Hadn't heard anything on this recently so I drove by today. Lots of work going on out there

Update?

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Hadn't heard anything on this recently so I drove by today. Lots of work going on out there

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Not sure how I missed the bump, but glad you got a chance to stop by! Things have been crazy lately, so you'll have to pardon our dust.

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Update?

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Just about everything is here, but we're still stuck waiting on water/sewer. The city told us they'd get started two weeks ago, but surprise surprise they haven't shown up yet.

We also still have to finish out the glycol and steam lines. For whatever reason, finding somebody to hookup the boiler has been really difficult.

The other thing I'm definitely learning through this process: getting what you pay for definitely still applies when dealing with subcontractors. We've been through two framers, three electricians, and are on our second plumber as well. They almost always show up late (if at all) and require constant supervision or else major mistakes occur. My dad's been in commercial construction since I was born, and I have no idea how he deals w/ this crap everyday!

And I'll try and get some more pics here in a bit, but the building is a mess right now!

Been a while since I updated, but we're still waiting on the city for water/sewer.

I do want to get yall's opinion on something though. We're trying to decide on a dark beer to release and can't really agree on what to go w/. We piloted a Black Saison that was pretty solid (came out north of 10% ABV too...oops!), but we've also thrown the idea around for some subtle twist on a porter. I suggested a subtly smoked porter ala Stone or Alaskan, and my brother is partial to the Pecan Porter from 512.

Any other ideas you guys would like to see?

Cheers!

A Krystal Weisen would be nice. Haven't seen one since living in Germany.

I'm partial to dark Belgian browns, so I'd vote for that.

I'm a fan of the 512 pecan porter, personally.

Imperial porter or dark Belgian would be my suggestion

I think either style of Porter will be a good decision.

Actually had a taste of a dark saison today (Trinity Brewing Merle). They had just bottled it and brought a pitcher into the taproom to share. It was actually pretty decent. Of course, it'll be better once it gets some carbonation in it.

[This message has been edited by Jock 07 (edited 10/3/2013 2:16a).]

I think a good stout or robust porter would be good. You could copy the "Yeti" model and then smoke it, age it, etc all you want.

Hopped & Screwed DIPA ... I'm tellin ya

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Hopped & Screwed DIPA ... I'm tellin ya

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Seconded

So when do we get to sign up to be 'Test Pilots'?

We're thinking Dec 1st now. Damn city of Conroe! Apparently they dug into a private sewer line so some of the utilities are delayed once again.

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I think a good stout or robust porter would be good. You could copy the "Yeti" model and then smoke it, age it, etc all you want.

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I like this. So many possibilities for seasonal/one-off releases.

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Hopped & Screwed DIPA

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My brother loves it. Once we get around to doing a DIPA, we might have to steal this. We'll find a way to give you credit somehow.

[This message has been edited by jock itch (edited 10/10/2013 2:18p).]

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I like this. So many possibilities for seasonal/one-off releases.

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Don't let your marketing screw your beer choices, and don't let your beer choices screw your marketing.

Make sure you give yourself space in both areas to shine.

I'll volunteer as a "test Pilot" as well!

For Dark beers:

Imperial Stout (Russian please. Call it the Tu-95 for the russian equivalent of the B-52) or Belgian Strong Dark

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Don't let your marketing screw your beer choices, and don't let your beer choices screw your marketing.

Make sure you give yourself space in both areas to shine.

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Wise advice indeed.

Oh and there will definitely be an RIS at some point.

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Call it the Tu-95 for the russian equivalent of the B-52

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It's a brewery, not a theme park. I think you should deviate naming convention from the get-go, personally.

Update?

I think I heard something about flying over Chinese airspace or something?

I heard their named dropped at Red Brick last weekend

Love me some Red Brick!

As for an update: The steam boiler should be finished today and will likely be fired up early next week. My brother and I ended up doing the glycol system ourselves which actually hasn't been too difficult (then again we haven't tested it yet!). Still waiting on the city for the sewer of course, but the brewhouse should be ready to fire up and run a few test brews in the next week or two.

So far the initial lineup is looking like: a hoppy Pils, Wheat IPA, and an Oatmeal Stout.

Jock,
You guys still have those fermenters for sale?

Actually still have one left!

Shoot me an email about it please
chrisclearman
Gmail

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a hoppy Pils, Wheat IPA, and an Oatmeal Stout.

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Good choices.

Count me in for IPAs

Why a wheat IPA? What is the wheat contributing to the body of the beer that works well with a higher bitterness and hop flavor profile?

Honestly it's more for foam stability than anything else. You're correct that the contribution to body/mouthfeel is almost unnoticeable, but man does it have beautiful, lasting foam!

[This message has been edited by jock itch (edited 12/9/2013 6:42p).]

Ok that makes sense. You find it adds more head retention than carapils or carafoam?

The only thing you'll most likely get questions are are "So is it like a hefeweizen? Why isn't it cloudy? Where's my orange slice?"

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Ok that makes sense. You find it adds more head retention than carapils or carafoam?

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I used to throw in a few % Cara-Pils in almost all of our lighter colored recipes, but more and more I'm finding mashing a bit higher accomplishes the same goal since Cara-Pils/Foam is really just increasing the Dextrin content of the wort. Our Pilsner is just 100% Pilsner malt, but mashing at 154-155F seemed to really give us fantastic, lasting foam. Don't get me wrong, Cara-Pils works, but I've always liked the idea of keeping things simple whenever possible.

As far as the wheat I've never really noticed it helping THAT much when in small %'s, but when it makes up 50% of the grain bill the foam is almost always beautiful.

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The only thing you'll most likely get questions are are "So is it like a hefeweizen? Why isn't it cloudy? Where's my orange slice?"

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Good point, and we've already had a bit of that.

With that said, the high protein content from the wheat and all those dry-hops keeps it plenty cloudy!