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Last November, D9 Brewing Company opened a small taproom right around the corner from Ass Clown Brewing in Cornelius. From the first time I spoke with co-founder Andrew Durstewitz, he told me he knew their one-barrel system simply wouldn’t provide enough capacity to really get the beer out in other accounts (let alone supplying their own taproom), and that they would like to expand with a 10-barrel brewhouse later on.

Now, after just four months in business, they’re doing just that. Andrew and his two co-founders, John Ashcraft and Aaron Burton, have leased a new location at 11138-C Treynorth Drive in Cornelius (off exit 25). In it they will install a much larger 10-barrel brewhouse, two 20-barrel fermenters and a 20-barrel brite tank. Once the new location is fully licensed by the TTB and ABC, they will close the current location.

In total, the new building offers 4,700 square feet of space: 2,000 for the brewery, and the rest for the new taproom. They hope to open this location in August, though that’s dependent on the licensing, equipment arrival and construction.

“In general the response to our beer has been extremely positive, and we are very grateful,” said Andrew via e-mail. “Our mission is to stay in constant communication with the community as we grow so we can ensure the absolutely highest quality selections. We prefer to think of our selections as being ‘on the light side of big’. We all like big beer, but big beer that’s drinkable – and I think that resonates with the craft beer community.”

The larger brewery will allow D9 to brew ten times the amount of beer they were brewing in a single batch, and the increased capacity will help them build enough of an inventory to supply area bars and restaurants. Some of the brewery’s more popular beers so far include Black Ice Winter Double, Experiment #12, Viking Froach, Battle Hymn Black IPA and Hakuna Matata IPA.

They will brew those beers on the big system, while still using the pilot system for small batches and recipe development. They have no immediate plans to package their beers, and will use the next year to keep up with demand and dial in their recipes. To learn more about D9 Brewing, visit D9Brewing.com.