MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — From Manitowoc to the Pacific Ocean, two cranes will be making their way to Pearl Harbor and Washington state. But before they make their trip, a certain partnership in town has a unique way of commemorating each crane made.
Will Schneider, owner of Sabbatical Brewing, lives by a rule.
"Always say yes to cool stuff," he says.
For Schneider, that cool stuff means creating a personalized beer for for each crane. He was approached with the opportunity by members of Broadwind and Konecranes, the companies that partner in making the cranes.
"I thought it was a one and done. Kind of, 'This will be fun,'" says Schneider. "But, it has turned into a new beer every crane they've built."
The latest crane to earn its own beer is Crane 70. After a few months of testing the crane, standing at 150 feet tall and weighing 2.4 million pounds, will travel quite a distance on top of a barge.
"It will go through the St. Lawrence Seaway, and then down the coast through the Gulf of Mexico," says Brett Hartman, Broadwind director of business development. "From there it goes into the Panama Canal, then straight north up to Washington state."
Hartman says the trip, which takes about 120 days, shows Manitowoc's incredible reach and that each crane will be used by the military.
"To be able to deliver components and parts that are this technical, basically anywhere in the world from the small city of Manitowoc, is pretty impressive," Hartman says.
Schneider says the beer is just a way to commemorate such an amazing piece of Manitowoc history.
"It's modern day history," Schneider says. "People will look back at this and this will be one of those things that we remember Manitowoc for."
Just as the cranes keep coming, Hartman and Schneider say the beers will too. As for the crane heading to Hawaii...
"Obviously it's going to be something fruity and tropical," Schneider says.
