Expanded Red Lodge Ales will use sun to brew beer, snow to chill it

Red Lodge, MT -- As the frozen air glittered at 19 below, there was no doubt Sam Hoffmann's plan for natural air refrigeration could work. The only question was whether the beer would freeze solid.

Hoffmann, president of Red Lodge Ales Brewing Co., has big plans for his expansive new brewery. Now under construction on the north end of Red Lodge, the 11,000-square-foot steel-sided building will have enough floor space to hold four of its predecessors. And, in spite of the current economic maelstrom, Hoffmann has designed the new facility with a capacity to brew four to six times as much beer.

"It's a pretty stressful period," Hoffmann admits. "But, assuming the economy comes back in a year or two, we should be fine."

To make the growth spurt successful in the face of high barley prices and hops costs averaging four to five times historical prices, Hoffman has had to add a few quarters to the cost of his pints and growlers.
*
Likewise, regulars at Sam's Tap Room will be saddened in January to see the demise of the "Brewer's Club," which, for an annual fee of $20 had given discounts on beer for its 500-some members.

But the microbrewery is more than holding its own. Over its first decade - Red Lodge Ales marked its 10th anniversary this year - the brewery has historically grown 20 percent annually. This year, sales eased up for the past two months, but Hoffmann still expects to wrap up the year enjoying a 13 percent increase in volume.

"It's better than Ford, for sure," he said, grinning.

As the market began to flatten this fall in Bozeman and Red Lodge, the brewery expanded its footprint in Billings. Already available at 40-some locations in Billings, the Rex and the Granary recently added Hoffmann's popular brews to their beers on tap.

"Billings sales have been bailing us out," Hoffmann said. "It's the big bright spot."

• • •

A Boston native of German ancestry, Hoffmann worked construction when he arrived in Red Lodge in 1996. Within two years, he had opened the town's first microbrewery in part of what once was the old Food Farm.

"I was up and open and brewing my first batch of beer for under $100,000," he said, laughing. "On the grand scheme of things, we're still a tiny brewery. But then we were a really tiny brewery."

In 2000, Red Lodge Ales and Sam's Tap Room relocated to its current location at 417 North Broadway, but by 2006 its brew house was bursting the building.

"For the last two or three years, we just couldn't move back there," he said.

Following several years of planning and permits, the new brewery is taking shape. The roof was supposed to be done more than a week ago, but a light drifting of snow inside revealed otherwise. When all is said and done, it'll be no fern bar but a no-frills brewery that offers a good pint of beer. And come March, when it's targeted for opening, the new facility's south-facing beer garden should be awash in sunlight.

But even when the new brewery comes online, Hoffmann will keep his current brew house cooking - at least for a while.

"We didn't want to take the risk of interrupting production," he said.

• • •

This time, starting from the ground up, Hoffmann has incorporated green technology into his spacious new brewery. And that includes the Freeaire refrigeration system, an air exchange system that is regulated by computer. When the outside temperature is low enough, a sensor shuts down the compressor for a net reduction in energy consumption.

"They predict that 160 days of the year, we won't have to run any conventional refrigeration," he said.

Besides natural cooling, the new brewery will tap into natural heating. A vast array of solar panels - in fact, according to Hoffmann, what may be the largest solar thermal array in the state - will stretch across more than 100 feet of the brewery's southern rooftop. The panels will heat water to warm the facility and for the hot water needed to mash grain in the brewing process.

Because the panels are thermal rather than photovoltaic (the former heats water, the latter creates electricity), they are significantly more efficient, Hoffmann pointed out. The technology produces more hot water than the typical home would ever use, he said, but it's just the ticket for a brewery.

"We can use every BTU the sun can create for us," he said. "It's a perfect match."

• • •

Besides its big beer house, the new brewery will also have room for "brewing" biodiesel.

Hoffmann's quest for green fuel resulted as a spinoff from his beer distribution. As he delivered beer to local businesses, he started picking up their waste vegetable oil and turning it into biodiesel.

"It's become a hobby," he said, "trying to make better and better fuel."

He uses the biodiesel to fuel his delivery truck and his own 1981 Peugeot. It gives the same mileage as regular diesel, he said, minus the sulfur. Until now, however, cold weather put the chill on his garage-based production.

"Now we'll have the space to make it year 'round," he said.

• • •

As Red Lodge Ales takes its next big step, Hoffmann is banking on the tried and true. He attributes his success to a local concoction of ingredients, customer base and community.

Montana barley, the naturally soft water of Red Lodge and the cool, dry climate make for great brewing conditions, he said. And the batches brewed at Red Lodge Ales are small enough and brewed often enough that the beer is always fresh.

But the success of Red Lodge Ales is also rooted in its local sales, which account for 65 percent of its business, and Hoffmann's sense of community. Not only does he support local causes, but he's committed to paying his five full-time employees a living wage, with vacation and benefits after six months.

There's also a camaraderie that promotes sharing of ideas, like the Freeaire refrigeration system, which was pioneered locally by Martha Young, owner of St. Regis; or the solar expertise of Brian Betz and his Efficient Radiant Systems.

But when it comes to the beer - and that's where it all begins - Hoffmann gives kudos to Justin Moore, head brewer at Red Lodge Ales.

"He's a chemical engineer," Hoffmann said.

As if that explains it all.

By LINDA HALSTEAD-ACHARYA

Of The Gazette Staff

December 21, 2008