Tröegs Adds 8,000 Barrels of Fermentation Capacity
Tröegs Independent Brewing has been a staple of Pennsylvania’s craft beer scene for over 20 years, and last week they got even bigger. Eight new 1,000-barrel fermenters were installed at the Hershey, PA brewery. Once online, these will greatly increase the brewery’s production capacity. By moving the flagship and more popular seasonal beers into these larger fermentation vessels, smaller tanks will now be freed up for small batch offerings.
Tröegs’ Scratch Series is a pilot series, which allows brewers to try out new recipes and brewing techniques. These small batch beers are then released for consumption in the Tröegs taproom. Last year, they brewed 100 new Scratch beers, and the program has created 300 different beer since its inception in 2007. These beers are popular with taproom patrons, and some of them, like Perpetual IPA and Nimble Giant, are eventually refined into full-scale production beers.
Alongside the Scratch Series is Tröegs’ Splinter Series. Splinter beers are small batch wood-aged beers, the vast majority of which are never served outside the brewery walls. This program has already seen growth since Tröegs built their Splinter Cellar, which is home to three large wooden foeders, in 2016.
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Moving larger scale production beers into these new fermenters will allow the more experimental programs to expand. Adding depth to the Scratch and Splinter Series may not immediately be visible outside of the taproom, but it will allow brewers to dive deeper into creative pursuits like new recipes and brewing techniques. This ability to experiment would theoretically mean that new and exciting beers could make their way onto shelves near you. The growth of these programs would also mean that there will be a greater variety of brews available to customers who visit the taproom or live in the region.
“We’ve been under construction for 20 years, and this is the next step in our strong, steady growth. These new fermenters will free up a bunch of our smaller tanks, and that’ll give us the flexibility to meet the demands of core beers that are growing and to dive deeper into creative brewing pursuits like Scratch and Splinter.” – John Trogner, brewmaster and co-founder of Tröegs
Tröegs Independent Brewing was founded in 1999 by John and Chris Trogner. The brewery is known for award-winning beers, such as Perpetual IPA, Mad Elf and Nugget Nectar. Originally located in Harrisburg, PA, they moved to Hershey in 2007.
Overall, Tröegs is already seeing double-digit growth in 2017. Their Perpetual IPA is up 26 percent, and their Troegenator Double Bock brand has grown by 10%. Thanks to these beers, as well as their up-and-coming Nimble Giant Double IPA and their Hop Cycle seasonal series, Tröegs is poised to surpass 100,000-barrels of production for the first time in their 20-year history.
Featured Image courtesy of Tröegs Independent Brewing
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