It was a sweltering day in Bozeman, Montana, when the trucks showed up to the construction site for Bunkhouse Brewery’s new location. On board was a used brewing system that would be the center of the tasting room, and the gear had made a long overland journey from Destihl Brewery in Normal, Illinois. However, the toughest part of the journey would prove to be the last few meters across the parking lot.
“It took some creative rigging,” Bunkhouse head brewer Alex Chocholousek says, “but we got it off the truck.” The 30-foot-long mass of stainless steel was difficult to maneuver, and it began to sink into the sun-softened asphalt of the parking lot. After hours of finesse, the brewhouse trundled through the roll-up door with just an inch to spare.
That was only the most recent stop for the 10-hectoliter brewhouse that had been built at Beraplan in Munich, Germany, almost 30 years earlier.