Anheuser-Busch Announces $22.5 Million Upgrade to Houston Brewery Cooling System

Aug. 30, 2023

Project will allow plant to reduce electricity consumption by nearly 2.2 million kwh per year once it is operational, which is expected by Q4 2023.

Andy Hanacek

Anheuser-Busch will invest $22.5 million into its Houston, Texas, brewery to enhance worker safety and improve brewery efficiency by upgrading to a more efficient cooling system, the company announced in a release.

The project involves removing and repositioning the brewery’s current cooling system to ensure improved functionality, as well as the construction of a free-standing structure to house the evaporative condensers. The new cooling system, which is expected to reduce electricity consumption at the plant by nearly 2.2 million kilowatt-hours per year, will be fully operational by Q4 2023, the company says.

Anheuser-Busch has owned the Houston brewery for nearly 60 years, the release said, and the project will reinforce its commitment to its employees and the communities in which they live. It also builds upon a 2022 investment in water-reuse technology at the facility that allows it to reclaim more than 100 million gallons of water each year.

Anheuser-Busch has spent $1 billion in capital expenditures since 2021 to help accelerate the post-pandemic recovery in the communities its more than 120 facilities reside.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.