Revolution Brewery Expansion

Kennedy Industrial Corridor, Chicago, IL

With continued success and increased demand for their beer, Revolution Brewing recently expanded their production facility. Having outgrown their existing space and the tanks required to increase capacity three-fold being too tall to fit inside the building, an addition was designed to suspend new 800 barrel fermentation vessels (weighing 320,000 pounds each) from a structural concrete roof with enclosed working cellar below. The 90,000 sq ft facility now accommodates a second 120 barrel brewhouse, a wet mill, an automated keg line, additional cold storage, a shipping office, and corporate offices.

Having worked with Revolution from the beginning and through many phases of growth, we gained invaluable insight that allowed us to identify sustainable design solutions for built infrastructure as well as the production process itself. A solar electric, photovoltaic array, has also been installed to reduce their carbon footprint and utility operating costs.

Drinking a 6-pack per day, it would take 123 years to empty one of the eight new tanks. This relatively small building expansion increases Revolution’s production from 60,000 to 180,000 barrels annually, allowing them to distribute to new markets.