Brewhouse Arrives at North Adams Bright Ideas Brewery
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Bright Ideas has the equipment to begin brewing.
The startup microbrewery on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art campus welcomed a tractor-trailer truck early Friday morning loaded with seven steel-tank brewhouse.
Two forklifts juggled the massive tanks safely to the ground and through the new door knocked out of the building's brick side.
"This is what makes it real," Orion Howard, co-founder of Bright Ideas Brewing, said. "This is the largest capital investment by far, and this is the one thing we have to have. Everything else is an add on."
The brewhouse was ordered nearly a year ago and manufactured by Specific Mechanical Systems in Victoria, British Columbia.
With co-founder Eric Kerns, Howard helped guide the giant stainless steel tanks into the microbrewery located in Building 1.
With the tanks secured, Howard expects to start brewing by the second or third week in January.
"We have a couple more things to do like pouring the floor. We are going to put the tanks temporarily on the floor and then we are going to get a better floor," he said. "Then we are going to plumb it, then vapor barrier the building, and then we are going to start to brewing."
A wall was taken down to create a 3,000 square-foot room that will separate the taproom and brewery by a glass wall.
On completion, the taproom will have 40 to 70 seats and a 44-foot long wood and steel bar. There will be beer at all price points, including higher-priced craft beers and cheaper but quality options that will be sold in local barrooms.
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