Enlarging a craft brewery is the only path to propelling production.

SweetWater Brewing Company, Inc. (SweetWater) has long-range plans to extend its reach beyond the heart of the Southeast, but first production and the brewery itself needed to grow. For a craft brewer like SweetWater, growth absolutely cannot impact the beer’s taste or quality. Going from microbrewery to the second largest brewery in the Southeast was a huge technical effort, so SweetWater turned to Haskell for help.

Our design reflects the company’s not-so-corporate philosophy and demand for top-notch flavor and quality.

The massive new facility is home to an expanded bottling and packaging hall, keg line, quality assurance lab, machine shop, “not-so-corporate” office space, conference rooms, tasting area, a 4,800-square-foot public events space and a fantastic rooftop deck with skyline views of Midtown and Buckhead. Inside, Haskell-designed packaging systems will quintuple packaging capacity to nearly 500,000 barrels per year. Future project phases include the installation of 14 new 1,000-barrel fermentation tanks and a new 250-barrel brewhouse.

A bigger brewery will broaden the brewer’s distribution and fan base.

The expansion has already improved the quality of the beer and takes care of the neighborhoods where SweetWater is already flowing. In the coming months and years, the brewer will be well-positioned to open up distribution into new areas, states and regions. We were thrilled to provide the beer’s fans with a larger, higher-capacity Atlanta destination in which to visit, tour and sample the tasty year rounds and catch and release brews.