A New Astoria Canning Operation: Fort George
John Foyston, sporting the new "special to the Oregonian" tag on his byline, has a fascinating story about Fort George in today's paper. The ten-cent recap: Chris Nemlowill and Jack Harris bought that cool old (namesake) building that houses Fort George and they have very big plans. Most intriguing to me is this:
Anyway, lots more in the story, so go have a look.
The deal gives Astoria its own Brewery Block, and Nemlowill and Harris have lots of plans, beginning with a new production brewery and canning line on the ground floor of the Lovell Building....The result will be canned pounders of Vortex IPA--a fitting start, given that Vortex was named after the expedition to acquire the first brewery. (Video here of Chris describing it.) Vortex is also one of their best beers and a fantastic IPA, too, which probably factored into the decision.
Brewer Jack Harris and his crew of helpers will trek to Houston, Texas in March to disassemble a used 30-barrel brew system (930 gallons) and three 1,800-gallon fermentation tanks that they're buying from St. Arnold Brewing and load it onto five trucks for the trek to Astoria. The system will increase capacity nearly fourfold from thee current 260 gallon brewhouse, which will remain in operation in the Fort George Building.
Anyway, lots more in the story, so go have a look.