Fonta Flora Brewery Announces Expansion Plan

In a post on the brewery's Instagram account, the plan was outlined and put into place with the help of Foothills Brewing Co. The new brewery will have a capacity of roughly 2500 barrels, which is quadruple what the brewery can currently produce. 

Here is Fonta Flora's Instagram post:

After more than two years of crafting beer in a tiny building in downtown Morganton, we are damn pleased to officially announce our expansion plan and vision. 

Although it has taken the better part of a year, a unique partnership with @foothillsofnc has allowed us to secure one of the most scenic and historic pieces of property in Burke County. Nestled at the foot of the Linville Gorge, we have acquired 8 acres of land, adorned with historic stone barns that use to house Whippoorwill Dairy Farm. 

A 4,500 square foot stone barn will serve as the main production facility for all brewing and packaging operations. With plans to install a 15Bbl brewing system, acompanied by 30Bbl fermentation and aging vessels, this will allow us to produce roughly 2,500Bbl's in our first year in operation, which quadruples our current production capacity. The smaller barns will eventually serve as a barrel/bottle cellar and a traditional coolship building will allow us to continue down the path of creating our distinct Appalachian Wild Ales. 

In keeping with our brewing philosophy of utilizing local agriculture into our craft beers, we plan to cultivate the land through annual gardens and a pernennial hop yard and orchards. We will plant harder-to-find fruit trees such as paw paw fruit, persimmons, figs and elderberries to help us craft beers with a true sense of place. In addition, brewing adjuncts such as carrots, beets, fennel and bloody butcher corn will all come from the property. 

To tie all of this together and to give everyone goosebumps, this land is situated in the original valley, on the banks of the Linville River, where the Fonta Flora settlement existed more than a century ago. 
In two short years, all of you wonderful people made our craft beer vision a thriving reality. From the locals of this rad and growing Morganton community to all of you folks who travel many miles to try our beer, this expansion is possible because of you.