Twelve into 22

After more than two years of planning, Twelve String has made its move to 22-ounce bottles.

Bombers of the brewery’s Mango Mambo fruit hefeweizen, Red Guitar Red (formerly Valley Red), Batch 201 IPA, Electric Slide imperial IPA and Drop D Stout went on sale today at the taproom. They're also starting to show up at area Yoke’s and Rosauers supermarkets as well as Huckleberry’s, Bottles and more specialty stores to come.  

 “It’s kind of the next phase in this business, in my opinion,” says owner/brewer Terry Hackler. “I see inventory numbers for other breweries that I feel we’re similar to, and things look promising.

“Part of the thing that’s taken so long is that we want to make sure we can back up the first batch we send (the distributor) before it runs out,” he adds. “Right now, I’m just brewing as fast as I can. I’ve got to keep up with the draft, too.”

Twelve String recently added enough tanks to boost its annual production capacity from 1,200 barrels to around 2,000. Hackler figures about half that extra beer will end up in bottles.

He also added another brewer, Tanner McKinley, who has packaging experience from his time with Nevada’s High Sierra Brewing.

“I feel very fortunate to have hired him,” Hackler says. “He helped out a huge amount getting this whole thing off the ground.

“It was kind of a learning curve getting our bottling machine dialed in, but I think we’ve got it figured out now. We’re averaging 13 seconds per bottle, which is flying for a two-head bottler.”

Along with the regular lineup, Hackler plans to bottle a few specialties for taproom-only sales, including some barrel-aged offerings.