Stumble Roots, Crumble Roots, Bumble Roots, maybe one day Humble Roots!
We joke around here that we will have ALL the answers for the NEXT gigantic, expensive, involved brewery that we build. Though I hope the day never comes where I have to spearhead the construction of another commercial production facility in the city!
Stumblin
Back in spring 2022 (which feels like a lifetime ago, and yesterday at the same time), we had to make the hard but important decision to go a different direction with our construction type for the new brewery. The consequence of doing so meant that we had to literally go back to the drawing board. At the time, we remained hopeful that we could still make things happen during Summer 2022, since we had done a ton of the exploratory/layout work already. We assumed the process would go much quicker a second time since we knew WHAT we wanted, and HOW we wanted it. This however, was absolutely not the case. Way back then we still had a couple concrete walls from the old laundromat standing (ish), the underlying concrete pad, auxiliary plumbing in the ground, and all sorts of random things laying in the ground.
Crumblin
Those walls had to go. Turns out the engineering necessary to somehow reinforce them in a way that made them salvageable was both costly and structurally inefficient. So while we launched our team of engineers on developing a plan set for the new building, we began demolishing 100% of the old building. Of course, just like any demolition project, nothing is ever as simple as knocking stuff down and calling it a day. With the demolition came new and exciting decisions to make about virtually everything that would one day sit above ground.
Pic: With a smooth pad, we began to dig trenches that would be home to a whole buncha foundation stuff.
It has felt like every step forward has presented us with a new set of annoying compromises to make in the interest of trudging forward to get this thing done. After drilling core samples across the entirety of the lots that make up our property we came to the conclusion that we would need to bury Helical Piers deep into the ground, tied together with an on-grade concrete beam, which would carry the load of the building. Involved to say the least, but less involved than digging out roughly 1600 square feet, 7 feet deep of material and compacting it back to build on top of.
Pic: Our jobsite briefly looked like the beaches of WWII Normandy while we injected Helical Piers deep into the crust of the earth.
Pic: For what felt like an eternity, me and two other guys welded, tied, and laid every square inch of this rebar cage into the foundation trench.
Pic: Boom! Walking around the inside of this foundation is surreal. One day, you will too!
Bumblin
So where does this leave us? We were very confident that we would have a full set of drawings in a manner of time that would allow us to get walls up this fall. As I look out my office window at the light dusting of snow on the foundation we’ve built so far, and the empty chalk outline on my desk that says, “FULL SET OF DRAWINGS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF HUMBLE ROOTS BEER PROJECT,” my confidence has come to a screeching halt.
We will be holding off on getting walls up until spring 2023.
Our ambitious goal is to put our heads to the sky and our hands to the paper this winter, and our boots to the ground in the spring. Although our timeline now requires the utmost attention to detail, to line out this construction in a way that sees us opening winter 2023, that is our goal. Until then, we will continue to make beer at our humble little baby brewery above the Midnite Mine, and dream of the day we get to debut this thing to you for real. Until then, here are some 3D renderings that keep us excited as the days grow shorter!
Pic: From the taproom you will be able to oversee me working on beer production. Please yell things at me and throw peanuts as you see fit.
Pic: From the taproom you can access our outdoor seating that lives between us and Midnite Mine, or the fenced in patio that runs along Wendell through a big ole glass overhead door. Or hangout inside, we will try to make it cozy!
Pic: When I’m bored in our primary production area, I will also throw peanuts at YOU.