Begins renovation of new building to house German brewhouse
Saint Arnold Brewing Co. has begun work on a new building it recently purchased to expand its production.
The craft brewer, established in 1994, has outgrown its current facility in Northwest Houston, said Brock Wagner, co-founder and chief executive officer of Houston-based Saint Arnold.
“Our current location has served us well and has helped us accomplish a lot by making great beer, but we have run out of space,” he said.
Renovation of the three-story building dating from 1914 will take a year and cost about $6 million. Meanwhile, in Burghausen, Germany, crews have dismantled the Monastery Brewery Raitenhaslach and will ship the brewhouse to Houston to outfit Saint Arnold’s new facility.
The new brewhouse will provide a more than 400 percent increase in brewing capacity.
Raitenhaslach is the oldest Cistercian monastery in Bavaria. It moved to Burghausen in 1145. Historians cite documentation that the monastery’s brewery was established as early as 1313. It discontinued its brewing operations in 2003.
Before coming to America, the equipment from Klosterbrauerei Raitenhaslach will be refurbished, updated and automated by BrauKon in Truchtlaching, Germany. Modifications will include the addition of a state-of-the-art energy-saving boiling and mashing system.
The goal is to open the new brewery in time for the Company’s 15th anniversary in June 2009.
Below, a tank is lifted out of the brewery in Germany.