It's been just longer than two years since Jon Rudin and Erin Kirby took a tour of Franconia Brewing Company's facilities in McKinney. Brewers of all sizes offer tours as a way of connecting with customers, sharing knowledge and offering plenty of beer. This tour, however, came with an unexpected twist when one of the fermenting tanks exploded, covering the brewery in fledgling suds and allegedly injuring Rudin and Kirby.
The tour group had just left the fermentation room and moved into the walk in cooler where finished beer is stored. That's when a pressure release valve failed, propelling it through the brewery, tearing apart a wall and filling the floors with beer. One of the attendees took a video as the group slowly made its way out of the cooler. The video clearly shows the damaged walls and tank, but the audio is NSFW.
Now Rudin and Kirby have filed a lawsuit against the brewery, its owner Dennis Wehrmann and head brewer Richard Horn, in Dallas County Court. They claim they were hit by the flying tank and other debris from the explosion, and are accusing the brewery of improperly inspecting and operating the tank.
Their suit lists medical expenses, loss of earnings capacity, physical pain and mental anguish, disfigurement and physical impairment amongst the damages but does not list specific injuries.
Franconia did not immediately respond to a call for comment on the case. They have yet to file a response with the court.
