Brew Days

It's hard to believe that these days are really here. After all the blood, sweat and tears it felt like we may never see the day where we put all of this hard labor and equipment to work for us. But the day has come.... and don't think for a second that it was smooth sailing.

We crammed to get everything ready for the weekend. Mr. Stewart pulled out all the stops and had all the brewing materials lined up to arrive Friday morning. I was enjoying a brew and chatting about the brew day to come with my friend Laura and her family when I got the call, the grain didn’t show. Bummer.

Believe it or not there are some great people (and great brewers) in this World. One shining example is Patrick Rue from The Bruery. The man hooked us up and supplied us with the grain we need to get through our first batch, saving us days of waiting time.

Once up and running everything went surprisingly well. The brewing went off without a hitch and the wort was looking pristine during the whirlpool when the pump crapped out at about midnight. Bummer x2. We had to bypass the heat exchanger, it took 48hrs to cool and let’s just say we are a bit skeptical about the fermentation, although it seems to be kicking ass.

All in all everything is working well with a few more bugs to work out. Now on to batch 2, chocolate vanilla swirll…

It's just a little paint right?

Uh, ya... like four days worth. This was the biggest surprise to us from the health board. "You guys like painting, right?" uhhhhh "Of course we do! Ceilings are our favorite!"

Truth of the matter is everything went very well and if a little white paint is going to make it possible for us to brew, consider it done. 5 guys 5 days, done.

A couple more loose ends to tie down including our city permit and that’s it. With all that behind us we are getting ready to whip up our first batches this weekend.