Octopi Brewing, based in Waunakee, Wis., and one of the states largest breweries, recently announced a $62 million expansion is expected to create 150 jobs in the next five years. The brewery makes its own beer but also does contract brewing, including for supermarket chain Aldi, reports OnMilwaukee. Production capacity is expected to reach a million barrels, or 14 million cases, annually.
“We’re growing almost 10 times in size, going from a 65,000-square-foot facility to over half a million square feet of space,” said Founder/President Isaac Showaki in a recent announcement reported in OnMilwaukee. “Adding new equipment will give us even more product capabilities as the innovation beverage market keeps growing.” The company recently purchased a 14-acre site across from the current brewery.
The brewery’s existing facility will expand to 165,000 square feet and a new 200,000-square-foot building will go up on the new property across the street. Another 180,000-square-foot warehouse is being leased a few miles away, to bring total square footage to about 545,000, reports OnMilwaukee. Octopi has committed to hiring a total of 150 people, up from the current 90 employees.
“It’s a response to what the market’s telling us and what our clients are telling us,” Showaki said. “We’re lucky to be in a position where we’re getting bigger and better clients who want more production volume, so we’re doing what we can to help them.”
"We should be the third largest production facility in Wisconsin after Molson (Miller in Milwaukee) and City Brewing (La Crosse)."
The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is supporting the project by authorizing about $800,000 in tax credits over five years. This will be WEDC’s third investment in Octopi. In addition to brewing beer, Octopi also brews seltzers and other beverages.