As the company continued to grow, so did their brewery; they moved it into a 22,000-square-foot building in 2012. However, after a short time at the new facility, the Coronado Brewing Company began to face challenges common to breweries with sealed concrete floors: cracking and degradation from thermal temperature swings and chemical onslaughts.
“In less than two years, we had eaten through the seal and were basically working in the aggregate,” remembers Ryan Brooks, head brewer for Coronado Brewing. “It was like walking on the beach, and it was becoming a safety hazard because you could trip on some of the areas.”
Additionally, because the floors were largely no longer sealed, they posed a hygiene problem, with water, yeast and other products being soaked up by the concrete. “The amount of cleaning additive we had to use to keep the floor looking OK was way more than it should’ve been,” Brooks says.
The brewery decided to contact Stonhard to install a new floor that would withstand its harsh environment, which included thermal shock cycling and chemical abrasion—and provide an easy-to-clean surface. As the recent recipient of a top honor in the beer industry, Coronado had a production schedule that was running on high gear; it was important the new floor be installed without interfering with the company’s rigorous production schedule. “It was one of the worst possible times for us to have this done because it was the beginning of summer, and that’s when our sales go through the roof,” Brooks explains.
Coronado could give up only one day of production, along with a weekend, for the installation. Stonhard’s crew prepped the existing substrate and installed Stonclad UT within the allotted time period.
“We were brewing and working on the new floor on Monday morning. It’s unbelievable how fast they did it,” Brooks adds.
During installation, additional care was given around the equipment area to prevent damage. “They had to climb under our 23 fermenters and a giant, four-vessel brewhouse with all the piping and everything…and it’s perfect,” Brooks says.
Stonhard Stonclad UT troweled, polyurethane, textured mortar system is specifically formulated for harsh environments and withstands thermal shock cycling as well as chemicals.
“We don’t have to clean the floor as much now,” Brooks says, “so we’re not wasting water spraying it down, and we’re not wasting chemicals trying to clean up any bacteria.”
Moreover, the addition of the proper level of texture provides a slip-resistant surface without compromising ease of maintenance and sanitation. Coronado chose a medium-coarse grit to avoid having a floor that could scratch its hoses, yet found the grit was a little too slippery on a particular ramp in the brewery. Brooks asked Stonhard to come in the next weekend to put a coarser grit in that section. “Again, it was a quick turnaround, and the installers were really easy to work with,” he says.
For more information: Cindy Bovino, 800-257-7953, info@stonhard.com, www.stonhard.com.
