Breckenridge Brewery, the fifth largest Colorado-based brewing company, recently completed a new $35-million brewery complex to accommodate increased demand for its products and to provide additional dining amenities for local consumers. The new 79,150 SF, three-building complex, which was styled to resemble a farm house site, is comprised of a Brewhouse Building, a Production Building, and a Restaurant Building. The new complex will have an initial brewing capacity of approximately 70,000 barrels per year, with ultimate production capacity of 300,000 barrels per year.

The 20,900 SF, two-story Brewhouse Building contains a brewing area, a malt handling area, a cooler for hops, a boiler plant, offices, a conference room, and a tasting room. The 49,050 SF Production Building houses a fermentation process area, a bottling area, a barrel cellar, a barrel aging room, a canning area, a kegging area, a product cooler, dry goods storage areas, and a quality control lab. The 9,200 SF Restaurant Building consists of a restaurant with a seating area, a lounge, a kitchen, and a gift shop.

The project was designed with an emphasis on sustainability, which included the following energy- and water-saving measures.

• Energy-efficient direct evaporative cooling for process spaces in the Production Building and for the Restaurant Building kitchen
• Natural ventilation in the Brewhouse Building to bring in plenty of fresh air when outdoor conditions will allow
• Destratification fans to add comfort in the summer months and to redistribute warm air in the winter months
• 95%-efficient condensing boilers for comfort heat in the Brewhouse and Restaurant buildings
• Reuse of waste water for landscape use via a water capture, filtration, and storage system

The RMH Group served as the project’s mechanical/electrical engineer and lighting designer.

Awards

• American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado, Engineering Excellence Awards, Merit Award, Industrial and Manufacturing Processes and Facilities Category, 2016
• ENR Mountain States’ Best Projects, Colorado/Wyoming & Plains States Best Projects Winner, Residential/Hospitality Category, 2015