Lewiston, Maine-based Baxter Brewing today announced a $2.5 million facility expansion less than two years into operation.
The young company is riding a wave of success after launching cans and kegs of its beer last January. It produced over 5,000 barrels in year one, one of the largest production outputs ever for a craft brewer in its first year.
But with demand for its products growing, Baxter too needed to grow its production facility. The company will add six new 240-barrel fermentation tanks, a new brite tank and second canning line with automated six-pack capabilities. According to company founder Luke Livingston, the expansion quadruples production capacity to 33,000 barrels and will be completed over the next 12 months.
Baxter is currently dealing with capacity constraints that allow for around 8,000 barrels of annual production — which Livingston said he plans to hit before the end of the year. The expansion will allow Baxter to add new distribution territories beyond Maine and Massachusetts, the only two states that currently receive the company’s beer.
“The initial goal is to finally fill the pipeline in Maine and Massachusetts and enter the New Hampshire and Vermont markets,” said Livingston. “I hope that we will have enough capacity to fill the existing markets in 2013 and those new markets should come online by 2014.”
In our latest video interview, Livingston explains the Baxter brand strategy and the factors enabling his company to realize success from day one.