Thirty miles northeast of New Orleans, the oldest craft brewery in the Southeast proudly goes about its time-honored tradition of hand crafting small batches of bear. Abita Brewing Company was founded in 1986 at a natural springs site.
As part of its program to upgrade its facility, the company specified non-metallic enclosures from Belding, Mich.-based Stahlin to help it address the corrosion problems associated with the brewery's aggressive environment.
"Everything here is exposed to many elements constantly," says James Franklin, Abita's plant engineer. "Enclosures are of NEMA4X construction because of the water, caustic, acid and bleach used regularly during cleaning procedures." Another environmental factor in the plant's internal "weather" system. The constant plant moisture actually creates clouds in upper half of building, says Franklin. As a result, "iron corrodes rapidly," he says. "The plant-wide specification is to use non-metallic enclosures."
During the past seven years, Abita replaced metal enclosures with more than 50 Stahlin fiberglass units. "It makes sense to use them up front and forget about it," says Franklin. The non-metallic enclosures cost less than alternative enclosures and weight less, the latter helping the plant save on shipping charges.
