First Look at Lagunitas Azusa: What We Know So Far

On April 19^th Lagunitas Brewing Co, the nation’s sixth largest craft brewing company, opened the doors of its new Azusa campus for the first time to neighbors, press, and industry members. Lagunitas welcomed its guests in true Lagunitas fashion, complete with live music, food trucks, and plenty of beer on tap. They even utilized one of their three massive (and empty) warehouses for both a party space and roller derby rink. The event was attended by Southern California beer nerds and local politicians alike, and was a fitting way to build ties to the San Gabriel Valley.

In a press preview prior to the festivities, Communications Director Karen Hamilton provided some details of the location, which I’m happy to share with you now. The gargantuan brewery campus spans three new warehouse structures, and is expected to put out around 1.8 million barrels of beer per year at full capacity. That’s a staggering amount of suds.

Lagunitas Director of Communications Karen Hamilton

Building One will house shipping and receiving as well as cold storage and office space. Building Two will house a keg, bottling, and canning line (that’s right, Lagunitas CANS) and spit out bottles at a mind blowing 750-800 bottles per minute. Building Three is where most of us will be spending our time, as it will be home not only to the future taproom (located on the second floor to give a birds eye view of the facility), restaurant, gift shop, and rooftop beer bar, but also to the brewery’s three-250 barrel brew houses.

Current plans include 90 55-foot-tall fermenters, 12 bright tanks, and three centrifuges as well, making this truly a monster beer-making facility, bigger than Lagunitas’ campuses in either Petaluma or Chicago. And of course, there will be an amphitheater, because according to Hamilton, “where ever you find Lagunitas, you find music.” Just like the MillerCoors plant located within eye’s view, Lagunitas will utilize Azusa water as well as its citizens, creating 200 jobs through initial hires.

The buildings sit empty for now, but it shouldn’t be more than a year before we see an open taproom signaling signs of life, and signs of more beer to come. Here’s some more photos to keep us thirsty in the meantime.

Architectural plans

Azusa Mayor Joe Rocha

Ron Lindenbusch, Lagunitas’ Director of Marketing

Roller Derby in full effect

The Bread & Barley crew

Beer Friends!