What's Bubbling Away

I was going to keep tight lipped about the beers we'll be brewing, but since we're getting somewhat close to releasing them (about 3-4 weeks or so), I'll tell you about what we've brewed so far.  We're brewing next week, so this won't be our complete lineup.

Batch No. 1 - Levud's (discussed in the last post) is a Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale.  This beer showcases the pear-like fruity esters from our yeast, as well as the herbally, refined hop flavor and aroma from Styrian Goldings and Czech Saaz.  It'll weigh in around 10.5% ABV.  This is a one time release, so we made a healthy amount of it.  We'll produce a little over 300 cases total.

Orchard White is our Belgian-style witbier.  We brew it with unmalted flaked wheat, oats, malted barley, corriander, orange peel, and lavender.  This is a thirst-quenching beer that will be a year-round offering.  This is one of the few beers we'll offer on draft.  We brewed a 15 bbl batch and hope it sells quickly so we can brew it again!

Black Orchard is a Belgian-style Black Wheat Beer.  This is an unusual beer, but we think this will be a popular one.  Like Orchard White, it's brewed with unmalted flaked wheat, oats, and  malted barley.  Unlike Orchard White, we have a proprietary mashing method of adding a lot of color without adding much of a roast flavor.  This beer lives up to the name-- it is black!  We also add different spices than we add to Orchard White.  This is one of my favorites, as it's refreshing and session-able but has some complexity and intangible qualities.  We brewed 15 bbl of this one as well.  With Orchard White, about 50% will be for draft, and the other 50% bottled.

Next week we'll be brewing Saison Rue and our Anniversary beer.  A little premature to be brewing an anniversary beer?  You'll change your mind when I describe what we'll be doing with it.

Batch No. 1

Batch No. 1 was brewed on Friday, March 7th by Tyler and I, and on Saturday, March 8th with the help of Loren Miraglia (one of the winners of the homebrew competition, along with Mark Graham who unfortunately could not make it), and our friend Brent Rahn.  Both days we had visitors who were eager to see the first batch being brewed.

The batch didn't go perfectly, but I'm confident the end result will meet our high expectations.  The burner system for my boil kettle was acting up a bit, so we had to watch for boil overs and occasionally turn the burners off.   I'm learning how to keep it under control so the burner has been less of an issue for the past few batches.  Our efficiency /extraction from these batches were a bit higher than we expected, so this beer will come out to 10.5-11% ABV instead of the 9.5% we were shooting for.  I even subtracted about 25% of the grain bill for the second day and still overshot my target.  I guess this was meant to be a big beer!

Thanks to Loren for making the trek out here from Encinitas, and to Brent for all of his help!  Also, a special thanks to Tyler for bringing his brewing and sanitation skills to The Bruery.  He's a very talented brewer, and the beers wouldn't be what they'll be without him involved.

Thanks to Spence Coleman for photographing the brew session!  These photos are much better than what I've been taking!

Bourbon / wine barrels and our bar.

The brewhouse / fermenters.

Brent, me, Loren and Tyler.

Tyler peeking into the whirlpool.

Vince, Heather and Kevin enjoying the humid, wort filled air, and perhaps a few beers.

The Progress of the Past Year

Note: I wrote this about a week ago and haven't had time to finish up and post it until now. We have three batches in the fermenters (approximately 1,860 gallons of beer/wort) fermenting away. I'll fill you in on the last week in a day or two when I get a chance to catch my breath.

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Last year around this time I was dealing with real estate brokers trying to find a place to lease. I didn't know where I was heading at that time-- I just knew I wanted to start a brewery somewhere in Orange County and I'd accept just about any building to brew in (given a few modest requirements). I had no idea how much work starting a brewery would be, and just how great it would turn out. I'm very excited about the future of The Bruery, and I can't wait to share it with you. We're on the brink of brewing Batch No. 1, which is finally happening tomorrow. We brewed our yeast propagation batches last Friday and Saturday, which went surprisingly smooth, and now have healthy yeast to brew a bunch of beers in the next two weeks.

The following are some pictures from the nine months, from empty warehouse to functional brewery:

My brewhouse in January of 2007 when I was deciding on whether to purchase it.

The picture I took of 715 Dunn Way before I leased the space.

Empty warehouse, soon (or not so soon) to be a brewery.  Taken in May of 2007.

Moving the equipment from Windsor to Placentia in June or July of 2007.



Some Pliny the Elder to celebrate moving the equipment inside the warehouse.

Cutting the concrete.

Removing soil / grading.





Vestibule framing.

Flooring installed.

Moving and mounting the glycol chiller to the roof.

Setting the tanks upright.

My beautiful wife Rachel bringing us lunch during our brewing of the propagation batch.

Under the mash tun / grant.







Finally, getting to mash in!

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/