly exciting.”

The vessels are currently scheduled to arrive during daylight hours between Monday, March 9 and Saturday, March 14, pending weather delays. They will travel in pairs with a minimum of 30 minutes between arrivals. Installation of the vessels will also begin this week.

The two dozen FVs have varying sizes between 32 and 52 feet tall with net volumes between 547 and 1860 hectoliters or up to 49,000 gallons. They house the process where yeast ferments wort into beer and allow the liquid to condition and mature. The six BBTs, which store beer before packaging, are approximately 55 feet tall with net volume of 2090 hectoliters, equivalent to about 55,000 gallons.

New Belgium’s 200 hectoliter brewhouse system arrived seamlessly and on schedule in January with support from NC DOT, the districts along the route, Buncombe County, the City of Asheville, and the Asheville Police Department.

Public hiring for the Asheville location kicked off last month, with two dozen positions filled as of February 2015. New Belgium anticipates brewing beer in Asheville by the end of 2015.