Two Roads Brewery, founded in 2012, serves seven brews year-round, several seasonal and limited release brews, all crafted by their master brewers on site.  The building it occupies once was a U.S. Baird manufacturing facility and has since been repurposed for the art of craft brewing.  Since renovation of the historical building, the brewery boasts a large tasting room, canning line, brew house, dry storage, grain house, hop yard, shop, and enough room to host a private party.  So it came as no surprise when Two Roads enlisted the help of one of the HVAC/R industry’s top distributors, Carrier Enterprise (CE), to manage the enormous task of providing process cooling for its operations.

The most important element of any brew is the wort, which is a liquid derived from the mashing process and contains sugars that are fermented through the brewing of yeast to produce alcohol.  In order to produce the wort, a brewery needs proper chiller equipment to maintain the perfect temperature for overall success of that brew.  It’s easy to understand why breweries are so heavily dependent on chillers and chiller machinery.  And that’s where CE came in.  

Two Roads worked very closely with Gregg Mello from CE’s Connecticut office.  Mello, who also has a personal passion for craft brewing, was quick to understand the brewery’s needs and point it in the right direction. 

The Carrier Aqua Force air-cooled screw chiller, also the manufacturer’s most energy-efficient product, was a system designed by Mello specifically for this project.  In terms of numbers, the product provides 100 tons per chiller of process cooling.  This worked in conjunction with the existing chiller in the brewery.  In total, Two Roads now has the capacity to chill a 180,000 barrel production.  Mello selected Carrier’s Model # 30XA162 with direct expansion flooded coolers designed especially for low temp operation.   These units are each designed to make 27° F leaving 33 percent propylene glycol mix with a flow rate of 425 gpm producing 100 tons of process cooling for Two Roads brewery.

Two Roads, like all breweries across America, prides itself on using local products and materials to serve their clientele.  When Mello first went to Phil Markowski, he actually had a very good handle on what was required.   “I don’t know if he [Markowski] knew how quick he’d grow into what he’d be building, but he definitely knew what his building could handle as far as brewing capacity.  So he came to me with a lot of information.  He’s an engineer as well, so he knew about BTU’s, etc.,” recounts Mello.  Markowski had a good grasp on what the company did, and it was really up to CE to define the best solution for his needs.   Again, he wanted the most efficient machine in order to minimize energy costs.  

“I think I ran three different machines, different types of compression.  We settled with the Carrier 30X A Screw Machine, but we had looked at a couple other scroll compression chillers that weren’t as efficient” explains Mello.  They would have worked.  They were lower cost.  But Markowski and his team understand that first cost isn’t everything.  Maintenance costs and operating costs also impact such a major equipment investment.   And Two Roads understands this.

 The craft beer industry has been a hot topic across America for a number of years.  As these projects increase, so too do the sustainability factors surrounding them.  Two Roads has a solar hot water system for the brewery.  There were a total of three phases for the brewery project, with the last phase closing up last month.  Again, with sustainability in mind, Two Roads and CE are leading the efforts for quality business practices and cutting-edge solutions.  

CE provides a comprehensive array of HVAC/R solutions, including commercial & residential equipment, VRF & ductless systems, and parts & supplies.  Visit CE at www.carrierenterprise.com to learn more about its unique online solutions and mobile app designed especially for the HVAC contractor.