Great River Brewery Canning Line Stolen

Discussion in 'Great Lakes' started by Sender, Aug 15, 2012.

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  1. Sender

    Sender Initiate (0) Sep 19, 2010 Minnesota

    I didn't see anybody else post this, but maybe I missed it.

    http://qctimes.com/news/local/crime...11e1-b7e4-001a4bcf887a.html?comment_form=true

    An 800-pound canning line machine was stolen Sunday night or early Monday from Great River Brewery, 322 E. 2nd St., Davenport.
    Cellarman Tyler Krutzfeldt said the theft couldn’t have been a one-man job.
    “We’re shocked this happened,” he said Wednesday, still cleaning up from the theft and forging ahead with business with the help of donated equipment from other local breweries.
    When staff came in about 7:30 a.m. Monday, they found aluminum cans were all over the floor, grain sacks were cut open and grain was on the floor and air lines that supply compressed air also were cut, Krutzfeldt said. Then they discovered that their canning line machine had been taken from the warehouse and two coolers were missing from the production area, he added.
    There were no signs of forced entry.
    “Someone must have snuck in,” Krutzfeldt said.
    The last employee left sometime after Sunday’s 6 p.m. closing time and the locks were checked, he said.
    The 10-foot-long machine is too large to be carried out by hand.
    Brew master Paul Krutzfeldt said someone must have used his fork lift, which he found in a nearby alley.
    He said he’s looking to replace the machine, which is valued at $70,000 to $100,000. He called it the most important piece of equipment he owns besides the kettle that brews the beer.
    Because 70 percent of his business is canning and distributing to 10 distributors in six states, not having the canning line machine has temporarily brought his businesses to “sort of” a halt, Paul Krutzfeldt said.
    “It puts a damper on what’s been a fantastic summer in the Quad-Cities,” he said.
    He relocated the brewery from Iowa City to Davenport in 2009.
    In the meantime, instead of cans, they’re putting beer into kegs until he can buy a replacement canning line machine, possibly as early as next week, he said.
    Krutzfeldt said a brewery in Nebraska has offered to can his beer until he gets his canning operation back up and running.
    “It’s a bad scene, and it sucks,” he said. “But the outpouring of support already from the Quad-Cities and nationally from the Brewers Association is awesome.”
     
    #1 Sender, Aug 15, 2012
  2. Penguin3200

    Penguin3200 Initiate (0) Dec 28, 2008 Minnesota

    This is just unfathomable! Wow. I will make sure to pick up some great river in support.
     
    #2 Penguin3200, Aug 15, 2012
  3. arniepnminne

    arniepnminne Initiate (0) Jun 2, 2010 Minnesota

    Something is fishy here. Very odd theft, but why would they wreck equipment, cut open grain sacks and supplies in the brewery? Repo man maybe? I'd think a cube truck would have to be used for this. Maybe check with truck rental locations? Wierd and sad.
     
    #3 arniepnminne, Aug 15, 2012
  4. RKPStogie

    RKPStogie Initiate (0) Nov 4, 2011 Minnesota

    WTF, I'm sure that will be easy to pawn off...
     
    #4 RKPStogie, Aug 15, 2012
  5. RochesterAaron

    RochesterAaron Initiate (0) May 24, 2007 New York

    bizarre. is there really much of a black market for canning lines? seems like an odd thing to steal.
     
    #5 RochesterAaron, Aug 15, 2012
  6. minnesotaryan

    minnesotaryan Initiate (0) Dec 27, 2010 Minnesota

    that is just a bummer.
     
    #6 minnesotaryan, Aug 16, 2012
  7. stupac2

    stupac2 Pooh-Bah (2,031) Feb 22, 2011 California
    Pooh-Bah

    It almost seems like whoever stole it wanted to use it themselves. There's no way that there's enough of a market for those that they won't get caught if they try to sell it.
     
    #7 stupac2, Aug 16, 2012
  8. RochesterAaron

    RochesterAaron Initiate (0) May 24, 2007 New York

    That was my thought.

    It has to take some serious planning to steal a canning line. I'm also pretty sure a used canning line suddenly going up for sale would raise a few eyebrows.

    The suspect list has to be pretty short for this one. Either someone is out to screw the brewery (former employee?) or someone local is going to suddenly have a new canning line.
     
    #8 RochesterAaron, Aug 16, 2012
  9. Torgo

    Torgo Initiate (0) Dec 19, 2008 Minnesota

    Jesus, just terrible. I hit up this place whenever I'm in the QC visiting family and hope they have insurance to cover this.
     
    #9 Torgo, Aug 16, 2012
  10. jaminjohnson

    jaminjohnson Initiate (0) Jul 3, 2012 Canada (YT)

    May the beer the thiefs can taste of burning hair.
     
    #10 jaminjohnson, Aug 16, 2012
    Coveralls likes this.
  11. TomClem

    TomClem Zealot (557) Mar 7, 2012 Nebraska

    I can only think of two breweries in Nebraska that can. Blue Blood in Lincoln and Thunderhead in Kearney. Whoever has offered to help in this terrible time deserves a big pat on the back too! Watch for "No IP, FT: Canned Homebrew from IA". The next experimental batch of coffee stout should be the RedBandit.
     
    #11 TomClem, Aug 16, 2012
  12. Yulles

    Yulles Initiate (0) Apr 12, 2009 Minnesota

    That sucks. My only thoughts are disgruntled former employee or aggressive home brewer. But certainly a crappy thing to do.
     
    #12 Yulles, Aug 16, 2012
  13. jawzman

    jawzman Initiate (0) Mar 20, 2010 Minnesota

    One of the oddest stories I have ever read. Its hard for me to believe that one can steal this without being seen. There is something fishy here...
     
    #13 jawzman, Aug 16, 2012
  14. Lifeofbrian

    Lifeofbrian Initiate (0) Nov 20, 2010 Minnesota

    Do they have a security system? In the future I would make dang sure to have a camera setup. Too bad.
     
    #14 Lifeofbrian, Aug 16, 2012
  15. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    The only problem with using it yourself is that you better damn well be able to install it then service it yourself indefinitely. Usually equipment like this is serviced by the manufacturer or authorized provider. If either of them came into the brewery to service it, they would figure out fairly quickly that it was the stolen one.
     
    #15 leedorham, Aug 16, 2012
  16. Lifeofbrian

    Lifeofbrian Initiate (0) Nov 20, 2010 Minnesota

    the industry is on high alert. My guess is they will not get away with it.
     
    #16 Lifeofbrian, Aug 16, 2012
  17. je1129

    je1129 Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2011 Iowa

    Everytime I've been there they had a huge door to their brew room open in the middle of a rather large downtown area. People could scope it out all day. Someone probably just grabbed the most metal they could to scrap it.
     
    #17 je1129, Aug 16, 2012
  18. leedorham

    leedorham Initiate (0) Apr 27, 2006 Washington

    The metal in a canning line is likely almost all stainless steel. If it weighs 800 lbs and 80% of the weight comes from stainless steel, then it would be worth about $300.00 in scrap. Considering the likely number of people it took to do this, fuel, and the time it took I seriously doubt scrapping it was their goal.

    Thieves that could pull this off aren't that desperate and dumb and thieves that are that desperate and dumb couldn't pull this off.
     
    #18 leedorham, Aug 16, 2012
  19. GraniteSkunk

    GraniteSkunk Initiate (0) Apr 17, 2007 Illinois

    I'm really sorry to hear this, I couldn't believe it when I got the text earlier today mentioning it. How I missed this story in the Times is beyond me(aside from the fact that it's a terrible paper).

    Great River has some very good people over there, and they make an absolutely world class beer(RedBand Stout). I'll be going over there a little more often now to try and lend what support I can.
     
    #19 GraniteSkunk, Aug 16, 2012
    laymansbeerfan likes this.
  20. je1129

    je1129 Initiate (0) Feb 22, 2011 Iowa

    You'd be amazed at the effort to net gain theft I've seen at my work. There are a lot of dumb criminals and some who fancy themselves master of espionage out there
     
    #20 je1129, Aug 16, 2012
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