MARKS Newsletter for Q4 2022

MARKS is excited to partner with Yakima Chief Hops (YCH) and Yakima Chief Ranches (YCR) in designing and building two very unique and highly customized pilot brewhouses for hop trial beers. Yakima Chief Hops is a 100% grower-owned network of family hop farms that globally supplies many hop varieties. Its sister company, Yakima Chief Ranches, develops new hop varieties in their extensive breeding program. The combined Yakima Chiefs are the industry leader in brewing solutions and hops innovation. Their pioneering efforts in research and full sensory analysis of hop profiles provides brewers the best hops to make great craft beer.

Yakima Chief’s Director of Brewing Innovations Blaze Ruud came to MARKS with a unique project to create 2 special pilot brewhouses that met their requirements for servicing their hop trial brewing programs. Blaze and his team could not find a standard brewhouse design to fulfill their needs. The project required extensive collaboration between MARKS’ engineering team and YCH and YCR Brewery Innovations to create these special pilot brewhouses. These brewhouses are high-tech systems that unite distinctive brewing functionality with complex data logging, tracking and innovative built-in energy monitoring. The two pilot brewhouses are designed to meet the unique space requirements of YCH and YCR. MARKS’ engineering and production teams collaborated closely with YCR and YCH in building and commissioning the highly custom brewhouses for brewing exceptional beers that showcase every nuance in hop aroma and flavor of all their hop variety experiments. It is these trial beers that support the development of Yakima Chief’s hop breeding program.

The innovative brewhouse design has truly unique system features. These features will become part of a whole new way to approach craft brewing. Our partnership with Yakima Chief is leading the way for new MARKS’ energy efficient brewery projects. Stay tuned for more news on new energy efficient brewhouse designs!

Checkout Yakima Chief’s Instagram

Hopping into craft brewing with lower energy costs!

Let’s face it. Craft brewing is super cool. I mean, where else can you roll up your sleeves and create something tasty, bubbly and so socially accepted? But as sexy as this artisan world is, it comes complete with its energy-sucking demons that not only cost you a pile of money but are also bad for the environment. And you know who’s not going to appreciate that? The Gen Zers and millennials who make up the lion’s share of your craft beer drinking target market.

Brewing beer takes an enormous amount of water and electricity to brew a single barrel. In fact, did you know that it takes an average of seven barrels of water to brew just one barrel of craft beer? Craft brewing is a very resource-intensive art. Some may even label it a wasteful one. However, there are things you can do to reduce the waste, the operational costs, and the impact on the environment. But first and foremost, saving on energy costs reduces most of the waste and helps you have higher margins (read “profits”) while doing what you love. Let’s dive into the hidden costs of brewing.

Continue reading about how energy costs bite into the profits of your craft brewing operations.
or
Start reading about the worst energy offenders in the craft brewing industry!

Dual Citizen Brewing Company is an amazing craft brewery located in St. Paul, Minnesota. Their mission is to make great craft beer, while giving back to the community. Their mission statement summarizes them best, “Dual Citizen is a community-focused brewhouse with inspired, modern takes on classically-styled beers. All with a focus on celebrating community roots and developing local pride.” Dual Citizen is doubling down by investing in the St. Paul area with the buildout of their new production facility. This new space includes a MARKS Design and Metalworks 20 barrel 4 vessel brewhouse, allowing them to substantially increase their beer production and distribution.

Since it first opened its doors in 2018, Dual Citizen is a successful community-focused business where people come together to enjoy locally made beer. A unique aspect of Dual Citizen Brewing Company (DCBC) is their focus on “dual citizenship,” is reflected in their brews, branding and philanthropic activities. DCBC beers, meticulously crafted by head brewer Bradley Zimmerman, celebrate the diverse cultures and backgrounds of their community by incorporating ingredients from around the world. Additionally, a portion of their profits are donated to local organizations supporting immigrants and refugees. With the new production facility, Dual Citizen Brewing Company is better equipped to share their beer and love of their community.

Equally important, DCBC believes that every business has a responsibility as an environmental steward. This is reflected in their custom-designed MARKS’ brewhouse configuration. Built into the semi-automated functionality of their brewhouse, DCBC’s design is focused on high efficiency. Using an integrated power metering module, Dual Citizen can review real time electricity usage and automatically save the data for later reporting. This feature allows Dual to change processes or automated functions to be more energy efficient. DCBC also had MARKS build into the brewhouse a highly efficient condensate stack, allowing them to reclaim significant thermal energy from the steam vapors produced during the boil. When you are drinking a Dual Citizen beer you can be assured that the sudsy brew is having a positive impact on the community and environment at large.

Checkout Dual Citizen’s Instagram

MARKS was fortunate to be a part of the Washington Craft Beer Summit in November 2022. The summit is specifically tailored to Washington breweries with educational seminars, trade show and industry reception that culminated with the Washington Beer Awards.

It was great to mingle with all our customers and other industry professionals. With 187 competing breweries and 1,400 beers submitted, we saw over 12 loyal MARKS customers take home medals at this WA beer awards ceremony.  Congratulations to all our winners and award winning breweries!

With yeast prices on the rise, it is a great time to get into yeast propagation! MARKS’ yeast brink/propagation vessels are made in America. Each propagator includes an insulated glycol cooling jacket, variable speed mixing with top mounted gear drive and variable frequency drive (VFD), and temperature control.

The MARKS cylindrically-conical (45-degree cone bottom) yeast propagation vessel is manufactured in nine standard sizes. Standard working tank volumes are 3, 5, 8, 10, and 15 barrels (BBL). These propagation vessels are designed with 25% headspace volume for the storage and propagation of yeast used in the fermentation of beer, spirits, and other beverages. These vessels are designed and outfitted with standard and optional equipment and features to individual customer requirements.