Wolverine State Brewing Co. plans to expand its tap room to include a separate rental room and overflow space.
Ryan Stanton | AnnArbor.com
Fueled by 40 percent sales increases at the West Stadium Boulevard tap room and a 400 percent increase in the wholesale business, the company plans to expand its tap room, brewing capacity, product line and market reach this year.
The company will be adding on to the former Big George's Home Appliance Mart on West Stadium Boulevard.
Ryan Stanton | AnnArbor.com
The brewery occupies 6,000-square-feet at 2019 W. Stadium Blvd. in the former Big George’s Home Appliance Mart.
The business received final city approvals for a renovation project this week, and construction should begin any day to build out an additional 3,500 square feet of the warehouse, said E.T. Crowe, the company’s marketing director.
The space will be used for an “overflow” tap room and rental space for up to 75 people, and will increase the company’s brewing capacity.
Part of the project includes reconfiguring the bathrooms, building a back hallway and adding a service window from the main tap room to the new space, which will have its own bar. They also plan to build a malt room so they can grind their own malt, and add three thirty-barrel fermentation vessels by the end of 2012.
Crowe doesn’t expect the renovations to inconvenience customers — although portable bathrooms may be utilized during a portion of the project. She said it should be completed no later than early October.
In 2012, Wolverine State Brewing Co. also:
- Started distributing its products in the Grand Rapids market. They plan to open the market in the Kalamazoo and Flint areas in 2013 and Detroit in 2014.
- Is rolling out an array of “experimental and extreme” lagers and adding Wolverine Amber Lager to its bottled beer lineup beginning Aug 1. The Imperial Dark Lager — which is aged in bourbon barrels for nearly a year — will be released Oct. 11.
Lizzy Alfs is a business reporter for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at 734-623-2584 or email her at lizzyalfs@annarbor.com. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lizzyalfs.