Brooklyn Brewery Is Building Another Plant 4,000 Miles Away

Brooklyn Brewery is building another plant about 4,000 miles away, all the way across the Atlantic.

The 8,000 barrel brewery will be in Stockholm, Sweden, and it should be open by the end of 2013. The plant and restaurant will look over Stockholm's harbor.

So, why Sweden?

It's actually the brewery's second-largest market, behind New York City and has a vibrant beer culture.

“This is a project that takes us deeper into the Swedish market with a local brewing presence and allows us to get into the fabric of the Swedish brewing culture,” COO Eric Ottoway told Brewbound. “It will give us the flexibility to do small, locally produced batches where we collaborate with local brewers and chefs in a way we can’t currently.”

The project will cost around $5 million and will be managed and operated by a wholly-owned subsidiary in Sweden. Brooklyn will oversee parts of the business.

Here's the full press release:

BROOKLYN, NY—Brooklyn Brewery, D. Carnegie & Co., and Carlsberg Sweden today announced the launch of a new brewery and restaurant in central Stockholm.

The Brooklyn- New Carnegie Brewery will be built in the landmarked Luma Factory buildings in Hammarby Sjöstad , a residential and commercial complex that fronts on Stockholm harbor. The waterfront brewery will have brewing capacity for 8,000 BBL’s and restaurant capacity for 100 visitors inside and another 150 visitors outside.

The Brooklyn Brewery will manage and operate the project through a wholly owned Swedish subsidiary, and Brooklyn Brewmaster Garrett Oliver and his team will be brewing special Brooklyn beers and developing new beers for the New Carnegie brand.

“We love Stockholm, and the whole Brooklyn brewing team is looking forward to their stints at Brooklyn-New Carnegie. We’re going to have a lot of fun brewing and creating beers with our Swedish team,” said Oliver.

In 2011, the Brooklyn Brewery collaborated with Carnegie to produce a bourbon barrel-aged version of the world classic beer Carnegie Porter to celebrate the 175th anniversary of the Carnegie Brewery.

“We distributed Carnegie Porter years ago in New York,” said Brooklyn Brewery Chief Operating Officer Eric Ottaway, who is spearheading the project for the Brooklyn Brewery. “We have great respect for the tradition that Carnegie represents, and we look forward to developing the portfolio of beers.”

Joakim Losin, CEO of New Carnegie, said the brewery and restaurant would be a meeting place for Sweden’s craft brewers and their followers, and a school for Swedish beer lovers to learn more about craft beer. The new brewery/restaurant will be open for tours and regular lunches and dinners. It also will host special events in a demonstration kitchen.

Carnegie is the oldest trademark in Sweden. The company was purchased by Carlsberg when it bought the Pripps Brewery in 2001, and Carlsberg Sweden was established.

Brooklyn Brewery brands have been imported by Carlsberg Sweden since 2006. Sweden is the largest export market for the Brooklyn Brewery.

Brooklyn ships many of its bottled beers to Sweden, including its flagship Brooklyn Lager and its 750-ml bottle-conditioned beers like Brooklyn Local 1 and Brooklyn Sorachi Ace. It also ships tankers of beer to
Sweden which are kegged in Falkenberg. Brooklyn Lager and Brooklyn East India Pale Ale are available on draft all over Sweden.

Brooklyn Brewery is America’s leading craft beer exporter. Brooklyn also has a joint venture partnership with the Amarcord Brewery in Apecchio, Italy. Brooklyn imports Amarcord’s Ama Bionda and Ama Bruna beers to the United States.