Comstock Production Facility expansion 2012
Construction
• Broke ground in April 2011, completed May 2012
• Nearly all components were made in the U.S.A.
• The lumber used for the brewhouse entry doors, banisters and railings was locally grown, sawed, kilned and finished
By the numbers
More than 400: Skilled trade workers employed on project
More than 90,000: Hours spent by skilled trade workers working on this project
More than 1 mile: Combined length of one-inch diameter reinforcement bars (20,000 lb.) used in foundation
36,000: Estimated number of bolts needed to install 16 grain bins
21 feet: Diameter of our new lauter tun, which is also the largest brewing vessel
500,000: Potential total annual capacity (barrels)
More than 57,000 & 19,000 feet: Length of electrical control wire and compressed air lines (respectively) required to power the 400+ valves that were installed
More than 2 miles: Length of process piping connect the brewing vessels
Major Components
Expanded grain-handling system
• 16 main silos (with a capacity of 50,000 lbs. each)
• 10 specialty silos (with a capacity of 4,000 lbs. each)
• The grains system will unload 50,000 lb. of grain in approximately 30 minutes
• 2,000 lbs. of grain can be milled (or ground) in approximately 4 minutes; on the older 50 barrel system, it would take 1 hour to mill the same volume of grain
200-barrel brewing system
• Manufactured by GEA Huppmann
• Vessels were built in Hudson, Wisconsin. Many were transported across Lake Michigan to Ludington on the S.S. Badger.
• Each brewing cycle yields the equivalent of more than 66,000 twelve oz. bottles or 400 standard-size kegs.
• Unique kettle that contains an internal heating system lowering the thermal impact to the wort which improves quality; custom designed in-house by Bell’s employees
New fermentation vessels
• Fourteen new 400-barrel tanks
• Manufactured by Paul Mueller Co. in Springfield, Missouri
• Designed for dry-hopped beers like Two Hearted Ale
Energy Storage System
• The 200-bbl brewing system uses a sophisticated system of heat exchangers & energy storage to capture heat at multiple points in the process and uses that reclaimed energy to pre-heat water & wort prior to boiling, effectively reducing our overall energy needs & waste. For more on other Bell's sustainabiity efforts, go here.
· Many were transported across Lake Michigan to Ludington on the S.S. Badger.
Looking back
The photo gallery below shows just how far we've come.
