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Log inWould a silo at Gritty McDuff's in Freeport go against the g
Would a silo at Gritty McDuff's in Freeport go against the g
by Outspoken on Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:22 am
Would a silo at Gritty McDuff's in Freeport go against the grain?
The proposal will come before the town's Project Review Board on Dec. 12.
By TESS NACELEWICZ
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
To hold down the cost of its beer, Gritty McDuff's wants to add a structure at its brew pub in Freeport that people are more used to seeing at a farm: a grain silo.
The microbrewery is proposing the silo to store barley malt, a key ingredient in beer. The price of barley malt is rising because of factors that range from climate change to farmers using barley to feed livestock because their corn is being used to make ethanol, an alternative fuel.
Billy Stebbins, the brewery's manager, said Gritty McDuff's now buys 55-pound sacks of barley malt, for which it is paying 42 cents per pound. The price per pound will nearly double in January, to 80 cents.
The storage silo would let Gritty McDuff's buy grain in bulk, at a lower price, and keep down costs that otherwise could get passed on to customers, Stebbins said.
The proposed silo, which would be 24 feet tall and 12 feet wide and hold 50,000 pounds of grain, will come before the town's Project Review Board on Dec. 12.
Although it wouldn't be the first silo at a microbrewery in Maine -- Shipyard Brewing Co. and the D.L. Geary Brewing Co. Inc. have silos at their facilities in Portland -- it may be the most visible, on the stretch of Route 1 in Freeport known as Lower Main Street.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=152881&ac=PHnws
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
The proposal will come before the town's Project Review Board on Dec. 12.
By TESS NACELEWICZ
Staff Writer Portland Press Herald
To hold down the cost of its beer, Gritty McDuff's wants to add a structure at its brew pub in Freeport that people are more used to seeing at a farm: a grain silo.
The microbrewery is proposing the silo to store barley malt, a key ingredient in beer. The price of barley malt is rising because of factors that range from climate change to farmers using barley to feed livestock because their corn is being used to make ethanol, an alternative fuel.
Billy Stebbins, the brewery's manager, said Gritty McDuff's now buys 55-pound sacks of barley malt, for which it is paying 42 cents per pound. The price per pound will nearly double in January, to 80 cents.
The storage silo would let Gritty McDuff's buy grain in bulk, at a lower price, and keep down costs that otherwise could get passed on to customers, Stebbins said.
The proposed silo, which would be 24 feet tall and 12 feet wide and hold 50,000 pounds of grain, will come before the town's Project Review Board on Dec. 12.
Although it wouldn't be the first silo at a microbrewery in Maine -- Shipyard Brewing Co. and the D.L. Geary Brewing Co. Inc. have silos at their facilities in Portland -- it may be the most visible, on the stretch of Route 1 in Freeport known as Lower Main Street.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=152881&ac=PHnws
Jack Milton/Staff Photographer
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
