Helena’s Blackfoot River Brewing Co. installed a new 30 bbl Bavarian Brewing fermenter on Monday, a move which ensures Blackfoot can continue to brew a wide variety of beer styles while satisfying the cravings of Single Malt IPA lovers.  Owner and brewer Brian Smith picked up the tank in Colorado this past weekend after it arrived from the European manufacturer along with equipment destined for a new brewery in Telluride.

Prior to this addition, Blackfoot River’s brewing systems consisted of six 15 bbl fermenters.  Frequent patrons know Blackfoot always has a wide variety of beers on tap and frequently brews up small batches of special offerings. With Singlemalt IPA making up nearly half the beer Blackfoot produces, space was getting tight for continued production of specialty beers.  Also, the extensive dry hopping of the Singlemalt IPA doesn’t allow the yeast to be harvested for reuse, presenting yeast management challenges as well.  Brian says the new fermenter will be used exclusively for the Singlemalt, allowing a double batch to be fermented and freeing up space for other beer styles. 

Initially, the new fermenter will not result in much of a capacity increase, but should allow Blackfoot to make more styles, do more barrel aging, and more cask and bottle conditioned beers. A 30bbl conditioning tank is due to arrive in September which may result in a bit more capacity.  Once that’s in place, Brian says there’s no more room for equipment.  With Blackfoot’s exceptional quality gaining more fans everyday, something tells me that won’t be the end of the story. (Picture courtesy of Blackfoot River Brewing Co.)