When the Asheville Brewers Alliance brewed its collaboration 12-pack beer on Sierra Nevada’s new brewhouse in Mills River, North Carolina, they used 1,000 pounds of sweet potatoes in the mash tun. A half a ton of anything raises the question, just how big is that brewhouse?
Well, the lauter tun alone is twenty feet in diameter, says a Sierra Nevada blog post. The brewhouse, a six-vessel, 200-barrel “workhorse,” will handle the bulk of the brewery’s production in North Carolina for years to come.
“When all elements [of the new facility] are complete,” says Sierra Nevada communications manager Ryan Arnold, “the brewery will be approximately 230,000 square feet.” That will include a tasting room, restaurant, and taproom that are still under construction.