New Belgium adds new, small-batch brewing system

FORT COLLINS — New Belgium Brewing on Friday said it has added a new 10-hectoliter brewing system to its operations that will allow the brewery to create experimental small batch beers.

The new system is comprised of a two-vessel brewhouse with one mash vessel and one brew kettle. The system also includes four fermenters and two conditioning tanks.

The system will be used mostly for creating small-batch beers and experimenting with new product development.

"This size system really frees us up to experiment and play around," said Grady Hull, New Belgium's assistant brewmaster. "There are so many new hop varietals in development and flavors to explore that this allows us to do so with minimal waste and maximum creative freedom."

In the first month of brewing with the new system, New Belgium has brewed five batches of beer. Each batch is about 250 gallons of beer, or eight barrels.

The brewery's goal is to produce 100 of these batches in a year.