GANDER, NL – Entering the Roe Avenue location of Scudrunner Brewing, earlier this week, there was a flurry of activity as a crew from Burlington, Ont. completed the installation of large, stainless steel fermenting tanks for the soon-to-be-opened microbrewery.
The fabrication crew manufactured the tanks and brew house, and shipped them to Gander for assembly.
After taking over the building on June 1, Scudrunner founders Sam Newman and Dave Jerrett set to work preparing the brewery, tearing up flooring, adding plumbing, getting an insulated cold room in place, and working on electrical upgrades, along with other work required to ready the building for the installation.
It’s a long way from the small batch brewing the two started with more than four years ago, and the Scudrunner crew is hopeful everything will be ready within the next two weeks to start the brewing process. An official opening is expected within the next month.
“It’s been a big undertaking, but we are very excited about this,” said Newman. “I’ve always said if you’re going to get wet, it’s just as well to go swimming.
“So instead of doing a one-barrel system, we went with a full-on brewery, as it makes a better business case.”
When opened, Scudrunner will focus on five key brews, and will have brewing capacity of up to 6,000 litres – two 1,000-litre single batch tanks, and two 2,000-litre double batch tanks.
The company is also working on producing charitable brews for special functions.
The business model will include distribution through tap at the brewery, along with having cans and kegs available for purchase.
An agreement has been reached with the Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation to shelve the product at locations throughout the province.