Brew Hub, the largest of recently opened operations that will brew beer for other companies, has announced the first clients that will have beer made in its Florida brewery. They are Cigar City Brewing; Orange Blossom Pilsner; and BJ’s Restaurants.
Brew Hub will brew a variety of beer brands for each company at its Lakeland facility and distribute the beer throughout Florida and eventually other southeastern states. First beers are expected to be shipped in May.
The company refers to this as “partner brewing” — a process that allows craft brewers not only to brew their beer to exact specifications under the supervision of their own brewmaster, but also to package and distribute from the Brew Hub brewery and make their beer available for export to international markets. Brew Hub also offers services including sales, marketing, logistics, compliance and government affairs.
“These guys know what they are doing, and I am excited for the opportunity to be able to grow Cigar City Brewing without sacrificing quality or compromising the brewing process,” Joey Redner, Cigar City Brewing founder and CEO, said for a press release. “When you combine Brew Hub’s experience with a new state-of-the-art craft brewery in our home state of Florida, we knew this partnership could help us get more Cigar City beer into the hands of people who love it.”
“The partnerships we’ve formed with Cigar City, Orange Blossom Pilsner and BJ’s Restaurants are exactly why we formed our company,†said Tim Schoen, founder and CEO of Brew Hub.
Brew Hub will brew approximately 40,000 barrels of beer in 2014 for the three partners combined. The Lakeland brewery will have an annual capacity of 75,000 barrels (one million cases). Brew Hub plans to open four additional breweries over the next five years.