The Antwerpse Brouw Compagnie, Antwerp’s independent local brewery, restarted production this week after a halt of almost two months. The capacity of the brewery was increased 3X on the eve of its 10th anniversary.
On 9 March it will be exactly 10 years ago that the Antwerp Brouw Compagnie started, with the launch of Seefbier in the town hall of Antwerp. Since the start, the brewery – as an independent local brewery – has been able to win a place in the hearts of beer lovers and demand has been growing steadily. The new brewery, in the heart of Antwerp, was built in 2017 with the support of about 1000 crowdfunders.
In order to meet the increasing demand for its beers, the brewery – and in particular the fermentation tanks – had to be extended. The brewery therefore quietly embarked on major expansion works, which more than tripled its capacity:
“Due to the scale of the works, the brewery was forced to temporarily stop brewing. The last brew was put in the kettles on 15 December. Since then, it has been a race against the clock to complete the expansion works, which involved both rebuilding the premises and installing new tanks and machines. Our supply of beer acted as an ‘hourglass’. We had to be ready on time at all times in order not to run out of stock for our customers. According to Johan Van Dyck, founder of the brewery.
During the Christmas period and in early January, adjustments were made to the building and the space was prepared for the new production areas. The expansion is a big step forward for the local brewery. A total of 6 new, 7 (!) metre high fermentation tanks will be added, together accounting for an extra capacity of 120,000 litres. The capacity of the brewery will thus increase by X3. In collaboration with the Antwerp malting plant Dingemans – located in Stabroek – a 20-tonne malt silo was placed outside. At the same time, various other investments were made, whereby processes – such as tank cleaning – were further automated and steam production increased.
“The entire brewery was further developed, whereby the most important bottleneck – the fermentation capacity – was tackled first. But improvements were also made to the processes. Our favourite as brewers is undoubtedly the so-called ‘HOPGUN’. A kind of ‘rocket’ that allows us to shoot large quantities of hops into maturing beer and enables us to create even more hoppy IPAs. Our team has also been expanded, and an additional brewer is now in training.
After weeks of renovation and installation, production has now restarted and the brewery is ready for the future. The brewery is looking forward to the festive year and the future positively:
“The past two years have not been easy for anyone – and certainly not for a small brewery like ours. However, we are looking forward. This year, our 10th anniversary year, we have a lot in the pipeline. On the beer front, we have a number of very nice beer projects that will put Antwerp further on the map as a beer city. We will therefore be celebrating our 10th anniversary together with everyone who made all this possible – our crowdfunders, our customers and all the supporters of the brewery.”
While the brewing is already back in full swing, the taproom is also being prepared for a reopening from 4 March onwards.
If you want to plan a visit to the brewery to drink a fresh pint, you can find all the information here: https://seef.be/
If you want to read more Purelocal stories, you can do so here: https://puredeluxe.be/purelocals/
