Two Roads Breaks Ground on New $12 Million Brewery

Two Roads Brewing broke ground today on a $12 million expansion project, dubbed “Area Two Experimental Brewing,” which will enable the Connecticut-based craft brewery to expand production of its sour and barrel-aged offerings.

First announced last November, the new 25,000 sq. ft. brewery, which is situated on 2.5 acres of land adjacent to its existing Stratford production facility, will feature a 50-barrel brewhouse, foeders, a coolship and space for 1,500 wooden barrels.

Once construction is complete, about one year from now, the company plans to use the new location as a “playground” for new product development and experimentation.

“Our new facility will be a place where people can enjoy an array of complex, barrel-aged beers that, in some cases, are soured and aged for up to 30 months,” Two Roads CEO Brad Hittle said via a press release.

The facility will eventually be capable of producing as much as 25,000 barrels, Hittle told Brewbound last year.

The build-out will also include a “significant investment” to rehabilitate about 1.5 acres of wetlands and create new jobs, Hittle said.

Launched in 2012, Two Roads — which also contract brews for more than a dozen craft brewers, including popular Northeastern brands Lawson’s Finest Liquids, Peak Organic Brewing and Notch — produced about 42,000 barrels of its own product in 2016.

In recent months, the company has expanded distribution to Colorado, Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Ontario, Canada. It also opened a taproom at Bradley International Airport.

A press release with more information is below.

Two Roads Breaks Ground on New Brewery

STRATFORD, Conn. — Two Roads Brewing Company is pleased to announce an exciting new chapter in its development. On October 12, Stratford, CT based Two Roads broke ground on its new facility–Area Two Experimental Brewing. The groundbreaking was presided over by the four co-founders: CEO Brad Hittle, CCO Clement Pellani, Master Brewer Phil Markowski and CFO Peter Doering.

Area Two, which sits adjacent to Two Roads’ main brewery, will be a playground for Markowski and the brewing staff to be creative with all manner of barrel aging, wild yeast propagation and other experimental brewing techniques. New beers will be introduced at this facility including Brett beers, sours, and spirit-based barrel-aged beers. Some Two Roads favorites such as Urban Funk, Worker’s Stomp and their award winning Lambic-style series will also be made at Area Two.

“I am really excited to be able to let loose on creating unique and exciting brands at Area Two,” said Markowski. “Because we cannot take the risk of bringing all these funky yeasts into our main brewery, we haven’t been able to produce these types of beers in appreciable quantity. Area Two will provide us with that ability.”

The brewery can house up to 1500 wood barrels and will contain a tasting room with an outdoor deck, small private event facility and a coolship. Construction of the 25,000-sq. ft. $12 million facility should take about a year to complete. Beers are already in the works to pour at Area Two for the opening, including the 2016 Great American Beer Festival gold medal winning Lambic-style sour called Hexotic.

“Our new facility will be a place where people can enjoy an array of complex, barrel-aged beers that in some cases are soured and aged for up to 30 months,” said Hittle. “The project includes a significant investment in the rehabilitation of almost 1.5 acres of wetlands, which patrons will be able to view and enjoy from a second floor tasting room. This addition to our 9.6 acre brewing campus will create new jobs while bringing in thousands of people to Connecticut to enjoy an extensive line-up of beers from both of our breweries.”

Follow Two Roads’ social channels and website to watch Area Two take shape. The building is slated to open in Autumn of 2018.

ABOUT TWO ROADS BREWING COMPANY

Two Roads opened its doors in December 2012 having earlier acquired and renovated a 100-year-old vacant, brick factory building in Stratford, CT. Its name and philosophy are inspired by the Robert Frost poem “The Road Not Taken”—a philosophy brought to life in the beers they create using the highest quality brewing and packaging equipment. Two Roads Brewing Tasting Room is open every day; for more information go to www.tworoadsbrewing.com.