Processing, February 2018

Cover Series Food Beverage Keep beer production flowing without hen business partners Drew Wiles and Jon Humerick first planned to build their own brewery in Virginia they knew before breaking ground that they would install W pre insulated plastic pipe and fittings for their glycol loop The decision was based not only from the pairs prior experience working at a brewery and touring other facilities but also from Wiles background at his familys winery With a degree and experience in business administration Humerick started working at Beltway Brewing Company after he went there as a potential customer I was doing the business planning for my own brewery and I wanted to hire Beltway Brewing to make beer for it Humerick said I quickly realized that to be successful in such a rapidly growing and changing industry I needed to have experience So I took an opportunity to work there and thats where I met Drew Wiles completed studies in microbiology in college and then moved back home and helped his mother and brother start a winery It was really almost out of necessity he said Our family inherited a piece of farmland and instead of parceling it off selling it and losing the family farm we created a workable family business with the opening of Paradise Springs Winery in 2008 With his biology background Wiles liked to hang out with the winemakers in the fermentation cellar on the production side of things After about four years of making wine at the winery he started making wine at home and then brewing beer People were asking when he was going to start a brewery Everyone thinks that a winery and a brewery are similar industries but in reality they are completely different said Wiles From production to packaging serving and then to distribution if you want to be successful you have to know the ins and outs of both When I did decide thats the direction I wanted to take I knew I would have to learn the business To do that Wiles went to work for Beltway Brewery as quality assurance quality control manager of fermentation After about a year and a half he became production manager overseeing all production packaging and warehousing The goal was always to start my own brewery said Wiles so finding a partner like Jon at Beltway to accomplish that was exactly what I needed to get going on building a facility Wiles and Humerick learned about GF Piping Systems COOL FIT ABS Plus pre insulated plastic piping system for secondary cooling from touring numerous breweries but also from experience with Wiles family winery ABS pipe and fittings are made from a thermoplastic resin called Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene ABS for short At Paradise we had initially installed insulated PVC and learned the drawbacks there you could see mold growing and there were leaks It definitely wasnt aesthetic or sanitary Wiles said Because of these issues the winery upgraded to this unique system during the time Wiles and Humerick were working at Beltway Brewing By that time we knew all about this pre insulated ABS piping for secondary cooling and that it was really the best choice This ready to install system is a corrosion free pre insulated ABS piping with a lifespan of 25 years The systems core pipe can convey cold fluids down to 50 F and it is insulated with high density closed cell polyurethane foam and protected with a watertight ultraviolet UV resistant black polyethylene jacket The entire system is vaportight and shows no thermal bridges which minimizes energy loss along the lines To save on expenses Wiles and Humerick installed the entire piping system themselves including drops for future expansion Because of their experience at Beltway Brewing the partners had learned the importance of proper installation and spent a lot of time in the business planning stage on engineering The general contractor for the Solace build was a 18 Processing FEBRUARY 2018 leaks o r m o l d Brewers turn to pre insulated ABS piping system for secondary cooling needs By Angela Sampaio GF Piping Systems Everyone thinks a winery and a brewery are similar industries but in reality they are completely different to be successful you have to know the ins and outs of both