Time for Celebration

It seems summer is just flying by with all of the work we are doing for the brewery and all of the events that come with summer.  We continue to work hard on our business plan and are really getting into some of the nitty-gritty parts of it like cash flows, revenue projections and marketing plans.  We have also begun some building projects to verify that our ideas on temperature control for our fermentation vessels are viable.  I may need to do a post about Ryan's most recent project which has been dubbed The Brew Coffin!  While all of these projects have been (and continue to be) very tedious tasks, we know that the more work and effort we put into those things now, the easier it will be to keep ourselves on track once we open the doors for business. 

However, I am here to update you on something else.  Sweet Celebration, the grapefruit and rose water infused wheat beer that seemed like it was going to turn into a complete catastrophe during brew day has turned into a very solid and drinkable beer!  To quote myself from "Zen and the Art of Brewing":

"What will make every bit of it worthwhile is if, in a month or two, I crack open a nice cold beer that tastes outstanding and know that if I can make a great beer while floundering around like an idiot the entire time, imagine what I can do on a good day!!"

Turns out that while floundering around like an idiot, I managed to produce a pretty darn good beer!While I plan on upping the amount of rose water only slightly (I used less than 3/8 of a teaspoon of it in this batch) and am considering actually fermenting over grapefruit, those changes should only slightly alter the taste profile.  It's a cloudy beer because the grain bill is almost 50% wheat; but it is light, crisp and very refreshing with it's citrus flavor and the little something extra that the rose water adds.  It is exactly what I was looking for when I decided to develop a summer beer that is different from all the others.  I can't wait to brew it again...but this time without all of the floundering!

Brewfest

So, I've been a little slow on the posts recently as there has been quite a bit going on.  4th of July, family, friends, brewery operations, etc. all seem to get in the way a little bit of writing everything down.  However, an event occurred yesterday that I have to write about.  For those of you not in the Des Moines area, there is an annual event known as Brewfest.  This was the 5th incarnation of the event, held at Principal Park, and really proved to me how much more accepting people are of craft beer.  When Ryan brought the idea to us about starting the brewery he mentioned the reasoning behind his decision to start it now instead of 5 years ago or 5 years from now.  One of the deciding factors is that more people are choosing craft beer instead of reaching for a Bud Light.  The availability of good beer has increased as has the demand which only means good things for a small local brewery. The attendance at Brewfest is a testament to the growing demand for really good beer. 

My girfriend and I arrived around 2:45 and the doors opened at 3.  The line when we got there was already about 200 yards long, with another line about 50 yards long of people showing ID's and getting their bracelets.  By the time we got our bracelets we were able to walk right in, grab our goodie bag and our tasting glass.  We guessed that most people would start on the lower level so we went straight upstairs.  I tried a stout, a porter, a wheat and a dopplebock in pretty quick succession.  My tastebuds were already overwhelmed and we hadn't even been there 10 minutes!  I had to tell myself to relax and enjoy it because the beer would still be there!  I didn't have to taste all 400 beers in the first hour!

I made it over to Peace Tree Brewing Companies tap and was able to talk to Megan again.  I haven't spoken with her since we visited their brewery a couple of months ago, so it was nice to take a little time and talk with her.  Also, check out their sweet tap!!

This photo really doesn't do it justice as the front of it is designed like an old car.  It is seriously sweet!  Blonde Fatale was just as wonderful a beer as when I last had it at the brewery.  Ryan has actually placed this beer in his top 10 beer list!

We made our way down the rest of the breweries on the top floor, then ventured to the lower level.  Many of the more mainstream breweries were located down here including MillerCoors, New Belgium, etc.  There were still some very good smaller breweries represented on the lower level which made me happy.  I'm glad that the organizers included some smaller breweries in amongst the Big Boys.  I was also very happy to see that not all of the patrons were huddled around the Big Boys.  Everyone seemed to really be sharing the wealth and experimenting with beers they aren't terribly familiar with.

More than anything else, events like this allow beer drinkers to expand their horizons and see what wonderful beer is out there.  They are also exposed to beer that *gasp* might be better than their old standby of Bud Light or Coors Light!  Huge thanks go out to everyone that helped to organize and run this event.  It was a wonderful day and even though it was pretty warm, there was a great breeze blowing through both levels that only messed with a few of the tents that were set up around the breweries.  All in all it was a wonderful afternoon and I left satisfied and even more excited about our venture.  All those people moving from brewery to brewery trying new and interesting beers can only be a good thing when we are striving to deliver some of the best local beer a person can get.  The more educated people get about good beer and how wonderful it can be compared to the old standards, the more our chances improve of being able to actually pull this whole thing off!

Again, thanks to everyone who put this wonderful event on and I truly hope that we are able to participate next year as one of the newest breweries at the 6th Annual Brewfest!

Brewing Calamity Photos

So, Brandon's wife was taking photographs of my ridiculous brew day and I figured I might as well share them.  First up...my first boilover.

It doesn't look too bad there as it really only shows some liquid on the ground...but the sides of the kettle are just ridiculously sticky with residue from the boilover.  Since we brew in the garage, what hits the ground isn't that big of a deal...it's just the cleanup that sucks.

Yep, that's me in my work clothes, zesting a grapefruit in the garage.

This is what the controlled boil should look like!  We got there eventually.

When one person is having a bad day it is always nice to have friends around to help...or to laugh! :)  Brandon is on the right and Brandon's friend is on the left.

While brewing, it is always nice to have a drink.  In this case, Brandon's wife is drinking Brandon's "Not Red Ale".  Essentially it was supposed to be a Red Ale, but really turned into a Porter!  It may not be what we expected, but it really does taste good...I promise.

Even on a rough brew day, at least the beer is happy!  As I mentioned in the previous blog, we put a copper coil into the beer that we run cold water through in order to bring the temp down.  This is the coil.

There's my burnt exit hose.  Oy!

Believe it or not, brewing is fun!  Doesn't Brandon's wife look like she's having fun?  Brandon is turning into the Mad Blogger working on his first post.

End result of a burnt hose is me on one knee, wearing an oven mitt holding a short little hose...

Brandon's wife and the dog are trying to be supportive of Brandon's blogging efforts!

Still chilling the beer on bended knee...yeah, I just said it!

The Mad Blogger's work is lonely.  Even the dog is leaving him!

Someone finally got me a chair. :)

The beer is finally chilled and ready to transfer to the fermentation bucket so the yeast can go to work.

Yeast needs oxygen to get started.  I'm aerating the brew with a tool attached to an electric drill.  Beer and power tools...always an interesting mix.

What's left after a long day?  Cleaning up.  Never fun, but always important.
I hope you enjoyed the photos and I'll be sure to share the end results of this beer.  There are a few more steps and another ingredient to add, but we should have a good beer in a month or so and I am definitely looking forward to it.