Abita Brewing Company, is proud to announce the completion of their new state of the art brewhouse. Abita’s expansion is a result of recent sales growth and an effort to accommodate plans for future growth.
According to David Blossman, President of Abita Beer, the company has developed an aggressive plan to double the company’s sales in the next ten years. Abita’s new system plays an important role in the success of their growth plan by increasing capacity and improving quality and consistency.
The new brewhouse will increase brewing capacity by 300% to 100 barrels a batch. In addition, the new brewhouse includes an automated control system that utilizes modern computer technology to increase brewing consistency. “This state of the art new brewhouse allows us to increase capacity while maintaining an even greater commitment to quality,” stated David Blossman.
“Abita is 100% committed to always providing top quality beer to our consumers and by acquiring this new brewhouse, we can protect the quality of our product even as our brewing capacity increases. By harnessing modern technology, our system will create more beer per batch with an even greater consistency of the flavor our drinkers love,” continued Blossman.
The German Company, Steinecker, produced Abita’s new brewhouse and it is the first of its kind in the United States. “By selecting a new brewhouse engineered by Steinecker, a respected leader in our industry, we know we are getting the best equipment available,” stated Blossman.
The new brewhouse includes the innovative Merlin Boiling System. The Merlin system includes a vapor condensing unit which harnesses the hot vapor created by the boiling process to heat additional water utilized in the brewing process and throughout the entire brewery for other purposes. In addition, the unique Merlin system works by boiling a thin film of unfermented beer across a large cone shaped heating element. This process allows for increased hop aroma, head retention and energy conservation. The Merlin system and vapor condenser will utilize seventy percent less energy than the old system.
“Abita is committed to being ecologically sound. In the past, we took bold steps to protect the environment by operating our own industrial wastewater treatment plant. Now we’re taking additional steps to conserve energy and reduce emissions,” continued Blossman.
Sales growth and plans for future growth led Abita Brewing to expand and improve the brewhouse. During the last two years, significant marketing changes increased sales by double digits. Sales for 2001 were up significantly and sales are up by almost 15% so far this year. Abita expects this up trend to continue.
“A new more aggressive marketing program has exposed Abita Beer to more and more consumers,” continued Blossman. “We plan to continue our strategy to grow the brand’s strength.”
“Our goal with Abita’s marketing was to build upon their reputation of being a beer of great quality. We wanted to develop a brand image that represented the quality and flavor of their product,” stated Jay Connaughton of Innovative Advertising.
Abita Brewing is in the midst of launching its’ first ever electronic media campaign. Television and radio commercials are blanketing the area and a newly designed website was launched.
“We’ve got a lot of great things happening at Abita. But no matter how big we get, no matter how many new products we make, we will never sacrifice quality for quantity,” concluded Blossman.