Georgia’s Scofflaw Brewing is on its way to having one of the most successful launches in craft beer history.

The Atlanta-based craft brewery is projecting that, after installing three 90-barrel fermentation tanks and a 90-barrel brite tank, boosting its maximum capacity to about 14,000 barrels annually, it will produce more than 8,500 barrels of beer by its first anniversary.

“Nine months ago we started with a brewery that we thought would be oversized,” Scofflaw co-founder Matt Shirah told Brewbound. “Nine months later, we have no tank space. Everything is getting pulled through. Our inventory turns weekly at our distributor, so we had to find more tanks.”

To fund its expansion, Scofflaw tapped into $500,000 from a combination of friends, family and additional founder investment, as well as cash flow, Shirah said. In addition to the new tanks, the company also purchased a centrifuge and analytical equipment that will be used in the brewery’s quality control lab, he added.

Scofflaw, which is located in an 18,000 sq. ft. production facility in the Bolton neighborhood of Atlanta, currently makes beer on a 20-barrel, four-vessel brewhouse. To date, the vast majority of its production has been kegged, despite previous attempts to offer canned beer.

“We’re fortunate to have this kind of pull,” Shirah said, noting that demand for his company’s draft products has limited the brewery’s ability to offer packaged beer for off-premise sales.

Scofflaw is selling between 100 and 120 barrels a week through United Distributors, Shirah said, and the additional capacity won’t immediately enable the company to expand availability of off-premise packages.

Read more at source: Brew Bound