Copperworks increases production capacity

A new brewing partnership has allowed Copperworks Distilling Co to immediately increase its American whiskey output.

The partnership with brewer Talking Cedar is part of Copperworks’ ongoing expansion – which includes a crowdfunding campaign, that has raised US$317,245.27 in investment at the time of writing.

Talking Cedar will store locally sourced malted barley, chosen and purchased by Seattle-based Copperworks.

“In fact, one of the five 60,000 lb grain silos at Talking Cedar is reserved exclusively for Copperworks,” said Jason Parker, Copperworks Distilling Co president, co-founder and co-owner.

Talking Cedar will brew and ferment the malted barley (without hops) according to Copperworks’ specific recipe. Until now, fermentation had solely taken place at the Copperworks distillery.

“Thanks to this partnership, we’ve seen an immediate increase in our whiskey production, which will continue (up to five times our previous capacity) as we expand the Copperworks’ production team in the future,” said Jeff Kanof, Copperworks Distilling Co vice-president and co-owner.

“While we had initially planned to construct our own production facility during our previous crowdfunding campaign in 2021, the opportunity to partner with Talking Cedar became available following the campaign’s conclusion. We realised this would save us millions in capital expenditure, plus years of design and construction.”

Parker added: “Bottom line – we found a way to increase our production capacity immediately, and so are now making whiskey that will be available for sale before we’d have even completed building a new brewery.”

Talking Cedar is situated in the Chehalis River Valley in Seattle.

Copperworks has been working with a trio of brewers until this point, and will continue to do so: Pike Brewing, Elysian Brewing, and Fremont Brewing.

“This beer has always been made to our specifications and with the local malted barley we’ve selected, then transferred to our distillery where our distillers handle the rest of the production process – fermentation, distillation, barrelling, maturation and bottling,” added Parker.

“These invaluable partnerships have allowed us to grow steadily over the last decade. As a sign of our success, we’ve reached maximum capacity with our first three brewing partners, and thanks to my long-standing connection with Scott [La Roy, Talking Cedar’s plant manager] and Talking Cedar’s new, state-of-the-art facility, we have another outstanding Washington state partner to help us meet our demand as we continue to expand.”