Keeping Up with Fast Growth When a Beer Hits Big

Roger Davis has been in sort of ‘scramble mode’ for a while now. Two beers for Red Hare Brewing took off sales-wise and the brewery is working hard to keep it coming for its fanbase.

That meant the Marietta, Georgia brewery had to quickly add a 90-barrel unitank as well as a new chiller to add to the cooling capacity. Both systems were slated to be online this week to accommodate the fast growth.

Davis, a co-founder of the brewery, said the management team has been considering the additions since last year because of the spring/summer popularity of their SPF 50/50 Tangerine Radler product.

“When working on the Radler line extension late last year we simultaneously were developing our Soft J hazy IPA,” he explained. “When we launched the Soft J in late December it became very popular very fast and with the favorable trials of the SPF Tangerine in early February we felt we needed to move quickly to make a bit more brewing headspace.”

Davis noted that Soft J is a very finicky product and can’t be rushed, the new uni-tank will be the home for that beer.

That meant a capacity increase of 15 percent. The demand for Red Hare’s beers have increased 40 percent over the past two months. Those gains were not expected until the spring and summer months.

“We are currently out of stock of both beers for our distributors,” Davis said.

A second brewery is to be announced this spring in coastal Shallotte, North Carolina, which will feature small batches of experimental beers as well. That meant a need for capital as well.

“We have a very close relationship with our bank partner (CharterBank of Cobb County) and keep them close at hand with timely financials and constant communication which gives us a good platform to add capacity when we need it,” Davis said.

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