Castle Island Brewing Expansion Completed by Kaplan Construction

BOSTON—Kaplan Construction recently completed an expansion to Castle Island Brewing Company. The craft brewery first opened to the public in December of 2015 with the aim of providing Greater Boston with innovative, inspired, uber-fresh American ales.

Doubling the production capacity and adding a taproom to the 31 Astor Avenue facility in Norwood, Kaplan helped the company further its mission. “We’ve always had a desire to build a taproom inside the brewery where the beer is made – it’s a great brand builder and an excellent way for craft beer drinkers to better connect with the brewery,” said Adam Romanow, owner of Castle Island Brewing Company. “We have also been growing rapidly, and to ensure we have the ability to continue to do so we created future capacity and quick-scalability to ease whatever growing pains lie ahead.”

Kaplan, with the help of Red Barn Architecture, expanded the production area with a supplemental structural slab to support up to 14 additional fermentation tanks, which would increase brewing capacity to over 40,000 barrels annually. The new taproom gained televisions and existing bathrooms received cosmetic and ADA accessibility upgrades. Additionally, Kaplan upgraded the informal merchandise area to create a dedicated display and retail space.

Kaplan had worked with Castle Island back in 2015 when it transformed the existing warehouse into a brewery by completing the mechanical infrastructure necessary to support the highly specialized equipment. Renovations included a reinforced floor system with a urethane floor coating to support the stainless steel tanks that can each weigh up to 28,000 pounds when full. The project experienced a fast turn around so that brewing could commence before Thanksgiving.

“We established a strong relationship with Kaplan when we worked together for the initial build-out of our brew house, and we were thrilled to work with them again. Kaplan’s highly experienced staff and detailed planning resulted in a successful, cost-effective, and well-built project.” The success of the first project ultimately inspired Castle Island to seek Kaplan’s help again.

Adam Romanow

New Taproom at Castle Island Brewing Company