Isle Brewers Guild expands space, production capacity

ONE OF THREE new 300-barrel fermentation tanks arrive at the Pawtucket-based Isle Brewers Guild Thursday. The brewing cooperative confirmed to PBN Thursday it is undergoing a three-pronged expansion. / COURTESY JEREMY DUFFY
ONE OF THREE new 300-barrel fermentation tanks arrive at the Pawtucket-based Isle Brewers Guild Thursday. The brewing cooperative confirmed to PBN Thursday it is undergoing a three-pronged expansion. / COURTESY JEREMY DUFFY

PAWTUCKET – The Isle Brewers Guild LLC is expanding.

By the end of the week, three new fermentation tanks will be added to the guild’s reclaimed Main Street industrial space in Pawtucket for a total 11, Jeremy Duffy, co-founder and managing partner, confirmed to Providence Business News Thursday.

Once the installation is complete, the majority of the tanks will be 300-barrel vessels, each of which holds roughly “100,000 glasses of beer,” said Duffy.

As of Thursday, nine craft brewing partners – including Farmer Willie’s Inc. and Narragansett Brewing Co. – rely on the cooperative to produce their beverages.

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CO-FOUNDERS OF ISLE BREWERS GUILD, Jeremy Duffy (left) and Devin Kelly, announced Thursday a three-part expansion of the craft brewing cooperative. / PBN FILE PHOTO / BY RUPERT WHITELEY
CO-FOUNDERS OF ISLE BREWERS GUILD, Jeremy Duffy (left) and Devin Kelly, announced Thursday a three-part expansion of the craft brewing cooperative. / PBN FILE PHOTO / BY RUPERT WHITELEY

Also on tap for summer 2018, is the Sept. 1 launch of a 6,000-square-foot beer hall.

“We’re getting phenomenal numbers of people on the weekend,” said Duffy and the growing number of fermentation tanks are “starting to take up more space,” he said of the need to expand.

Hoping to entice visits from even more of the local population, Duffy explained a special events hall has been opened on the property. At nearly 4,000-square-feet, the space has played host to weddings, corporate events, nonprofit galas and college and university functions.

While he characterized the current status of the special events hall as “phase one,” Duffy hopes to finalize it by increasing seating space and cold storage – among other amenities – by the end of the year.

Once the beer hall opens, the brew house will also be available for special event rentals, but will not be open to the public as often as it is now.

And there is no shortage of space for Isle Brewers Guild to spread out in its Main Street facility.

While it currently operates out of a 12,000-square-foot brew house/tap room with an additional, separate 40,000-square-foot packaging facility, Isle Brewers Guild purchased the 131,000-square-foot Kellaway Center industrial complex in late 2015.

Emily Gowdey-Backus is a staff writer for PBN. You can follow her on Twitter @FlashGowdey or contact her via email, gowdey-backus@pbn.com.

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