Leaving our Mark

Not a day passes without a new face popping in to check us out; whether it’s a 10+ year local, or a destination tourist who read about us online, or tasted our beer at an event. It’s amazing how often the first words out of their mouths are “How long have you been here?” or “I never knew there was a Brewery here”.  Being a relatively new and small business means we don’t have the budget (or the time) for flashy marketing or douchey gimmicks.  That being said we have been making some general (automatic keg cleaner) as well as some cosmetic improvements that we are hugely proud of.

First and foremost has to be our new signage, which to put it modestly, is a work of art.  We are lucky to have artist and general do-it-all guy like Scott Holden working for us, who spent the better part of a week hand building this sign for us. 

Scott is also responsible for creating the bicycle repair stand (special thanks to The Path Live Oak for providing the tools!) which has been put to good use in the past couple months. 

Things are progressing well here in Cismontaneland.  With new distribution territories opening up in Nor-cal and Arizona, make sure you keep your eyes peeled as more Cismontane beers hit your shelves and local tap lists.  

Thank you for an incredible year and for all of your support, we couldn't have done it without you.  Have a safe and joyous holiday season.

 -Citizen Cismontane 

A New Beginning

Mountain biking is alive and well in California... the hub of which is inarguably South County.  Every Saturday the roads and trails are filled with diehard gearheads, and weekend warriors; competitive groups hell-bent on 25+ miles and friendly neighborhood groups sneaking in a quick run before the 80+degree weather hits.

Truck beds are filled to capacity as dirt fiends head out to The Luge, Santiago Oaks, San Juan, Whiting, Laguna and Aliso Woods; looking for that perfect line and jostling for position up and down the steepest trails in Southern California.   Born and Bred in Orange County, I am amazed that to this day I continue to be awestruck by all the beauty it has to offer.  More often than not from a vantage point atop a mountain bike, with close friends and a cold beer in hand.

On any given day you can probably find one or two members of the Cismontane crew working up a sweat on the terrain which so graciously provides the inspiration for our tastiest brews.  Craft beer and mountain biking movements have grown hand in hand: Northern California, Colorado, Oregon and now Southern California.

We are happy to be hosting monthly rides, with the help of many of our loyal patrons and hope to be doing more mountain bike related activities in the future.  Cismontane is gearing up to be THE mountain bike headquarters in Orange County.  We have some great events lined up, so keep your eyes peeled and we look forward to seeing you on the trails!

Oh Hi there May, Leaving so Soon?

The expansion is so close to being done it’s not even funny.  This is the first week all eight tanks have been connected to our new, weapons-grade glycol chiller.  Digitally controlled fermentation and maturation tanks are more awesome than we could have anticipated.  Our yeast are happily enjoying their controlled environments and us multi-celled critters are enjoying some much needed rest and peace of mind (thanks be to the beer gods for no more midnight temperature checks!) 

We are proud to be so hands on with the creation of our beers, but it is nice to have some automated peace of mind.  With the summer months approaching our brewers couldn’t be more grateful for the added amenities and capacity, sure we could have done without the transformer and pump failures, but we’re happy to have everything up and running!  The last two weeks have been a blur of organizing, bottling and brew days.  Months of setbacks and sweat equity are finally going to pay off.  Get ready world...we are coming at you with everything we’ve got

Progress

It’s been a hell of a couple of weeks at the brewery. We got the green light to start building our new space and walls started coming down, equipment got on trucks and the jackhammers started pounding away. The whole Cismontane extended family has been chipping in and we have made progress. If we keep up this pace we will be finished in a few of weeks… maybe. Either way, we won’t rest until the project is done and the beer is flowing again.

Because I know everyone is interested in the stats:

Currently:

• 1591 sqft (395 tasting room, 1,196 brewery)
• 75 barrels of fermentation
• 60 barrels of storage
• Production was about 600 barrels last year

Future

• 3,187 sqft (530 tasting room, 2,657 brewery)
• 105 barrels of fermentation
• 90 barrels of maturation / lagering
• 60 barrels of storage
• We are hoping to do about 1500 barrels next year (A whopping 0.6% of Stones Annual Production for 2011!)

Oktoberfest – Californian Style

It is beautiful time of year in Southern California. The weather is warm the days are long and the transition to fall is just beginning. At Cismontane Brewing we have the added benefit of being on the edge of civilization, as far as Orange County knows it. The back drop of the Saddleback Mountains and the Cleveland National Forest afford some phenomenal views and hiking and mountain biking.

This year is the first year we decided to brew an Oktoberfest beer. Inspired by the season we decided to take advantage of the fact that the California Buckwheat is going to seed and integrate that into the beer. Along with Derek Bougie, head brewer at Newport Beach Brewing we kicked off a new series of beers that will be incorporating native species.

Video by Yoni (he's the man) http://yonisandler.com/

Keg Art

For those for you that spend any time in the brewery you will know that we are supporters of the arts. If fact we even consider what we are doing, as do some others, an art form. Art in our world includes the various artists that hang their shows on the walls, our handmade tap handles and the fine beers we produce. It doesn't end there…

We have been painting our kegs for some time now. Only a few have noticed. Those that have are generally the folks that handle the kegs at the fine establishments that pour our beers. With the addition of 27 more ½ barrels it was time to crank out a few more Cismontane original works.

The process is simple: Paper off the top and bottom, place a stencil in the gap, name and sign with a permanent pen.

Enjoy…

Tap Handle Re-Un-Invented

Plastic, resin, molds, factories in China and India… The list goes on. I apologize up front for my tap handles not being an electric guitar with flashing lights held by a sumo wrestler, or a dragon wrapped around a race car holding a light saber breathing ice and fire.

This may sound insane to some, but we make our tap handles by hand. When I say this, I don’t mean they are “handmade”, because as most of us know that could mean anything these days. What I mean is we make them from gathering the wood, sawing it, stamping the brass plate and finishing it. This time, we added brass plates. Oooooo, shinny.

We have become so far removed from the items that we use on a daily basis I can't tell you where what I own comes from; where my shirt was made, beer glass made, my broccoli grown, my beer brewed.

This is part of the reason that we create and build our handles ourselves. When you have a Cismontane tap handle on your tap tower you know where it comes from. Long story short, we added a brass plate and we still build the tap handles ourselves.

Ingredients: Salvaged Wild Fire Wood, Varnish, Steel Bolt, Brass Plate, Hands.

Please enjoy our latest handle creation along with our latest beers.