Almost There

I won't keep you in suspense-- the Health Dept. approved us!  We can legally brew beer!

Yesterday was a crazy day.  I had just come back from being away for two days picking up bourbon barrels, wine barrels, and barrel racks, and the Health Dept. inspection was at 3:30 in the afternoon.  The 3 phase power wasn't turned on, the gas wasn't functional, and I needed both in order to pass the inspection.   The Gas Company was to turn on gas today, so I wasn't worried that we wouldn't have hot water.  Edison is another story.

I pled to Edison to turn on my power.  I called up the Edison planner I had dealt with before and explained my situation.  The City had released my meter to Edison last Tuesday, and they didn't receive the authorization fax.  The City sent it again on Monday, and it was released in their system on Tuesday.  They probably weren't planning to turn on power until next week, since they usually give it 5 working days from when the authorization is received by Edison.  The Edison meter guy shows up, I locate the meter for him, and he's there for 15 minutes and then leaves without telling anyone.  I call up my Edison planner again, and ask what's going on.  He gets the meter guy to come back, and he tells me he can't put a meter on a panel where Edison can't put a lock on the main breaker switch.  It had been torn off a long time ago, and this policy just came into effect last week.  I run to get Tyler, and tell the Edison guy not to leave.  Tyler welds on a piece so it can now be locked within 10 minutes, and we then expect the guy to turn on the power.  He calls his boss to see whether he's allowed to turn on the power now that we fixed the problem, since this is not the normal way of doing things at Edison.  He goes to lunch, comes back, and tells us he's able to turn on the power.  

I realize this is not a very interesting story (This one time, in band camp...), but if we didn't get power, we would have to reschedule our Health Dept. inspection, which would have set us back one to two weeks.  Some days things just go right.

I Can Almost Taste It!

Contrary to popular belief that The Bruery has liquidated all of its equipment and its owner is sitting at Hollingshead from 11 AM until 8 PM during the work week, and at Beachwood BBQ on Saturdays and Sundays drowning his sorrows, The Bruery's first batch is on the horizon!

The City of Placentia signed off our final inspection on Wednesday, February 14th.  I was elated to have the inspector come in, tell me the place is ready for business, and sign the last box on a long checklist of items.  It almost immediately changed my perspective from being in the brewery construction business to being an owner of a brewery and a brewer.  

This upcoming week the gas and electricity will be turned on, and we'll finally be able to use hot water and our pumps to clean the brewing equipment.  The Orange County Department of Environmental Health (Health Dept.) will be inspecting this Thursday, February 22nd.  If this inspection goes well, we'll be able to start brewing.  

We're looking to start brewing on Feb. 29th, which would allow us to start selling beer sometime in early April.  Hollingshead Deli will be our first customer, so they are graciously hosting an informal tasting to celebrate our first sale.  Kenny and I will be sure to let you know when that'll be!  

Also, keep Saturday, May 10th open for our grand opening party.  We will be open for business prior to then, but my priority right now is to get the beer out there once it's ready.  We will likely release a special seasonal beer at the party as well!

Thanks to all of you for being patient in this long process of opening a brewery.  I now understand what it is like to deal with construction and the bureaucratic process and why it takes such a long time.  While I hope The Bruery grows steadily, I'm not looking forward to building the next brewery!  Right now, I'm just looking forward to selling my first case.

Congratulations to Ben Cook of Hangar 24 Brewery in Redlands, and Aaron Barkenhagen of Bootleggers Brewery in Fullerton for brewing their first batches recently!  It looks like there's going to be a lot more great beer in Southern California very soon.

Progress

It's been awhile but for a good reason! The past few weeks have been really busy with tons of work being completed, making the waiting time of savoring one of our very first beers in the not too distant future. Two things that I can't wait to work with: our new lab (making sure when you buy our beer that it is up to the quality that you demand) and our newly designed grant. The glycol piping is almost complete and I have to say that it the most impressive glycol setup that I have seen in a small craft brewery (only a brewer, I guess, would get stoked on glycol piping!)Our stainless welder, Todd, is finishing up with the custom piping that Patrick, Todd & I designed. All the loose ends are starting to come together (too much to list) and hopefully soon we will be able to brew, before I forget how to!

I put legs on the grist case.

Our little lab area, still waiting on more supplies!

Me starting to install the auger.

Our almost completed retro grant that Patrick and I designed.
I can't wait to use this thing; it just looks bad-ass!

Skyscraper Brewing First Anniversary Party

Just an FYI for those in Southern California-- next Saturday, January 19th from 2-8 pm will be a party at Skyscraper Brewing Co. celebrating their first year in business.  They'll be pouring their Lug Nut Lager (a California Common style beer), Bulldozer Honeyweizen, and Winter Warmer.  Cheers to Phil on making it through the first year, and here's to many more years of success!  I hope to see you (blog readers) there!

3229 Durfee Ave., El Monte, CA

http://www.skyscraperbrewing.com/

Power Has Arrived!

Title says it all.  We finally have power from Edison!  Those of you who have been here in the dark know what a great feeling that is for me.  I couldn't wait to roll up the many extension cords we had running all over the place around here.  The unfortunate part is I could finally see how filthy the restrooms are.

12 Days Til the Yeast Arrives...

The completion of the construction schedule now revolves around an order of yeast.  We are expecting our first yeast pitch from White Labs on the 22nd.  Yeast is a delicate organism, and should be used soon after propagation for it to work under the most favorable conditions.  I'd like to pitch it in a propagation batch on the 22nd to get enough yeast for a 30 bbl batch of Batch No. 01 and the following batch.

There's still a lot of work to complete, but it's not impossible that we'd be ready for the propagation batch on the 22nd.  The key areas to finish are in welding, electricity to the brewing equipment, auger installation, utilities (gas/electric) approval, and City / Health Department approval.  

It's not really about the yeast, but more about setting a deadline and doing everything in my power to meet that deadline.  It's about getting this brewery up and running after a long 9 months of trying to get this off the ground.

Despite all of the tasks remaining, The Bruery is finally looking like a brewery.  The brewhouse and all tanks are leveled and anchored, almost all equipment is in our possession, and my enthusiasm about running a brewery is as high as ever.  

It is hard to believe that a year ago I was putting together a business plan and looking around aimlessly for a location that would be perfect for a brewery-- mostly I just wanted floor drains already there.  Finding floor drains already installed was my goal, because I thought that would be the most expensive part of the construction process.  It's funny looking back on how little I knew.  It is humbling and frightening to realize that I'll think a year from now and have the same thought on how little I knew a year ago about running a brewery.  It'll certainly be a learning experience.  

I look forward to sharing my failures and successes with you.

Past Events in Pictures

In December the Hollingshead family invited me to speak at their Winter Tasting.  I introduced about 11 beers, giving any information I know about the brewery, how the beer was made, why Belgian beers are so great, and so on.  Kenny did a great job pimping The Bruery, comparing me to Vinnie Cilurzo (a stretch, I know!), and announcing he'd be the first account to sell my beer.  The last beer of the night was my Quadrupel, which went over well with the crowd.

Our good friend Spence and Rachel at the tasting.

 Tyler moving around a 15 bbl fermenter

The 30 bbl fermenter being moved over the curb

Glycol chiller being placed on the roof platform

Julian helping out in raising the brite beer tank

The lifting of the 30 bbl fermenter.  My contractor Bob did a great job in getting this beast up safety, and without any expensive riggers!

The two tanks in their permanent location.