In 2008, Steve Crandall opened the doors to his dream, the Devils Backbone Brewing Company in Roseland, Virginia. Folks in central Virginia loved his beer so much that by 2012, Crandall opened an Outpost facility in Lexington, Virginia where his company was able to bottle 45,000 barrels of world-class beer in its first three years. By this time last year, Anheuser-Busch took notice of the local success of Devils Backbone and purchased the company with plans to more than triple that rate of production annually.

Enter Southern Air.

The Challenge: Getting Beer Downhill Without Contaminating It

The task was daunting but exciting for our company. Devils Backbone has two structures making up its Outpost in Lexington. On top of a hill overlooking the valley is their brewpub, brew house, packaging hall, refrigerated warehouse and shipping area. At the bottom of the hill was a bowling alley to be converted into their new packaging hall. This presented the first challenge. How do we get beer from the brew house to the packaging building without contaminating the beer which must be kept at a crisp 38°?

1,000 Feet of Stainless Steel: The Orbital Welding Solution

Our team designed an above ground piping system. By keeping the beer above ground, Devils Backbone is able to avoid any potential contamination from the ground. The piping system in itself is unique. To get the beer from point A to point B, we built almost 1,000 feet of stainless piping by orbital welding and connected the brew house to the packaging facility. The beer is transported at 38° but when it comes time to clean the pipes, solutions are used that can reach temperatures in excess of 180°. Due to thermal expansion, these pipes can grow up to 15 inches. They were designed to expand and contract along with offsets that will absorb that 15 inch growth.

“This project allowed Southern Air to commit to the high purity stainless steel market,” says Chris Blankenship, Millwright department manager. “Orbital welding is critical in the food and pharmaceutical industries and because of Devils Backbone, we just bought two of them. This opens up an entire new market for Southern Air.”

Outfitting the 50,000 Square Foot Packaging Facility

The massive 50,000 square foot packaging building stands alone. Southern Air sized, selected, designed and installed a 150 horse power steam boiler, a new 100 horse power air compressor, and a chiller to create 23° water for the cooler and heat transfer skid in order to keep the beer cold.

Running Cans and Bottles Simultaneously: Expanded Production Capacity

Our work immediately increases their capacity for filling kegs. Currently, they can only fill either cans or bottles, but not both at the same time which fits their present demand. Now that Anheuser-Busch is involved, they have a greater distribution reach and this expansion allows them to run the can and bottle filling lines simultaneously to satisfy larger orders for their beer.

Craftsmanship, New Skills, and a Rewarding Challenge

The Southern Air crew met many challenges but as always, overcame them with prestigious craftsmanship in their work. Devils Backbone will be able to produce higher volumes of their fabulous beer and our tradesmen gained valuable experience only a job like this could provide.

“It’s been fun to watch our team figure out how to engineer this thing and work with some materials and controls that we’ve had some experience with but not in this capacity,” says Paul Denham, Southern Air president. “A lot of people within our company have grown through this process. It’s always fun to watch people on your team put a new skill into their toolbox.”

When asked what the best part of working on this job has been, Paul just smiled.

“The beer!”

Interested in joining a team that takes on projects like this? See our open positions.