WOW!
So the GM decided to throw a "cleaning party"
These are known to people in the industry. Generally despised.
SERIOUSLY, there are 35 employees here scrubbing their lives away to get the pub ready for "my day".
Humbling
Monday, June 23, 2014
It's time!
Tomorrow, June 24th, will be the official rollout of Perch beers!
5:00 PM tapping.
This is sometimes odd for me. I am not one to look for accolades or "credit" for things. Yes, I do get acknowledged and recognized everywhere I go and yes, I get that. However, everyone keeps saying they are so excited for ME. I'm not really even that excited for me. It is, after all, a job. I am VERY excited for what this can do for The Perch and for Rebecca who has put her soul, a LOT of her money, and has gotten a very difficult education on what it means to own a restaurant. I have to write a speech and stuff. I mean, I have no problem talking in front of crowds, I just don't know how to position it. People expect me to go into talking about ME, and I simply don't do that.
HOORAY BEER!
5:00 PM tapping.
This is sometimes odd for me. I am not one to look for accolades or "credit" for things. Yes, I do get acknowledged and recognized everywhere I go and yes, I get that. However, everyone keeps saying they are so excited for ME. I'm not really even that excited for me. It is, after all, a job. I am VERY excited for what this can do for The Perch and for Rebecca who has put her soul, a LOT of her money, and has gotten a very difficult education on what it means to own a restaurant. I have to write a speech and stuff. I mean, I have no problem talking in front of crowds, I just don't know how to position it. People expect me to go into talking about ME, and I simply don't do that.
HOORAY BEER!
Friday, May 30, 2014
Great Community
During the tumult of yesterday, I am reminded at how awesome the beer community is.
Three local brewers deserve special note:
Doc, the Director of Brewery Operations for BJ's national chain, has been incredibly supportive through the entire brewhouse fabrication process. He loaned me some yeast, has walked through several times to suggest process improvements, and is overall an awesome dude.
Jonathan Buford from Arizona Wilderness talked me through some issues last night and shares his entire brewery with me. I stop there at least every week to look at a process which I need to fix. He and Patrick, the Head Brewer, and Brett the Operations Manager all give me hugs and encouragement whenever I see them.
Anthony and Gabe at San Tan Brewing, our neighbor 3 blocks away, are a couple of the guys who got me into brewing in the first place. I brewed at San Tan as my first brewing experience, bought the first keg they ever sold (5 years ago) and the first 6-pack they sold at the brewery. They have generously offered to let us clean kegs at their facility, allowing us to use a fully automated keg washer without having to make the enormous investment. This saves us a LOT of time and chemicals.
This is simply a mention to the three organizations and people who have given over and over and over. MANY local brewers have stopped by and every one of them have offered genuine and sincere help.
Thank you all!
Three local brewers deserve special note:
Doc, the Director of Brewery Operations for BJ's national chain, has been incredibly supportive through the entire brewhouse fabrication process. He loaned me some yeast, has walked through several times to suggest process improvements, and is overall an awesome dude.
Jonathan Buford from Arizona Wilderness talked me through some issues last night and shares his entire brewery with me. I stop there at least every week to look at a process which I need to fix. He and Patrick, the Head Brewer, and Brett the Operations Manager all give me hugs and encouragement whenever I see them.
Anthony and Gabe at San Tan Brewing, our neighbor 3 blocks away, are a couple of the guys who got me into brewing in the first place. I brewed at San Tan as my first brewing experience, bought the first keg they ever sold (5 years ago) and the first 6-pack they sold at the brewery. They have generously offered to let us clean kegs at their facility, allowing us to use a fully automated keg washer without having to make the enormous investment. This saves us a LOT of time and chemicals.
This is simply a mention to the three organizations and people who have given over and over and over. MANY local brewers have stopped by and every one of them have offered genuine and sincere help.
Thank you all!
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Batch Number 4
Seriously, I hold faith that eventually this will get easier.
This is ONLY the 4th batch.
So today's "learning moments"...
I do double batches. The grain can clog up the false bottom. Next time, remove and COMPLETELY CLEAN OUT the false bottom. I had to stir the entire hour of the mash, just to keep the false bottom clear. AND YET, it sucked dry at one point and SCORCH! went the element in the RIMS tube. Luckily, I just turned it off and no wort went over the scorch. So- wort saved.
Oxygen lines can grow slime mold very quickly. Do NOT let this happen to you. I saw it as I was setting up the O2 for today, and fixed it.
No matter how "Oversized" your heat exchanger is, IT'S NOT. Don't believe the hype. For some mysterious reason, the heat exchanger has been chugging along for 4 hours and I'm at 80 degrees. This is not good. Must find solution.
Currently that has allowed batch 2, to mash for 4 hours so I'm PRETTY sure it's converted :)
Got here at 5 AM and it's 6 PM. I'm going to send the 80 degree wort over to the fermenter to continue chilling, and lauter out batch number 2 so HOPEFULLY I can be home by midnight. Probably not, but I hope so.
Still have
1) Mash out and bring up to a boil - 1 hour
2) Boil- 90 minutes
3) Chill - um.... 2 hours?
4) Transfer
5) Pitch yeast
6) CLEAN ALL THE THINGS - 2 hours
Maybe 2 AM. We shall see.
UPDATE!
Well, the HX is performing as poorly as the first run.
I did realize that the reason the mash kept getting compacted is because, duh, pumping instead of using a grant. So- this second batch will just be first runnings. YUM!
Also- the solenoid on the fermenter glycol jacket is stuck, closed. So- no glycol. This is quite a thing. I have no other fermenter ready (not passivated yet) though I just thought of something- I can send it to the bright tank. It's at 32, but it would at least be cold enough to hold for a day until I can get the solenoid fixed. That way the beer (and the day, and the precious grain) would not be lost. I can switch the solenoid from F3 to F5 and pump BACK to it.
Huh. That may just work for now. The next problem would be heating the wort back up from 32, to 65. Glycol is very good at the chilling, but not so much at the heating. At least simultaneously. Interesting. Another challenge.
UPDATE!!!
So I opened the Johnson controller up , and another one which was working, and compared the wiring. MUCH easier than swapping solenoids. BINGO! There was one wire which was incorrectly connected to the board. ALL FIXED!
And the reason the HX is going so slowly- probably- is because the HX is clogged with a bit of grain or something. So I have to figure that one out (with some help from my friends, most likely...)
More learning. Good times. Good times.
This is ONLY the 4th batch.
So today's "learning moments"...
I do double batches. The grain can clog up the false bottom. Next time, remove and COMPLETELY CLEAN OUT the false bottom. I had to stir the entire hour of the mash, just to keep the false bottom clear. AND YET, it sucked dry at one point and SCORCH! went the element in the RIMS tube. Luckily, I just turned it off and no wort went over the scorch. So- wort saved.
Oxygen lines can grow slime mold very quickly. Do NOT let this happen to you. I saw it as I was setting up the O2 for today, and fixed it.
No matter how "Oversized" your heat exchanger is, IT'S NOT. Don't believe the hype. For some mysterious reason, the heat exchanger has been chugging along for 4 hours and I'm at 80 degrees. This is not good. Must find solution.
Currently that has allowed batch 2, to mash for 4 hours so I'm PRETTY sure it's converted :)
Got here at 5 AM and it's 6 PM. I'm going to send the 80 degree wort over to the fermenter to continue chilling, and lauter out batch number 2 so HOPEFULLY I can be home by midnight. Probably not, but I hope so.
Still have
1) Mash out and bring up to a boil - 1 hour
2) Boil- 90 minutes
3) Chill - um.... 2 hours?
4) Transfer
5) Pitch yeast
6) CLEAN ALL THE THINGS - 2 hours
Maybe 2 AM. We shall see.
UPDATE!
Well, the HX is performing as poorly as the first run.
I did realize that the reason the mash kept getting compacted is because, duh, pumping instead of using a grant. So- this second batch will just be first runnings. YUM!
Also- the solenoid on the fermenter glycol jacket is stuck, closed. So- no glycol. This is quite a thing. I have no other fermenter ready (not passivated yet) though I just thought of something- I can send it to the bright tank. It's at 32, but it would at least be cold enough to hold for a day until I can get the solenoid fixed. That way the beer (and the day, and the precious grain) would not be lost. I can switch the solenoid from F3 to F5 and pump BACK to it.
Huh. That may just work for now. The next problem would be heating the wort back up from 32, to 65. Glycol is very good at the chilling, but not so much at the heating. At least simultaneously. Interesting. Another challenge.
UPDATE!!!
So I opened the Johnson controller up , and another one which was working, and compared the wiring. MUCH easier than swapping solenoids. BINGO! There was one wire which was incorrectly connected to the board. ALL FIXED!
And the reason the HX is going so slowly- probably- is because the HX is clogged with a bit of grain or something. So I have to figure that one out (with some help from my friends, most likely...)
More learning. Good times. Good times.
Sunday, May 25, 2014
Glycol Shower
In moving the fermenters in our small space, it was decided that one should be rotated slightly.
Unfortunately, the rotation of the fermenter SNAPPED the pipe connecting it to the glycol.
Directly above my head.
So I got a nice glycol shower as my friend ran to turn off the glycol unit.
About 4 or 5 gallons of 27 degree gycol SHOT out at me, drenching me quite thoroughly.
Of course, this happens as we are leaving and the repair took 3 hours.
Shucks.
Unfortunately, the rotation of the fermenter SNAPPED the pipe connecting it to the glycol.
Directly above my head.
So I got a nice glycol shower as my friend ran to turn off the glycol unit.
About 4 or 5 gallons of 27 degree gycol SHOT out at me, drenching me quite thoroughly.
Of course, this happens as we are leaving and the repair took 3 hours.
Shucks.
Instructions not included
There are no instructions on how to use this vast array of equipment that you just paid tens (hundreds?) of thousands of dollars for.
SO- you research and you talk and hopefully you have spent time in other breweries, watching all the goings-on.
Yet, your brewery is not the same as theirs. And there are a lot of things which the other breweries are doing which you don't even notice.
So when it comes down to it, there is far more in the actual building and setting up of the brewery than you could possibly have imagined.
We struggled at first with getting our pumps working correctly
We are doing everything we can to have thermometers in places, because though the brew house included a fancy control panel, the sensor wires are too short
The trench drain creates an entire new colony of bacteria and yeast if left to its own devices. Quickly
Sanitizer mixing out of a 5 gallon bucket is NOT like star-san
Hoses don't bend. Like, seriously
pH meters need to be calibrated
Stainless must be passivasted
CIP does NOT mean "easy"
Grain dust is very dusty
Don't forget your CLT. It's the forgotten step-child
Glycol valves- put them at arm height if you can
There will be plenty more. Every minute, there is another discovery!
SO- you research and you talk and hopefully you have spent time in other breweries, watching all the goings-on.
Yet, your brewery is not the same as theirs. And there are a lot of things which the other breweries are doing which you don't even notice.
So when it comes down to it, there is far more in the actual building and setting up of the brewery than you could possibly have imagined.
We struggled at first with getting our pumps working correctly
We are doing everything we can to have thermometers in places, because though the brew house included a fancy control panel, the sensor wires are too short
The trench drain creates an entire new colony of bacteria and yeast if left to its own devices. Quickly
Sanitizer mixing out of a 5 gallon bucket is NOT like star-san
Hoses don't bend. Like, seriously
pH meters need to be calibrated
Stainless must be passivasted
CIP does NOT mean "easy"
Grain dust is very dusty
Don't forget your CLT. It's the forgotten step-child
Glycol valves- put them at arm height if you can
There will be plenty more. Every minute, there is another discovery!
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Never dull
Another brew day arrives. At 5:30 AM I roll in, preparing after a FULL 2 day weekend (20th anniversary. What can I say.)
The beer I brewed last Wednesday is at 115 degrees.
Yes, something happened with the glycol unit and it was running at 115 degrees.
That being said- what to do?
I tasted the beer after it came back down to 65 degrees and it wasn't horrible, but it was just meh. I theorize that the yeast had really already finished their work when the glycol unit crapped out. Which means that rather than pooping out nasty fusels and esters, they just burned up and died. All the natural carbonation from 65 degrees is gone. There is no "pop" to it like it had before.
Then I brewed another beer, while waiting to see what the repair man had to say (it was expensive)
That beer day went more smoothly than the first, but my assistant brewer, Andrew, and I, are too busy DOING things, to take time to write things down. I am going to enlist the assistance of one of the many people who have volunteered to help, to be my secretary for the day, recording every move.
Such as moving hoses around.
WOW, do we do a lot of that.
There has GOT to be a way to streamline the hose and valve situation. Our space is so limited that navigating through the maze of hoses is quite challenging.
Lots of learning, lots to do!
Here is a link to my TV appearance on Friday Fox 10 News
The beer I brewed last Wednesday is at 115 degrees.
Yes, something happened with the glycol unit and it was running at 115 degrees.
That being said- what to do?
I tasted the beer after it came back down to 65 degrees and it wasn't horrible, but it was just meh. I theorize that the yeast had really already finished their work when the glycol unit crapped out. Which means that rather than pooping out nasty fusels and esters, they just burned up and died. All the natural carbonation from 65 degrees is gone. There is no "pop" to it like it had before.
Then I brewed another beer, while waiting to see what the repair man had to say (it was expensive)
That beer day went more smoothly than the first, but my assistant brewer, Andrew, and I, are too busy DOING things, to take time to write things down. I am going to enlist the assistance of one of the many people who have volunteered to help, to be my secretary for the day, recording every move.
Such as moving hoses around.
WOW, do we do a lot of that.
There has GOT to be a way to streamline the hose and valve situation. Our space is so limited that navigating through the maze of hoses is quite challenging.
Lots of learning, lots to do!
Here is a link to my TV appearance on Friday Fox 10 News
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